Not Disorder but Peace
It has been a “readin’ up” day, and I am eager for my love to return. We will see what being empty nesters is like once more, but I am up for the challenge! Thank You, Father, for the blessing she is to me and so many others!
1 Corinthians 14: 36-40 (<<click here to read the passage)
For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people. v33
But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. v40 NIV
A good part of humanity tends to lean toward swinging from one extreme to another, and in many ways, it works against us.
One of the things that bothers me, in the church in particular, is that we have a mentality that it’s our way or the highway. Yes, there are many absolutes – the core tenants of our faith- but we hold many other things on the same level and refuse to budge.
One example is the many different components of worship. Music comes to my mind (no surprise there!) I am partial to hymns, but many find great benefit in more contemporary worship styles. There are critics on both sides of the fence. Some hold that giving up hymns releases a great resource of theologically based reinforcement. Others feel that sticking with just hymns lacks the appeal needed to bring in the non-churched – they can’t relate to old fuddy-duddy stuff. But in all truth, as long as they both point us in the right direction – to God, praising Him, and encouraging us to follow Him faithfully – they accomplish what is necessary.
In his address to the Corinthian church, Paul is taking on what sounds like the craziness of disorder in worship. The components were there; the problem was that everyone was doing what they thought best, with no real thought put into how it impacted the body as a whole.
Interestingly, my Life Application Study Bible, in response to Paul’s statement, “God is not a God of disorder but of peace,” states that the preferred alternative to disorder is “peace.”
As I mentioned, to counter disorder, some believers have swung to the opposite extreme by opting for rigid, predictable, and unvarying forms of worship. Disorder is one thing, but responding this way makes God’s presence equally difficult to find. When there is chaos, the church is not allowing God to work among believers as he would like. Worship that “is done properly and in order” should not, however, rule out God’s creativity, joy, and unpredictability.
We must do our part to have worship be a joyful, peaceful, winsome experience that draws people into it.
Only then will it accomplish its goal of engaging us and bringing us into God’s presence to impact and change us as it needs to.
Lord Jesus, help us to make worship what it needs to be, an interaction with You to continue to make us more like You. Amen.
Feb 12th, 2024, Mon, 12:22 pm
A Letter to God
It has been a full day, even flying solo. Father, our time – just You and me – has yet to take place. Open my ears. Open my heart. Amen.
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I’m hesitant to write this, but if I am not vulnerable and transparent, is the impact as great?
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My Dearest Father,
This is not easy, but I feel the necessity of it and have felt it weighing on my heart as early as this past Saturday.
How can You love me like You do? My brain has difficulty processing the enormity of it! Your love is unfailing, whereas my love for You seems to falter far too frequently. Well, let me rephrase that…it’s not that I don’t love You. It’s that I repeatedly fall short of showing You my love. Well, even that is not really saying what I’m feeling. Too often, my love is not shown in that I do things that hurt You – things that are not good for me…things that are not good for our relationship.
I cannot process the unfathomable depths of Your love… Time and time again, I start off close by Your side, then willingly stray. Like a child, I can often hear Your voice, but in my arrogance and selfishness, I pretend I don’t hear it. Honestly, there are times, much to my shame, that I ignore it.
But do those acts block Your love for me? Amazingly, no! The times, like the Prodigal, that I have strayed and been lovingly welcomed back into Your arms are innumerable!
I remember as a youth thinking that my name in the Book of Life had been erased and rewritten so many times that surely a hole had been worn through the paper! But, no, your love is never-ending. You, my Father, bless me over and over again with a longsuffering love. Your patience knows no end.
I know I need not ask, but please continue loving me. Please, don’t give up on me. Please continue to call out for me. Please continue to pursue me. I know I need You. I know that I cannot make it without You.
And as You know, I am weak. And as I know, You are strong.
I know I am rattling on, but I surely understand that the One who is love cannot stop loving me. Hold me tight. Wrap me up with Your mighty arms. May I not forget the warmth and compassion of Your embrace. For that memory will continue to bring me back if I do stray from You, for I cannot live life without You.
My existence is dependent upon You. I am incomplete without You. What I am called upon to do as a result of our relationship can only be accomplished when I am a vessel pouring out Your love to others, standing strong in Your strength, and Your wisdom guiding me. I am Yours, my Dearest Father. Use me as You will.
Feb 11th, 2024, Sun, 7:03 pm
What Good Will It Do?
There’s a lot on my plate, Father, with many things needing to be accomplished in a short period. Please help me focus on our time together and then get at the other things promptly and productively. Amen.
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A middle school student has ridden my bus since the last half of his kindergarten year. He’s a good kid and, like many of them, is growing up way too fast! Anyway, most often, as students are getting off in the afternoon, I will say, “Have a good rest of your day” or “Have a good one,” adding their name, and usually their reply is “You, too.” Well, today I just said “Bye” to this young man, and did he say “Bye” back? No, he replied, as he usually does, “You, too.” I don’t know if he even caught what he said, or for that matter, if he even heard what I said.
