You know, someone said to me once that when we sincerely forgive, we only have to forgive once, but when we’re offended, we have to keep living the offence over and over in order to continue to perpetuate the hurt, staying locked in the loop of being offended, cinched fast into the whole mess by our unwillingness to let the situation go.

What is on the front page of your newspaper? Some people have pet peeves, things they find particularly annoying, and they are so annoyed, their list isn’t over on page 3 or 4, it’s on the front page so it’s among the first things always floating around in their head, everyday. We are irked by some of the subtlest things, so much so that they are allowed to define the way we conduct ourselves. Like, it irks me to no end when someone is late, chronically, consistently late, every time, and it doesn’t seem to bother them they are late nor does it bother them that they are making me late for the next appointment.

We can’t keep trying to rearrange the circumstances, as best we remember them, in hopes of an old wound becoming something other than what it was. Nor, can we continue to re-re-re-re-play the event, reliving it all without being re-hurt and re-offended.

In fact, i’ve spent a majority of my Christian life being so wounded and so hurt that i couldn’t hear God, nor was i available for Him to change my heart. It’s almost as if the hurt and offense was more important to me than God was, and that is wrong. Stop the bleeding. Hurts and offenses must be maintained in order for them to keep making “front page news”, which means we have to keep re-living them in order to keep them in the loop. It is paralyzing. Let them go back to latter pages, and give God-things permission to make front page news instead.

A man told me once, “When i’ve got an opinion, it’s really hard to hear God.” That’s such a simple thing to say, but it is also profound in the depth of implications. Many years later, the Lord has reminded me of those words and a little revelation has occurred. In addition to being so offended and hurt i couldn’t hear God, i’ve also been so opinionated and sure of my opinions, resulting in what little i could hear of Him was narrowed out just a little more. Eventually, it was like trying to have a conversation with someone through the crack in a door.

Luke 4:4, “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.” The phrase “by bread alone”, in this case, and in addition to a more physical meaning, i see it also as an idiom, meaning, we can’t live according to the affairs of this life and still be as close to the Lord as He intends. There is no life in the affairs and tangles of this life. The word of God, whether from His mouth, or from the Bible, is life, and even when we’re out of water, food, and shelter, and our physical body is dying, the word of God sustains us, forever. i reed Psalm23:2-3, as God’s heart and preferences towards me. He promises that He’ll make it so we can lie down in green pastures, and won’t leave us abandoned in barren places. He promises to lead us beside still waters, which means God will bring us to places of refreshment, quiet, and without chaos. i call that a “shalom place”. The Lord then says He’ll restore our wounded thinking and feeling, and teach us how-to walk-in rightness of character for His name’s sake. Are you available to stop being so offended and hurt, letting God make you new, developing your gifts and talents as He has given you?

Stop being so offended you can’t hear God. Stop the bleeding and quit re-living those old hurts. i didn’t say forget forever, nor did i say to not deal with the real circumstances which got you wounded in the first place. i AM saying though … embrace the Lord and the truth of yourself, trust that God knows what He’s doing, and take those old hurts and offenses off of “front page news”, putting them back on page 5 or 6 where they belong.

Plant your feet, and set your face to take a posture of trust. Isaiah 61:1 portrays the Lord’s heart towards you in saying, “… he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.”

The Lord calls each of us to allow Him to comfort and validate us, even in the middle of a dark storm, even when we feel overtaken by fear or grief. Life may have worked to rob you of your God-given identity, abused you to the point you thought about hurting yourself, whispering in your ears that your are worthless, nothing better than a hopeless slave to sin. But like Hagar in Genesis 16, the Lord is the One who sees you, looks after you, and provides for you, even when you didn’t know it was God who cared for you. You can know God’s healing and redemptive power. You can know His comfort and stand in your identity which He has given specifically to you. In the mean time, the Lord is going to ask you to remove your hurts and offenses from making constant “front page news”, and put them back several pages where they belong. Stop the bleeding.

What do you think?

