What Jesus Said, Jesus Meant - Turn the Other Cheek

^{Matthew 5:38} “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ ³⁹ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. ⁴⁰ If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also."

We must accept the fact that what Jesus said, Jesus meant.

I don't believe there is any deep or esoteric message in this passage.

So many times we are RIGHT. But RIGHT-ness is not always the issue. We may feel like we deserve revenge, or to retrieve something that we have unjustly lost, but there is more at stake than that.

Jesus was calling us to a higher way of living. This translates into a daily discipline that includes disarming conflicts that we are entitled to win.

Consider disabling an argument that you should win - with love.

Proverbs 21:14 "A gift in secret pacifies anger,
And a bribe behind the back, strong wrath."

Greater Vision, Greater Things

Luke and I had dinner last night with some folks who had the most interesting insight into the moon-landing.

They visited Kennedy Space Center the other day and noted how powerful the vision to get us to the moon was. Kennedy said, in a speech at Rice University in September of 1962, "We choose to go to the moon...in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

The technology was nowhere near advanced enough to get us there, but the vision and the resolve was strong.

In the Kingdom, great things are accomplished through great vision.

When we set our hearts on a God-inspired goal, it isn't the technology or the "pieces-in-place" that carry us to success, but the vision and faith in God Who provided the vision, that insures our victory.

What God-inspired visions do you carry in your heart?

With the Word in our hands, the Word in our heart, Godly counsel, and faith and vision for victory, we join God as partners in the "all things are possible" realm.

Expecting Greater Things

^{I Corinthians 13:9} "For we know in part and we prophesy in part. ¹⁰ But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away...¹² For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known."

^{Romans 8:22} "For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. ²³ Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body."

We see dimly.

We see in part.

We are still groaning within ourselves for the Greater Stature.

--------------------------------------------------------------
When my wife was pregnant with my boys there seemed to be constant transitions; reminders that what we had hoped for would be delivered.

This I know about transition; it is that time when "what was" no longer works and "what will be" has not yet had a chance to succeed.

We, as the Body, continue in transition.

But what He has promised He is sure to deliver. The pangs don't lie.

I AM expecting.

Memorial Day

"Who kept the faith and fought the fight;
The glory theirs, the duty ours."

~Wallace Bruce

Team-Building

Jesus built quite a team. These 11 (and later Paul and others) had a variety of strengths.

Many times we see organizations develop based on "like-kindedness", but "like-mindedness" is a better environment for success.

Lead with your strengths. And develop them.

Team up with people who have what you lack in terms of strength, but have what you have in terms of vision.

That way everyone wins at the expense of no one. Every joint supplies.

^{Ephesians 4:11} "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

He's still building His team.

Hidden Wisdom

Job 28 is a beautiful discourse on the exploits of man.

It ends in a verse that wraps up the whole search for wisdom and understanding.

I won't put the verse here. I'll let you seek it out.

Click on the Job 28 link.

Happy seeking.

What Do These Stones Mean to You?

When Israel crossed the Jordan under Joshua (Joshua 3) it was a significant landmark for the people of God.

To remind them of this event, God instructed Joshua to have one man from each tribe take a stone from the Jordan and bring it to where they were lodging, with the instruction,

"...when your children ask in time to come, saying, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever.” (Joshua 4:6b-7).

When they came up from the Jordan and the waters returned to where the ground had been dry, they set the stones in Gilgal as a memorial.

What have you "set" in your life as a memorial to the victories God has attained in and through you?

For years I carried a matchbox car in my pocket to remind me that He accepted me as His son.

Then I began carrying a leaf from a silk tree to remind me of how Zacchaeus came down from the tree, out of hiding, and that He had also called me by name.

In the noise, hurry and crowds of our life we must remember what God has done for us.

In Gilgal, speaking about this memorial, Joshua said to the people,

“When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ ²² then you shall let your children know, saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land’; ²³ for the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which He dried up before us until we had crossed over, ²⁴ that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the LORD, that it is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.” (Joshua 4:21b-24)

Set a memorial marker in your life today.

Today's Daily Bread

Hebrews 10.

Secrets 3

For 20+ years my wife and I have operated under a marriage strategy that we call "The B.E.S.T. Strategy". As with some of the other strategies that have become second-nature to us, we don't remember from whom or from where this strategy emerged. We just know it works.

Here's the skinny...

"B" stands for "Blessing". We make a point to bless each other, which means to say good things to and about each other. I cringe when I hear husbands refer to their wives as the "old lady" or the "ball-and-chain". She is a gift from God and, "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD" (Proverbs 18:22).

"E" stands for "Edifying". Again, our speech plays a role here. We lift each other up with encouraging words. We believe in each other and have confidence that God is working - on many levels - to develop and mature each other and we would rather partner with Him in edifying than partner with the enemy in bringing discouragement.

"S" stands for "Sharing". There is not a part of my life, a conversation, a plan, or a dream that I hold that my wife is not aware of. We share with each other. Everything. Especially communications with the opposite sex. We recognize that our marriage is not either one of us; it is both of us. The two really did become one, and it would be a mistake to keep half of us in the dark and it is such an honor to have someone willing to listen to everything I have to say!

"T" stands for "Touching". We touch. It's good for us. It confirms what we feel for each other and, even when in disagreement over something, we touch to remind each other that we are still one.

This acronym gives us a score card to turn to every once in awhile to make sure that some basics are in place. I am far from perfect. My sarcastic upbringings make the "Blessing" part a particular challenge but my wife has seen me make progress over the years.

I hope this helps.

Carbon-based Copies

Our culture is flooded with knock-offs. TV shows, songs, fashion, electronics, ministry...

Someone had the fearlessness to try something new and others followed.

God, in His fearlessness, made you new.

Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

What has God equipped you to do? Lead with your gift. It's what God gave YOU so you could do your share.

Partner Perks

When we partner with our Creator in the grand adventure of the pursuit and realization of our purpose in Him, we not only get closer to doing what we do best, but the journey itself becomes worthwhile as we grow closer to the One Who knows us best.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

Passion Points to Purpose

Joshua saw the Promised Land, but had to wait 40 years to enter. His passion for seeing Canaan again, and the purpose that God had for him, sustained his life and he was able to see his purpose fulfilled.

Pharaoh was passionate about restraining God's people. Most reasonable people would have given in a lot sooner when the plagues started rolling over the land. But God had made Pharaoh passionate about his purpose. Moses told him "But indeed for this purpose I (God) have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth" (Exodus 9:16).

What we are passionate about points to our purpose.

There is no doubt in my mind that God wants to use us, that He has established a purpose for each of us (Psalm 119:13-16; Ephesians 2:10). And He has wired our redeemed passions to point to our purpose.

What are you passionate about? Grow in it. Read. Study. Pray. And see the purpose unfold.

Genetics

One of the major influences on who we are is in our DNA. It is how God designed us genetically to fulfill the plan He has for us.

He has placed there certain qualities - physical, emotional, and intellectual - that, even before we meet Christ, "bend" us a certain way.

Character and talent starts here. Research has shown that - in the womb - different babies respond in different ways to the same stimuli.

We won't debate the source, but even weaknesses are as deep as our DNA.

We can't accept this as final. Our work, after Christ, is to "bend" to the New Birth.

When it comes to character, deal with your weaknesses. Let God change you.

When it comes to talent, expand on your strengths. Let God grow you.

Secrets

Now more than twenty years into our marriage my wife and I still begin and end many of our days with a question.

In the morning over breakfast or a cup of coffee one of us will ask the other, "What do you want to do with this day God has given us?".

It's our way of acknowledging His rule over our lives, His gift of life to us, and our responsibility to steward the gift. It keeps us from going "auto-pilot" with our lives, recognizing that that would be easy and is the way of far too many.

It's a form of worship for us, as it invites His Presence and establishes His high place in our thoughts and actions for the day.

At the end of the day, usually before praying together and drifting off to sleep, one of us will ask, "What is the most significant thing you (or we) did today?"

This is an evaluation, of sorts, of our effect on and for the Kingdom and our stewardship of the day. The best answers always have to do with people we spoke with or prayed with or played with, or maybe a particular instruction or sincere conversation with one of our boys.

If the most significant thing had to do with buying a new shirt or car or cell phone or a good profit on a business deal, then we know we need to adjust, re-establishing His place in our day and our commitment to partnering with Him. Nothing wrong with these things. We just don't think they should be the most significant.

It keeps us on track. His track.

Jesus, of course, said it best. Our questions just help remind us.

^{Matthew 6:25} “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
²⁸ “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹ “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

How Can I...?

God's people were suffering under a siege, of sorts.

The Midianites, Amalekites and others had Gideon and the rest of the Israelites pinned up in the mountains, their frequent and plunderous raids driving God’s people to dens, caves, and strongholds.

Reeling from generations of on-again off-again roller-coaster service and non-service to God, the Israelites cried out for deliverance. God heard their cry and sent a prophet to the people and then sent an Angel of the Lord to Gideon .

“…You shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you? ” the Angel asked. Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress. Out of options and out-of-place, Gideon responds, “…how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house”.

This unlikely hero had every reason to reject the idea that he would be used in bringing victory to God’s people. First of all, it was clear that they didn’t deserve it. God Himself had given them over to the Midianites because of their idolatry and worship of other gods. In Gideon’s mind, it would be reasonable to think that deliverance was unlikely. It would be more likely for the Angel to strike him dead right there on the spot for his lack of faith than for the Lord to use him to deliver Israel!

But the Lord had a different plan. And Gideon, the least of the weakest, was chosen.

After a bout with doubt and a fleece or two to seal his faith Gideon, in a daring nighttime raid of his own, destroyed the tokens to the false gods and built an altar to the Lord. This cleared the way for this unlikely hero to deliver the victory the Angel had promised.

What would you say to an Angel of the Lord Who asked, “Have I not sent you?”?

Gideon’s “How can I…?” is probably not too far from my response. Gideon then went as far as to require the Angel to provide proof of Who He was. And in spite of his questionings and call for credentials, God still used Gideon.

What does this say about God’s choice of heroes?

This is no place for a dissertation on predestination or the sovereignty of God. Indeed, I am ill-equipped theologically to hold you to any of my opinions on the subject. But scriptural evidence is there to testify to the impression that God will use whomever He wills.

Gideon was far from the man of great faith and conviction that we, in the contemporary church, contend is necessary for victory.

I think we disqualify ourselves when we don’t live up to an ideal. Gideon doubted. Gideon questioned. Gideon was far from ready for what God required of him. But God still used Gideon.

On this side of the cross, WE are God’s choice. Imagine that. In spite of our questions and doubts and issues of self-worth GOD HAS CHOSEN US! We are His partners in the conquest of His creation for His Glory. That’s why Paul could write:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved."

(Ephesians 1:3-6)

and...

"For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 27 But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; 28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence."
(1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

The very things that we think exclude us sanction us for His service.

God loves the impossible. He lives in that realm. We limit ourselves to what we believe we can do when what He is calling us to do is what we can’t do!

When we look at the unlikely heroes – Gideon and others - their uncertainty, doubt and weakness didn’t invalidate them. One could argue that faith needs uncertainty, like a ladder needs a wall, to reach its height.

With certainty, faith is not needed, and without faith it is impossible to please God.

Could you be an unlikely hero? It's very likely.