Perchance have I finally figured it out, love is not always a great big shout
It comes in all sizes, all colors and forms, love has so few regular norms God taught us it's big and its bold, real love never gets old We see it in a child, so fragile that it makes us act wild Protective, nurturing always kind, stop, then do a rewind Read 1 Corinthians 13, it will blow your mind Not just a feeling today, it's action for every day It makes us act crazy, empowers us to serve When it comes to us feels like more than we deserve Love lights up the sky like a million stars Love was never what we found in those dim, dark bars What is love? It is God's array of a beautiful creation It's in the electricity of His Spirits sensation It propels us compels us dispels division Creating the promise of a good decision It's in the air, it's everywhere, do you feel it passing It's Him to me, me to you, you to them, it's everlasting Love never ends but this blog will right about now Go grab you some seeds, and start to plow Love will start to spread like new grown cotton All because he gave us his one and only begotten! Thank you God! Glenn
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This is for the marginalized, the dis-enfranchised, the odd-balls and anyone else who feels like they don't fit in!
I heard a sermon this past Sunday by Steven Furtick titled "Concealed But Not Cancelled". You can pull it up on YouTube it's part of what I am basing this blog on which was also the topic in two groups led by me this week. One of his text points came from Judges 3:12-30, and I have added a bunch of commentary to it. Less than 15% of the world's population is left-handed and there are mixed opinions on what being that way means but here's a sample: There's a right-handed bias in the design of tools, left-handed people are subject to deliberate discrimination and discouragement and in some societies are considered unlucky, or even malicious by the right-handed majority. Other languages convey awkwardness, dishonesty, stupidity or other undesirable qualities about them. That could describe many of us who feel less than. In the story of yet another deliverance for the Israelites, God chooses a left hander to free them from oppression. His name is Ehud from the tribe of Benjamin, that name meaning "son of my right hand' in Hebrew, and those Benjamites were considered a right-handed tribe. Ehud made a sword 18" long and concealed it the quiver on his right leg which is of course the opposite of where folks would get patted down who were right-handed. Smart! Another characteristic of a left-hander is that they are creative and crafty. Long story made short, Ehud tricks everyone into leaving him and the king alone, kills him, walks out, blows his horn of triumph, then leads the Israelites in battle to defeat 10,000, and be set free for 80 years of peace. Great story, and if you think about it God uses the looked over, left out and less than as he did in multiple situations in the Bible to accomplish his will. That's why alcoholics, addicts, felons, all the oddballs can have their weakness turned into a weapon by the Lord. The Israelites were in captivity for 18 years so Ehud made a sword with an inch for every year of oppression. When you think about it it's about 18 inches from our head to our heart, and for those of us considered honorary "left-handers" that's the distance needing convincing that we are more than conquerors when he leads us. My take on this extended to todays circumstances: God can take a felon who has fallen and turn them into a hero who is ballin'. Believe it, Ehud certainly did! I remember so clearly their voices. On any long road trip we would take my kids would ask "Are we there yet?" It is a memory I will always cherish because we laughed so hard at how irritating it was to hear that over and over again.
Like little children we have a ton of questions about life. Where are we going? Who am I? How long will I live? What's the meaning of life? And on and on we are constantly asking Questions. How about this one: How can I overcome the obstacles of life? The Pharisee Nicodemus asked Jesus what he meant by the words You must be born again. In a nutshell his answer was you must have a complete faith makeover. Get rid of the human elements of faith you have learned and change your mindset to what is the will of God not the will of the people. Then you will know how to have the courage and strength to overcome even the most difficult of life's challenges. His words from the NLT: Humans can only reproduce human life. That's right, issues like addiction, relationship troubles, behavioral problems, etc. can not always be overcome by human knowledge, they require spiritual guidance. And where do we get that guidance - from that Spirit we receive from being born again, renewed in our mind, body and spirit. Lots of questions. The Pharisees asked Jesus another one: What is the most important commandment? His answer Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. Think about it. How do we know how to love God - by being born of his Spirit to receive his Spirit. How do we know how to love our neighbor - by loving ourselves the way God loves us. And how do we know how how to overcome life's most difficult obstacles: For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. 2 Timothy 1:7 We are "there yet" when we come to him. Does that answer your questions? We all have probably gone through a period of time where we struggled with our ego. We may have created a false sense of ourselves because we were not happy with who we were or maybe we lived in a fantasy world that escaped from reality for a myriad of reasons.
Ego is a persons sense of self esteem or self importance. When exercised in balance there is a sense of humility present that takes ourselves out of the way and puts God in the way. Ego is often referred to as Easing God Out but when we deflate the balloon of that false sense of who we are then ego can mean Easing God On. In Luke 18 there is the story of the tax collector and the Pharisee and how they prayed. One prayed as a person who "had it all together" and the other prayed like "I wish I had it all together". One had a false sense of themselves, the other realized he was a work in progress. In verse 14 it says For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. We can look at it like the Pharisee was dead wrong about his spiritual status because he belabored the sins of another so he could make himself feel good but it works both ways. Here's a quote from the AA 12 & 12: In belaboring the sins of some religious people we could feel superior to all of them. Moreover, we could avoid looking at some of our own shortcomings. Another quote from that book says this: All of A.A.'s 12 Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires...they all deflate our ego. In other words, Your Ego Is Not Our Amigo when we use it as a weapon, a fantasy or a protective device to escape from who we are. It's all about understanding humility. Are we easing God out or easing God on. If it's the later, then we take on the character of Jesus and follow the words in Philippians 2:3: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourself. Talk about ego deflating - more of him, and less of me! Everybody knows Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future".
But did you read the beginning (v4-9) where God sends his disobedient and defiant people into exile for a period of learning time? This is the back story and the part where you insert you into this story if God has ever set you down for a spell to change your ways. I like to think of exile as growth time, and God instructed them as to how they needed to grow before they came back home. And he told them to stop listening to outside voices. You know the ones that keep telling you to relapse, that life was better on the other side. Kind of like the Prodigal Son. Those voices didn't come from him. but from those opposing him and taking folks away from the path God wanted them to follow. God stayed with them during this time and then told them (v10-11) that there was an exit time if they paid attention. And then he mentioned the plans, prosperity and hope. The set down time is rehab time, time to learn how to grow into a man or woman of God. Not a fun time, but a time to heal. Then, he gives them the benefits of being Set Free instead of being set down in V12-14: Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the Lord, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile." Set Free - Indeed! |
Glenn YankowskiGlenn is an ex-Marine Viet Nam vet who is also a recovering alcoholic, clean and sober for 30 years. He has been involved in start up and ongoing recovery ministry at North Atlanta Church and Campus for the last two decades. He has a passion for outreach and to spread the message that the answer to lasting and fulfilling recovery from addiction is in a relationship with Jesus Christ. He and the ATB team are available to assist in your questions or needs on an individual basis and will do so maintaining complete confidentiality. You may e-mail him at sgtski@bellsouth.net. Archives
April 2024
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