Have you ever felt the Lord was challenging your priorities, all the way from your idea of what was most important to what you think is least important?

In Matt6:33, when Jesus said “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”, do you think He was pointing out how we should arrange our priorities, challenging what we think is important versus what God says is important? i do.

i’ve read His words, agreed with His words, but often my priorities didn’t change. i can’t tell you about you, but i can speak with some authority concerning myself. There have been times in my life, long periods of time, when sitting down on the couch was more important than wiping the kitchen counter, being silent was more important than calling a friend in need, reading a magazine was more important than reading my Bible, and, i’m sad to admit, many times doing absolutely nothing was more important than talking to God. i ask myself, “Why is that so? It is ugly Lord and it must change.”

Sometimes even listening to music, which i wasn’t really interested in, had a higher priority than speaking to the Lord in prayer. For many of us, it’s a higher priority to discuss and point out how “they”, the infamous “they” got their doctrine wrong. It is more important to point out their wrongness than it is to be honest about where we are in God’s process of making us mature and whole. When someone is too honest and transparent, many people just run away, because it has suddenly become a greater priority to check our phone messages, or go get a cup of coffee, or cross talk others while avoiding the topic at hand. i used to eat lunch with a fellow who said he really enjoyed my company, but yet the last time we sat down, in the following hour, he checked his phone 17 times. Yes, i counted. i wondered what his priorities were.

Using the phrase, “to test” in scripture is meant in the sense of finding out what something or someone is made of, but in the case of the Pharisee’s and lawyers of the N.T., when they “tested” Jesus it was meant to trip Him up. Their priorities were to cast shadows of doubt on the person of Christ, or anyone who would challenge them or disagree, rather than knowing the Heart of the Father more completely because the Son of God was standing right in front of them. In Matthew 22:35-40, Jesus was asked a question by a man who’s focus in life was the law and legalities, a lawyer, but the man was asking a question, not because he wanted to truly know the answer, but for the purpose, in a hostile sense, of causing Jesus to strive. He asked “what is the greatest commandment?”, but the answer Jesus gave represented a challenge to the priorities of all who listened, even all who would read even to this day. He said, “love the Lord your God with all your breathing, thinking, and feeling, And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Jesus didn’t just make that up, it was a quote from the Torah. Part of the words of Jesus came from Deuteronomy 6:5 and the other part was from Leviticus 19:18.

The Lord allows situations of significance to happen in our lives that help remind us of where our priorities should be. Someone dear to us dies, or gets ill and suddenly we all re-focus. Life is just grand until a tragedy strikes, then it seems suddenly everyone stands around talking about Heaven and the significance of being right with God. The Lord wants us to be involved Him, long before we come to the end of things. To be “right with God” doesn’t mean just ask Jesus into your heart, dust your hands off and go back to what you were doing. It means to be honest and transparent, knowing the Lord as intimately as possible with the greatest relationship possible. Getting “right with God” isn’t a onetime event but a lifelong process, and we should question our priorities. We love to say, God is first, but yet our choosings and actions tell a very different story. The Lord is all about relationships, we say we are too, but yet we spend virtually no time building relationships, other than a surface response. Maybe getting down to what really motivates us is scary, and i’ll be the first to admit it can be terrifying, but let’s ask ourselves, what’s more important, maintaining our facade of wellbeing, or actually living in the full wellness and wholeness which Jesus died and rose from the dead to give us?

In Matthew 18:1-2 Jesus was asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Notice, Jesus didn’t pass out His ministry name and title as was printed on His business card, He didn’t imply to them His personal greatness by suggesting they go buy one of His many books, or take one of His very informative online courses on “How to succeed in ministry”. He called a child over and said, trust God as a child trusts a parent, be humble like a child, and receive other children like a child. He was challenging their priorities, and i think it was a very uncomfortable moment for those among them who typically were inclined to promote themselves, their ministry, and their own agenda.

