Disqualified but Qualified

It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. 2 Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3 They were calling out to each other,

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies!
    The whole earth is filled with his glory!”

4 Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” Isaiah 6:1-6 (NLT)

Can you imagine being Isaiah and standing before God in the throne room? Imagine the power and glory that radiated in that spot? Angels flying all over singing, praising and worshipping the Lord of Hosts? What an overwhelming site to behold.

It’s no wonder that Isaiah stood there and said “Woe is me.” (KJV) I can’t imagine taking in the glory of God and saying anything else. In the midst of this moment, somewhere in the recesses of his mind the thought occurred that here he was, a completely sinful human, standing before God – the Holy One. As he stood there and realized he was in the presence of Holiness, what else could he say? The contrast between his utter failure to God’s perfection....well, I would say “Woe is me” too.

And I do. We don’t see everything God is doing all around us. He is always at work and we miss most of it. But we do get to catch glimpses of Him every now and again. When I do, I, like Isaiah, verbalize a form of “Woe is me.” It comes out more like “I can’t do this. I am not qualified. This is too big for me. I don’t have the training.” I realize as I see Him move in His absolutely mind-blowing ways, that my insignificance, my sin, my attitudes are all disqualifiers.

But then I remember that there wasn’t one human being ever that was qualified to represent God. Not one.

As Isaiah processed his “unclean lips”, a seraphim flew over to the Alter, picked up a hot coal with a tong and placed it on his lips. He said “Your guilt is removed.” (NLT) God gave Isaiah a gift of forgiveness and healing.

We’ve been given that gift too. As Jesus hung on the cross He uttered the words “It is finished.” You are forgiven. Your sins have been removed. Same gift that was offered to Isaiah.

And like Isaiah, each of us is called. We all have a job to do in God’s Kingdom. He has something for every one of his kids to accomplish. When I am tempted to think “I can’t because...” I need to remember that because of Jesus, I can. I have been qualified. So have you.

And I will lean into my calling. Because I love Him. I will face my fears and inadequacies knowing that Jesus lives in me and because of His sacrifice, His power enables me. When life is over and I bow before His throne, I won’t be afraid any more. When I hear Him say “Well done”, I will know the journey was worth it.

What Is It For?

But when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power, and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 (GNT)

Have you ever prayed to receive the Holy Spirit? Have you ever prayed that you would get a huge anointing of the Spirit? Have you prayed it for yourself or others? I have.

I pray for an anointing of the Holy Spirit all the time. I pray for a super duper portion. I pray it for me and for people I know. Heck, sometimes I even pray it for my whole church and for all churches all over….for God’s people.

Why do we pray this? I know I pray it because I want Holy Spirit power. Key word there is probably power. I want the Holy Spirit to move in such a powerful way that people know he’s in it without any doubt.

As I read Acts 1:8 I got stuck. I got stuck on what we are supposed to do when the Holy Spirit comes on us. It says When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will be filled with power (WOOHOO!), and you will be witnesses for me everywhere. (WOOHOOs inserted are mine.)

There you go. I can be filled with the Holy Spirit and I can be filled with power. But wait. What am I supposed to do with it? Is it to make my ministry successful? Is it to get the church worship service to move people? Is it to get people dialed into my denomination or to grow the numbers attending my service? What is it for? The Bible says it is so I will be a witness for Jesus.

The definition of witness is to give evidence of something or to have personal knowledge of something. So, when we receive the Holy Spirit, we are supposed to share what we know personally, because we’ve experienced it. We are supposed to be out there, telling people about our Jesus and showing them how much he loves them. And, we are supposed to do it everywhere we go.

I know there is so much more to this than my brain can comprehend but I am now clear on something. When I pray for the Holy Spirit, I understand why I will receive it. I understand what I’m supposed to do when I do receive it. Share Jesus. Simple, yet powerful.

Who's Power?

Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying. Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT)

I have some weird health issues. Every now and then, this one thing will happen and when it does, it is super unnerving. It’s scary to me and to anyone who notices it. It happened again recently, while I was preaching. By the grace of God, I finished the sermon and most people (except for those closest to me), didn’t know.

But I did and let’s just say my first thought was that I wasn’t going to preach ever again. Even though God finished the sermon, I became super afraid that this would happen again and what if it didn’t go so well the next time? What if?

Those what if questions pop into your head a lot when there is something in your life you can’t control. And as I ponder those questions, they get worse and the fear grows more intense. So, I pray. Because hey, the only person who can control it is God.