I chuckled as I pulled away, but it got me to thinking. How often do we have automatic knee-jerk reactions to people and circumstances around us? I’ve responded similarly in similar situations myself and will often shake my head at my auto-response mechanism.
When I last preached, the passage of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount that we were studying was from Matthew 5:21-26, and we were dealing with anger.
A portion of my sermon (reworking one by Rev. Rod Buchanan) had this to say,
…a right relationship with God can never be separated from right relationships with other people. They are inextricably linked. A bad relationship with another person will interfere with your relationship with God. Sometimes, you cannot help the way someone feels about you. The Bible says in Romans 12:17-18,
“Never repay anyone evil for evil. Take thought for what is right and gracious and proper in the sight of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” AMP
Sometimes, it’s possible, and sometimes it’s not. Sometimes, your efforts to bring reconciliation will work wonderfully…sometimes, you will be surprised that they do not affect the other person. But you are obligated to do what you can do. You are to look for opportunities. Love will find a way. Paul went on to say,
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.”
Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good. Romans 12:19-21 NLT
We are not to be passive about ruined relationships. We are to be intentionally proactive – even if we believe it will do no good.
So, when there is someone with whom we are at odds, do we respond in our interactions with knee-jerk reactions? “What good will it do? They’ll never change! I’ll just be wasting my breath.”
But what happens if their “Have a good one” becomes a “Bye”? What if they are experiencing a change of heart? What will our response be? Will we even notice?
That is why we never give up!
The great thing is that, as Christians, we know…Someone who is looking out for us, helping us, and working on our behalf. Reconciliation is the heartbeat of Christ. It sent him to the cross – and we are to be like him. Amen!
Jan 8th, 2024, Thurs, 5:08 pm
Of Forklifts and Eternity
I am still worn out from everything we had on over the last several days, but with Your help, Father, I will see where You are leading me today!
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While in Texas, I was the one who waited for the storage container to be delivered. The semi-truck driver got it all professionally in place, and before he left, we chatted a bit. They use a very heavy-duty forklift to load and unload the container. The forklift is actually secured to the back of the trailer when not in use.
In my younger years, I was certified to operate a forklift myself. We talked of the crazy things that can happen if one is not careful in doing so.
He shared a story about a man who hopped on a lift to make a quick run to the company’s building next door. He took the corner way too fast, causing the lift to roll over on its side. The man attempted to jump clear but instead was killed when the lift rolled over on him.
Had that poor man woke up that morning knowing it would be his last day on earth? No, all in all, we do not know those things. For him, it was a day like any other. He had no idea what awaited him.
Even at this very moment, do you know what the future holds for you? It may very well be a day like so many others in your life – full of basic predictability to the very end. But…without the slightest notice, your life could end. Car accidents, heart attacks, brain aneurysms, even something as simple as a fall while out walking – anything could happen at any time.
King David wrote in Psalm 39:4-5,
“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
….Remind me that my days are numbered—
….how fleeting my life is.
You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
….My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
….at best, each of us is but a breath.” NLT
And then Jesus said in Matthew 24:42-44.
“So be alert [give strict attention, be cautious and active in faith], for you do not know which day [whether near or far] your Lord is coming. But understand this: If the head of the house had known what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore, you [who follow Me] must also be ready; because the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not expect Him. AMP
Today, take this time to look…I mean, really look…at where you stand in your relationship with the Lord. Are you taking it to heart and striving each day to live for Him and love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Or are you letting way more slide than you should, jeopardizing that relationship?
Right now, take the time to make things right. Nothing…not one single thing…is more critical in all that is ahead of you at this given moment. Amen.
Feb 7th, 2024, Wed, 6:45 pm
Greater Love Has No One Than This
Father, it has been a super busy last few days, but You, in Your strength, have gotten us through it! Thank You for all You have done!
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Over the last several days, Karen and I have been helping our son go through his life’s accumulation of things. He recently accepted a dream position in Texas! We are incredibly proud of him. This will be a very short post in that I am still recovering after much more lifting and moving than my body is used to.
We all have heard this verse.
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13 NKJV
But as I was thinking about it yesterday, I realized that, at least in my mind, I most often think of it in reference to someone dying out of their love for others. But I think it also applies to other things we do out of love for others.
We were on a pretty tight schedule to get a moving container packed and ready for pickup today – it arrived Thursday afternoon. There were many things to sort through, organize, clean up, and eventually load. The back room of our home has served as a storage unit following his completion of grad school.
For the most part, we stopped all other endeavors to accomplish this task. We decided to “lay down” our lives. When you woke up Monday morning, there was no MoreThanUseless blog post, which is the norm. It has happened, but it has been a rarity in the last nine years. Essentially, I laid down a pretty important part of my life – one that takes a good chunk of my time five-plus days a week…every week. But it came down to a decision of either stepping out of helping my son in a crunch time to ensure his things were loaded and ready to go or putting together another post. I chose love.
My challenge for you today is to let love rule your life. And in actuality, that should read, let Love rule your life, for as it says in the last half of 1 John 4:16,
God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him. AMP
Sometimes, we just need to lay down our life for others… Greater love has no one than this.
Jan 29th, 2024, Mon, 5:19 pm