To some, what is most important to them is their own well being, worrying if they are going to be ok, have a nice house, drive an attractive car, get affirming recognition at church, and receive warm accolades at work. That is their priority. In Matthew 6:19, again Jesus challenged their priorities in saying, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal”. In Luke12:34, Jesus said again, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Let us have the courage to test our priorities. Take note of what your inclinations are and then be brave to explore “Why”. If we stop at the “What” of our lives, and never get around to the “why”, we’ll never get to our true face where God shines His face in us most brightly.

What do you think?

Romans 12:2, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

To “renew” something is to begin it again, living in a place with the Lord where our decision-making machine is constantly being renewed, meaning God is making it new, and newer, better and better, always increasingly being conformed to the likeness of the Son. To manifest God’s presence in our lives is to live a life which portrays His face in our face. A better translation of “God’s presence” is to say, “An encounter with The Face”, the true face, the righteous face, the seen, unhidden, bold face of God.

With every layer of our facade the Lord peels off, the closer we get to living out our true face, a real life, not just our presentation face. Most of us find it almost too easy to talk about what others have done, or what “they”, the infamous “they” have NOT done. Similarly, we find it difficult to talk about ourselves and how we fall short, living life as a poser. We tell ourselves that if we were to tell God our deepest secret, you know, the one which keeps us locked in a dark prison cell, we really believe when we open our eyes Jesus will be gone, just like everybody else … and we’ll be, every bit as alone as we always thought we were. Eeyore said, “i knew, as soon as i was my true self, you’d leave just like everyone else. Oh well, i might as well go stand in the dark somewhere.” This is why it was so, SO very important when God is quoted in saying, ““ I will never, under any circumstances, desert you, nor give you up, nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless, nor will I forsake or let you down or relax  My hold on you, absolutely, positively, and most assuredly not!””

The Lord wants us to be renewed and to experience His continual renewal. In Romans12:2, being renewed means to not just be repaired, but more to be rebuilt. Now, rebuilding doesn’t mean simply building new things on top of old things, it means to tear down the old and put up what is new and better, more sustainable, and stronger. God is the only one in the universe who knows how to do such a thing. Have you ever been driving at night, got lost in an unfamiliar place, stopped for directions and then tried to follow somebody’s directions in the dark? To me it feels almost impossible. In the same way, living with an unrenewed mind clouds our ability to distinguish God directions … it all gets muddled in our head and we can’t hardly tell if we’re up or down. Without a renewed mind, our true face is buried under the layers of posing, more being pleasers of men, pretending to be acceptable instead of being God followers.

When we verbalize to the Lord all our worst parts, notice that He doesn’t leave, like everyone else has. You may feel abandoned, you may feel alone, but faith is not subject to feelings, never, ever is faith subject to the whims of feeling. God is committed to our well-being, so much so, we can know, i mean really, really know, we are free and won’t be living in the gray scale of a dismal life, where our loudest words are only whispers from our mouths no matter how loud we scream. When the Lord renews our minds, He establishes better vision, makes room for His provision, which is anything that advances the vision. When we allow the Lord to renew our mind, He opens our eyes to see Him more clearly, and He is always improving on that clarity. As the Lord renews our mind, the sky will seem bluer, sounds will be clearer, more distinct and more identifiable. The funny thing about anti-depressants is they don’t allow us to go too high or too low, we are always damped down, restrained, and controlled. But when the Lord renews our minds our highs are more sustainable, and our lows are met with trust and confidence in God. There comes bounce in our step and lift in our voice.

In letting go of all our lies and all our secrets, suddenly we are free to live the life we’ve always dreamed we could live. In fact, believe it or not, the Lord enables us to live the life He has dreamed for us, and it’s the truth, His dreams will come true, for me and you.

Let’s put away from ourselves our nonsensical rationalizations, and our childish, vindictive thinking. The word conform means to “fashion or shape one thing like another”, particularly in its outward appearance. Friends, Romans12:2, to this day, still presents the best idea yet, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, making you a copy of itself.” Paul is literally saying, “Stop allowing yourself to be framed and squeezed into the shape of the world you live in.” We all have a tendency to conform to the philosophy of this age, literally driven by advertising, and a deep need to “fit in” no matter what the cost. A man said to me once, “That ecstatic state of hormonal magnetism, which is often mistaken for true love, has been used to justify a great many mismatched marriages that have dishonored the Lord.” The world calls the “ecstatic state of hormonal magnetism” love, and without God renewing our mind, we will buy into the lie, leaving us to live out our days in hand-wringing and trying times.