During my prayers I think of Paul who had a thorn in the flesh. I keep praying because that didn’t make me feel any better. (just being honest.) Everyone keeps saying I should slow down, I should rest. So what? I sit on a couch my whole life and do what? I believe God has a call on my life (by the way, I believe God has a call on all of our lives). If that is so, I am pretty sure it isn’t to sit on the couch and rest. And, that is not how God wired me.

But, I don’t want to be afraid either. I don’t want to not step into my calling because of fear. That would be a tragedy. So I prayed some more. And God brought today’s text into my worship. Jesus died so I would not live my life as a slave to the fear of dying. And I’d like to take it a step further. Jesus died so I would not have to live my life as a slave to fear. Period. He broke the power of death. He broke the power of fear. He broke Satan. WOOT!

This verse spurred a talk with God about what it was I was actually afraid of. And as I discussed these things with him, this verse popped into my head.

“My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

I guess I have two choices. One, walk around being afraid and have that limit what I do or two, lean into the power of Jesus Christ. The rest of that verse says:

So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.

I’ll still be praying because it is still scary sometimes but I will also turn it over to Jesus. I will boast about my weakness so Jesus can shine through. He loves me so much he died so I could live being sure of who holds my life and my future..

Doing the Jesus Thing

Bear with each other, and forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, forgive that person because the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 (NCV)

We had known each other a long time. We’d worked together and I believe, our work relationship had grown into a friendship. This couple that I considered friends were good people. I thought. A few years ago, they made a choice that hurt me financially and emotionally. During this process, they didn’t call to explain. We didn’t have any conversations. Immediately and abruptly, the relationship was severed as they made choices that would negatively impact my life - all in the name of business.

As I journeyed through those years, trying to get back on my feet, I prayed to forgive. It didn’t happen immediately but I eventually got to the point where I intellectually said I forgave them. I reasoned that God is in control of everything and truthfully, this journey grew my walk with God in ways nothing else could.

Recently, God revealed to me that I had not completely forgiven them. In my head I could say I did but my heart was not 100% following along. When I heard there names, my head would understand where it needed to be but my deep down self was not as compliant.

There was still a root in there that I have not addressed. There is still hurt and some anger leftover. And God says this cannot be. God tells us (many times) in the Bible to forgive. We need to forgive because we have been forgiven for so very much. But mostly, I think, we need to forgive to be free of that weight that holds us down.

Do you know how I know I have not totally surrendered this to Jesus? I know because when I think of them I don’t see two children of God who Jesus loves so desperately. My heart doesn’t ache for them to know Jesus. Instead, I see two people who are on the wrong path. Sure. I pray for them but mostly I pray for me. I pray that God will help me forgive.

When I have forgiven someone, the negative burden I feel lifts. I begin to see them as someone Jesus heart aches for and I want nothing more than for them to know him. And my prayers follow that with pleas to God that he will reach their hearts.

So, I am back to the beginning. I am facing this thing that happened but with a different goal. I don’t want to get to the place where as a Christian I can say I did what God asks. I want to get to the place where I actually am doing what God asks. Only the transforming power of Jesus can do this in me. I just need to surrender and stop trying to do it on my own.

Who's Righteous?

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.  James 5:16 (NLT)

When I first heard this verse, I thought "Well, there you go. I am not righteous so that won't help me."  I thought being righteous meant to be good; you know, to follow all the rules.

It doesn't meant that.  Righteousness is being right with God. How do you get right with God? You believe and follow his Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 3:21-24). When Jesus died for us, our sins were covered with his blood. When God sees us he sees his Beloved Son. He sees his righteousness.

So, if I believe and follow Jesus, my prayers are heard and they contain great power. In other words, they mean something. There is weight behind them.  The weight of a child asking their Father for help. 

Kind of simple really. The MSG puts it like this.
The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. (MSG)

Why do we make it so complicated when God made it easy?

Not In Our Neighborhood

When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.  Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.  Luke 8:34-37 (NLT)

Jesus cast the demons into the herd of pigs. The herd of pigs immediately ran off the cliff and dove into the water, drowning. The man, however, was at peace and for the first time in a very long time sat calmly and participated in a conversation.

The folks tending the sheep ran off and told the entire town what happened. Keep in mind that a town in that part of the world at that time was not like the towns we think about now. They were little villages where word spread quickly. All the curious came to see if it was true and there, to their amazement, sat this man listening to Jesus and talking to the others around. He was even dressed!

Their reaction was one of joy and happiness. They ran to Jesus and asked him to help their friends and loved ones by healing them too. They recognized who he was and they too wanted to talk to him and be near him.

NOT.

That is not what they did.  They were afraid because they didn't understand this power. They only knew that this was different and too much out of their control so they asked Jesus to leave. They sent away the one who could bring them joy, happiness and healing because he wasn't what they were used to.

How often do we do the same?