These days, everyone is constantly manipulated towards a tendency constituting pressure against transformation, and towards conformation, afterall, conformation to the world is easier than going against the grain in being transformed by God. Being conformed to the world is easier in the now, but in the long run, it is only heart ache and pain.

Let the Lord renew your motivations, your inclinations, your preferences and standards, and live the dream God has for you.

What do you think?

Our view of God is too small.

i think most of us, as a whole, have not really given ourselves to God’s process of transforming our lives as much as we might think. Regardless of what we like to dream or believe, we can’t live without Jesus for there is no other life in the universe, meaning there is no real transformation without God’s intervention.

The closer we get to the Lord the more we understand that our God is so much larger than we have imagined, but how do we get closer unless the Lord draws us? Generally, our closeness to God depends on our pursuit of Him, and also is totally at His discretion. If He does not draw us to Himself, we will not be drawn. Here’s something though which my eyes were opened to, as discovered in a, seemingly, odd question. A fellow who comes to our little Bible study asked, “Does God dream?” In the moment, the question sort of stood the room on its ear. My first thought was, “Why does it matter?” … then, “Who can know such a thing?”… and then there came a multitude of questions into my ears which sounded like me evading the question. Then God kicked into gear and asked me, “Yea, do I dream?” Well, let me tell you, as it turned out it was a very leading question. What do you think? Does God dream?

Ok, so, the Greeks had all sorts of words to describe varying degrees of “seeing” “sight” and “gazing”. To the Hellenistic Greek mind, as best i understand it, visions happened in sleep mode, or during sleep. To the Greek and Hebrew mind, sleep was NOT a “deactivation of their organs of sense”, but, where they differed was that in Greek thinking, to sleep was “to be shut up in your own world” and if you said you’d had a vision yet weren’t asleep, they described the concept as “sleeping with open eyes”. Evidently, from the platform of Hellenistic Greek, sleeping was a pre-requisite to having visions. They felt that if you weren’t sleeping, eyes open or closed, you couldn’t have a vision. No sleeping, no vision. You with me so far?

In Hebrew though, “to sleep” and “to dream” was sharply differentiated from the Greek, in that the Hebrews saw dreams and sleep as … opportunity for revelation, whereas the Greeks saw dreams merely associated, or connected with sleep. So, from the Greek standpoint, the question, “Does God dream” would have to be answered as “No”, considering He never sleeps according to Psalm121:3-4. But from the Hebrew standpoint, “Does God dream?” would be answered “Yes”, in that the Lord has “envisioned us” in order to conceptualize us, for the purpose of bringing us and our redemption into reality. AND … i believe He “dreams of us” as a lover would dream of their beloved.

Like the Hebrews, i consider my place of “dreams and visions” as exclusively belonging to the Lord, it is included as part of my Shalom place, my safe space with God. Is He God or not? If He is, i need to act like it. Our view of God is too small. The enemy may attack, but the Lord is the standard, and the enemy is not allowed in my “Shalom Place” by the blood of Jesus which stands guard over me as i sleep, or by permission from God.

i think Christianity today, typically connects visions and dreaming with sleep due to the overwhelming influence of Greek Hellenism.

The Greek idea in the N.T. is that “i am over here, the Lord is over there. i stand on my side and look at Him over there on His side.” In Job 7:14, and 20:8, the first letter of the word for “Dream” is a letter, which in this case, is a “doorway of life”, meaning that from the Hebrew viewpoint, we don’t stand over “here” and look at God over “there”, we go through the door and join with Him. To “join with Him” means on the same road, going in the same direction, on the same side of the road, so close His face is in my face, together. In the Greek mind, as is in much of Christianity today, there was and always will be a divide between man and God and we have a difficult time thinking of ourselves as “one” with Christ. But the Hebrews saw themselves as able to actually join with the Lord, to not only cross over to where God is, but to actually participate in all the Lord is and does … as one person with Him. In Job’s use of the word “dream”, besides the first letter of the word representing a “door way of life”, the remaining letters represent passion & teaching, all “nailed” or connected to the “support of the Lord upon whom we lean.” Putting it all together then, “dream”, through the “door way of life”, there is passion & teaching, all connected to the “support of the Lord upon whom we lean.” You should also know that this method of coming to a definition doesn’t always work. Like in the phrase “fear of the Lord”, you can’t look up fear + of + the + Lord, add it all together for a definition. The moment you look up the definition of “fear” you’re already off on the wrong foot, entirely. But in this case, adding the definition of the letters up actually does work. From the Hebrew idea the concept of dreaming was a handshake from ourselves- the finite, across to God – who is infinite. Now you may think i’m crazy, and maybe so, but look, don’t be too quick here. Is He God or not? And if He is, then why wouldn’t the Lord make a way to meet with us on many levels other than the ones we’re comfortable with?

Job’s use of the word “vision” also begins with the letter for a doorway of life, followed by a sword, and in this case, a hand to grasp the sword, and the last letter means the previous ideas are contrasted together in the sense of it all operating as one. All together then, vision is … through the doorway of life is our sword to rightly divide light and dark, and for us to operate with God, together, as one. Jesus said, “I am the door”, thus by the blood of Jesus we enter to the Father, thereby making Jesus the answer, the way, the truth, and life and there is not another.

The Hellenistic Greek has us always being divided from God in the sense of i’m over here, and He’s over there. In all of the Greek attempts to give facets to the idea of dreams and visions, it is not apparent that anyone can walk across the great divide, through the doorway of life, and become one with God Almighty. The Greek view was that we ourselves are the center of the universe, and the Greek gods ruled it all with revenge, vengeance, spite, condescending hatred, prejudice, arrogance, offense, and persecution. i find much of our modern-day church perspectives to often reflect the influence of the Hellenistic Greek culture in our being taught, “I’m just an old sinner man, and even though i believe in Christ, i’ll never be any more than an old sinner man.” Well, yea, but what else does God say about you? Balance the equation here, unless all that goodness from the Lord is more than you can stand.

Paul and the others worked to convey God’s grace, mercy, standards and perspectives, but it appears there are concepts in Hebrew which really don’t translate into Greek well, much less English without a long paragraph of explanation. The Greek Hellenistic thinking has long ago invaded all we do. Lord deliver us from the governmental influence of the Ptolemies and Hellenistic Greek thinking.

Come upon us again Holy Spirit and awaken us. Lord, sadly, i am snared in the thinking that you are not all you say you are, even when i say i believe you are, the details of my life i often misunderstand by what appears to be a different story. Awaken us Lord, we need more of you and i am tired of my self-imposed limited view. i am desperate to know you more, i cannot live without you. My perception of You is too small.

What do you think?

Thank you for listening. i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name ministries.

One of the first things i was told after i called on the Lord for salvation was that Jesus is coming back. i used to sit outside and watch the sky, wondering if today was the day. The ever present vision of the return of Christ faded a little from my mind for a while, even at that, it was always circling somewhere in the back of my head every day. How could the anticipation of the return of Jesus be so constantly in my mind unless it was driven by the presence of the Lord? i mean, i don’t hardly remember what i ate yesterday, or people’s names from a few weeks, months or years ago, much less to remember to look at the sky in this eager anticipation of the return of Jesus. And i do mean eager too. It’s like i’m always somewhat excited to look at the sky. Maybe today’s the day.

i sat outside this early morning again, watching the sky. It’s been 53 years now and i’m still watching the sky with daily renewed anticipation.

Titus 2:11-13, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Now i’ve gotta add, there’s this great debate not so much about what but more about when, and honestly, it’s exhausting. i’ve set on the porch listening to preacher buddies argue, heard arguments as to pre-trib rapture, mid-trib rapture, post-trib rapture, no trib rapture, partial trib rapture, little tribulation then big tribulation rapture … and man, it’s just crazy. i’ve settled on something though, and it’s the truth, Jesus is coming back and we’re to continue on with God’s plan, being as effective as possible as long as possible until the Return. Yes, Jesus is coming back, but in the mean time, the date is today, the time is w, this is where we are, and forward is the way we’re going. We are to be occupied with our Heavenly Father’s business until that amazing day of the return of the Son of God.

Some people seem to be just sitting around doing much of nothing waiting on the sky to crack and Jesus to ride back on a great white horse. i’ve been in church meetings on Wednesday nights when the back bone of the church showed up, and they’d say, “Oh, when Jesus comes back, i’m gonna slide on streets of gold in my stocking feet.” Then i’ll do this, and then i’ll do that. Everything was sad and downcast, burdened with all the woe’s of this life, and their voices hung with grief and someday they were going to escape the badness on the earth when Jesus came back. i can remember, even then as a young believer, thinking to myself, “What about today? How will you live today in the mean time?” i can’t say i’ll escape all the terribleness of the last days, likely not, but i do know sound doctrine applies to the entire body of Christ and it would be impossible to explain to believers in heavily persecuted places that they will be raptured out before things get really bad. Before things get really bad??? Bad from who’s perspective? Sound doctrine applies to the entire body of Christ. They’d probably be like, “You mean after my kids were killed in front of my eyes, my husband was eviscerated for the name of Christ, my home and town burned, and you’re saying i’m going to be raptured out before it gets worse!??! Oh my gosh, somebody kill me quick!” Nevertheless, no matter where you are or the conditions of your life, Jesus is coming back. Are you ready to go?

It’s not meant that we should be passive observers, but actively in the world around us with all our physical, mental, and spiritual faculties, and our “eyes peeled to the sky”. If ever there was a time to watch and pray it is these days in which we live. And that is “watch” in the sense of being awake, pay attention, don’t let your eyes get used to the dark or go to sleep. The closer we get to the return of Jesus, the more awake, praying and watchful we need to become. An old fellow, many years ago, through his tired blue eyes and heavy lids, looked me in the eye and said completely out of nowhere, “Life is time, and to waste time is to waste life. Don’t be lazy.” There should be watching, waiting, and anticipation in all we do. Let us watch for the Return and not become passive.

In Revelation 16:15, Jesus said, “Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!”

Friends, we are His people and the Lord promised to come back for us, and God keeps all of His promises, doing beyond all we have imagined. We will sit at God’s table, reveling in His everlasting love, safe at home with Jesus, alive forever.

There’s also two sides to the idea of returning. Not only is Jesus going to return for us, but we will return to Christ when He appears. We will go home with Jesus, returning to the Lord in full, only bigger and better, in a forever relationship with God Almighty, Lord of Lord’s, King of Kings, redeemed and restored as He promised. Matthew 24:27, “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” All the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Take that seriously, it’s no kidding around. If He is coming back for us who are His, and we will return to be with the Lord, we’ve got to be ready to go.

We are waiting for you Lord, with our eyes always on the sky for your return. You are good for your word because you told us you would come back, and if it were not true, you wouldn’t have said as much.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Friend, you can believe what you want, but i’m going to watch, pray, and wait for my Jesus. Be encouraged, never stop doing good, keeping your eyes on the sky. Jesus is coming again.

What do you think?

Thank you for listening. i’m Social Porter with Living In His Name ministries.

i am absolutely convinced beyond all doubt that we are born, all of us, with the knowledge of basic right and wrong embedded in us by God. We are also born with a rebellious nature whose intent is to always say “no” to God and “yes” to everything we want. In fact, our rebellious nature is a natural “no” to everything God. ‘No’ to His preferences, ‘no’ to His standards, ‘no’ to even believing He exists, much less that He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. When it comes to God Almighty, by inclination of our flesh, it is just ‘no’.

When my son was born he seemed so innocent. So small and delicate, so fresh and seemingly unlearned of all the wrong in the world. Yet, given a little time, i also saw, growing in him a consistent motivation to do everything his way, based on what he wanted, and how he wanted to dictate and demand. Sure, i realize a child doesn’t know anything, but there’s also a taught steel wire of resisting any right authority and a gravitational pull towards being self-indulgent, self-righteous, self-satisfying at the expense of others, and a complete disregard for doing the right thing as long as the child prospers itself.

When i knew he needed to eat food that was good for him, one day he just straight out said, “no. i want cheese-its”. When i pressed the issue, he bowed up at me, saying even louder “No.” When i knew we needed to comb his hair, or wash his face, he didn’t want to sit still for that, he wanted to watch cartoons, and again he looked me in the eye and said “no”. i said ‘yes’, and he even began acting out, crying and screaming ‘no’. After a series of many, many such situations, a little light of realization began to grow in me. The naturally occurring thread of rebellion was raising its head, and i knew if i didn’t persuade him different, he would end up a horrible, self-centered, demanding person, and would find no need for God. i also knew his rebellious nature could eventually kill him … this was no longer just teaching right behavior, now i could very well be saving the life of my child.

James4:17, “If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” When God told Adam and Eve in the garden to not eat of the tree, in their hearts they basically said “no. i don’t believe you, and i’ll do what i want to do regardless of you!” Their rebellion on that day cost us all our lives. All of Israel was called by the Lord into a relationship with Him. When God said, “I will be your God and you will be my people,” they said, “No. We want a man to rule over us.” Wow, they preferred someone with a rebellious nature to rule over their rebellious nature. Just ‘no’ to God and ‘yes’ to themselves.

The N.T. writers, repetitively made it abundantly clear that many of the “normal” ways we’re used to thinking about our lives is arrogant, self-serving, and faithless.

For anyone who does not believe Jesus is the Son of God, was crucified and risen from the dead, their natural “no”, or rejection of the gospel denies them any real life. Oh, it may appear they are doing well, but in the end, without God they are just another lifeless corpse. And for us who are believers, if we have said ‘yes’ to God, resisting our natural ‘no’, it means acting according to what we believe and know to be true. If we keep going on our path of worldliness, self-indulgence, lack of honesty and transparency, giving power to our flesh over our spirit as opposed to trusting God in our everyday work-a-day world choices, that to us is sin. And listen – Sin is anti-relational and the longer we oppose God, the more we diminish and dishonor ourselves and the more our relationship with Jesus just ebbs away, slowly but surely, like the tide going out. It is always the right time to do the right thing. We know what is right and we have no excuse not to do it. When we bow up at God and practice our natural ‘no’, we need to change course, call it what it is, and let the Lord make us all we wish we were.

It’s easy to agree with God and the Bible without actually making any changes. Sincerity is not knowing Jesus. We love to think and dream about big ideas, us with our incessant point and counterpoint debating, weighing and measuring. But if we spend most of our time only thinking about it all, never taking-action and DOING what we should, that to us is sin. It is still the ‘natural no’ we were born with. The Lord called us to not just avoid evil and rebellion, we are called to DO what we know is good.

i’ve realized how little control i have over much of my life, and if i put off doing what is right, well, you know, i may not have another opportunity to plant God’s goodness in a situation like this one or that one. We’ve all missed opportunities to do the right thing, and you “know” in your heart when you haven’t done it. The Lord reminded me the other day when i didn’t call a man in need because i decided there was something more pressing in the moment and then i simply forgot. If the next day i see the man in need and he inquires as to why i didn’t call, i’d probably say, “Oh, i just got busy.” Friend, i think most of the time when people say they were busy, maybe what they really meant was “it just wasn’t that important”. My opportunity passed, my natural ‘no’ took precedence and i knew it. The Lord says to me, “Have you ever heard someone say, “After I get this or that done, then I can serve the Lord, but right now I’m too busy”?” Realization flooded in, and in the moment, i was crushed because i knew that was me.

1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, and I reasoned like a child. But when I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” It is always the right time to do the right thing, and learning to deny our “natural no” is part of growing up.

What do you think?

Today’s program was written by Jerry Price.

Did you watch any of the Republican or Democratic National Convention stuff a while back? I’m not going to weigh in on which political party is right or wrong, but my observation centers on how these political conventions run and what the media does. After all, I’ve lived through several U.S. Presidents and have been witnessing these “Last Word Games” over and over, till the national stomach turns!

i saw convention delegates cheering keynote speakers, followed by comments from news people. Then, at times, we’d see a shift into Last Word Games. The agendas flew, depending on the media person or the guest they invited to comment on the speakers. It’s almost like watching the Green Bay Packers play the Dallas Cowboys. It is a type of last word game as the clock ticks down.

Sometimes I see this game played when counseling marriages. “No I didn’t say that!” “Yes you did and…”, then the one upping each other starts. Wish I could say I haven’t played the last word game but I can’t. Or how about a man and wife arguing about something ‘er other, and right at the crescendo, one of them turns away, spits out some pointed, caustic stream of words thrown over their shoulder, then goes through a door and slams it before the other person can reply.

Grade school kids play it when they argue with other kids about who is number one. Then insults fly and we might hear something like “Your mother wears combat boots!” Wish I was making this up but I actually remember hearing that when I was a kid. Those were fighting words!

The rule for Last Word games is “I’ll get control. I’ll run the show and if you don’t let me, I’ll hurt you.” Getting the last word means “I win and you lose!”, like firing a parting shot over your shoulder as you leave the room, leaving the other person no recourse but to lose the argument. Getting the last word serves as a clinching argument that will make up for any deficiencies in your logic. Getting the last word in the moment, also brings the advantage that you possibly may point to your success in the debate as the ultimate concluding argument for future debates. However, if you did not win the last debate, last word game players will often still incessantly and loudly claim that they did have the parting, winning shot.

i’d suppose many people figure, if you can just come up with that one, amazing, phenomenal statement of the “truth,” you can set your partner straight, and you’ll be right and they’ll see the ultimate error of their ways. Unfortunately, strategizing like that during a dispute is highly likely to only erode feelings of trust and good faith. You may be “technically correct”, but in truth, you’ve only caused your partner to feel that you care less about the relationship and more about winning.

These games always spring from what i call “avoidance strategies” where fearful thinking threatens the last word game player. Then “Boom!” the individual starts acting like a big shot, a tough, or sneaky person – it’s not what they’re saying as much as what they’re not saying that controls you. How manipulative is that thinking!

i believe there is another perspective which should persuade us when we are engaged in a tug of war over who gets the last word. God gets the first word in our lives, and the truth is, He also gets the last word. None of us had the advantage of saying to whom we were born, what color our hair would be, or what language we would speak. The first word in our lives is in the providence of God. On the end of things, the Lord has the last word too. We don’t get to decide when we die, how we will die, or where the end will happen. Again, that is in the providence of the Lord. In 2 Chronicles 18 Ahab was told by the prophet that if he went to war he was going to die. Arrogant Ahab thought he’d get the last word by saying, “I’ll deal with you when i get back!”, then drove off to war, overconfident, and hard hearted. Ahab thought he’d have the last word on the battle, proving to everyone that he was the King and nobody could tell him what to do! As it turns out, God’s man heard the Lord correctly and Ahab died, killed by a no-name soldier. We may play last word games, but truthfully, God is the one who always gets the last word … on everything.

Here’s something I do to mind this gap. On the spot, I call it out in a matter of fact manner. Then, I’ll encourage the hard work of letting others think for themselves, which is what Jesus did with Pilate in John 18:34 by asking “Is this your own question, or did someone tell you about me?” i believe the Lord respects those who own their own choices and conclusions. God always has the last word in our life.

Thanks for listening, i’m Social Porter for Living In His Name.