Fear and Delight

On the surface, Fear and Delight seem to be strange bedfellows. The phrase strange bedfellows is a line from the Tempest written by Shakespeare. In that context, it means that politics can bring people together that don’t have anything else in common. They can be very different but when they have to come together for a common goal like war, they end up in relationship. More fittingly, merriam-webster defines stange bedfellows as a phrase often used to describe an unlikely alliance of people or things. Fear and Delight appear to be an unlikely alliance of emotions.

When it comes to comparing God’s ways to man’s, hear what God says, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts” Isaiah 55:9 It is not strange in God’s perspective for Fear and Delight to be an unlikely alliance. In a biblical sense, the phrase the Fear of the Lord does not mean afraid. Fear there means to revere, respect, hold in high regard, honor. Psalms 112 says

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord,
Who delights greatly in His commandments.

Happiness, joy and good comes to the man or woman who fears the Lord. How or why? Because of the one who reverences God and His Word obeys God’s Word. When we obey God, we are blessed. The delight is in following God’s ways as outlined in His Word. Almost always, that cuts against the grain of who we are and what we think. Again, “..My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts”. Furthermore, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. As such, the disobedient are opposed by God especially those who profess to be a follower of Christ. We see throughout the Word of God the discipline or chastisement of God on His people. His intent is to cause us to repent and obey. He isn’t punishing us. He is trying to train us to make the best choice, obedience to His Word. That is the essence of Fear and Delight.

When God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments, the people saw the thunder and lightning, heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke As a consequence, they trembled in fear. Not reverential fear, but being afraid. To that Moses said, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” God wanted them to be enraptured by His awesome power. He wanted them to see Him and revere, honor and worship Him through obedience. God wanted them to place great emphasis on having no god before Him and not succumbing to idolatry. Romans 8 says

⁵ For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, ⁸ and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ¹⁰ If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Fear and Delightrevolves around the follower of Christ following the Holy Spirit, so God can manifest the Fruits of the Spirit in and through our lives blessing us and the people around us in the process. What brings greater delight than to know God and be used by God to reveal Himself to man? NOTHING. That is not strange. Fear and Delight is what we all truly long for. Surrender unto Jesus who desires to give us peace with God and the peace of God as we escape the eternal penalty of our sins by trusting in Him as Lord and Savior.

The Guarantor

When both of my children needed a place to live for college, apartments were found for them to live.  My children filled out the paperwork, but then something happened I did not expect. I received an email requesting me to sign as the guarantor of the lease. According to Kiplinger.com, a guarantor is someone who agrees to pay the rent if the tenant cannot pay. This also puts the guarantor on the hook for the terms stipulated in the contract, including not only the monthly rent but also move-in and move-out fees, late fines, and other rent charges. For my daughter and my son, I was a guarantor. 

In a general sense, a guarantor is a person, organization, or thing that guarantees something. I have often stated that some things in the physical world mirror the spiritual. The notion of the guarantor can be found throughout scripture. However, today, the focus is on the triune God of the Bible, Jehovah Elohim. 

What is it that God guarantees? There are a multiplicity of promises God has made, but I want to focus on a foundational guarantee that makes everything else possible for His children. After the fall, that is when Adam and Eve sinned breaking fellowship with God, man had lost its connection with God. Fellowship had been severed. If you will recall from Genesis, Adam and Eve experienced shame evidenced by their recognition of their nakedness, so they made coverings for themselves. Furthermore, they hid from God once the heard Him approaching. In a technical yet real sense, Adam and Eve had died. They were separated from God because of their sin, and they lost their full intimacy with one another because of the shame they felt. 

When we offend someone in a relationship, we can apologize, but the offender never has the authority to make the relationship right. It is the one who is offended that has that right or authority. Adam, Eve, and satan had offended God. If you read in that chapter, you see some of the consequences; however, God declared this to satan “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (v.15)

It was in that statement that we see the beginning of stages of The Guarantor. Satan’s defeat was declared in that verse and reconciliation with mankind would occur. The prophecy of Christ was foretold. In Genesis 12, God reveals how He would bring it about. God promised Abraham “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing…and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” 

Hebrews 6 tells us

“13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20 where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.”

Melchizedek is the King of Righteousness and the King of Peace. 

God, The Guarantor,  made an oath. God swore by Himself to guarantee His promise that He made to Abraham. This oath showed that God’s promises (like His character) are unchanging. Abraham’s trust in this was the gateway to the fulfillment of the promise. Likewise, our trust or faith in Christ is our gateway to the fulfillment of the promise. It is our pathway to enter into relationship with God. Many mistakenly think that all people are God’s children. That is incorrect. John 1:12 tells us “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—” The promise is for all who have trusted in Christ as Lord and Savior. It is those who trust in Christ that are saved from the eternal consequences of sin as well as the control of sin in the here and now. Sin loses its power over the follower of Christ. 

The Guarantor, through the Holy Spirit, enables and empowers us to live victoriously. Ephesians 1:13 -14 tells us “13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”

God guarantees that those who trust in Christ as Lord and Savior become His children with full rights to many more of His promises or guarantees. Guarantees for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Who does not want to experience love and joy and goodness? 

We know that all people sin and sin continually. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” We owe God a debt that we cannot pay without being eternally damned. If you have never trusted in Christ as Savior and Lord, John 3 tells us that you stand condemned by God and that His wrath remains on you, but that is for the afterlife. In the now, you forfeit the fullness of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. You have a choice – you can be your guarantor or you can trust God as yours. If you fail to, you are just like any of us, we need a guarantor because we are not able to meet the conditions set. It will cost you victory over sin in this world and your soul in the one afterward. 

Will you seek and serve The Guarantor?

God will use me to accomplish His will even when I am convinced He cannot

After my devotion from TITW and sending messages, I was prompted to write this. 

There is a familiar saying or idiom that perfectly captures the essence of what God shared with me this morning. “You can’t see the forest for the trees”. I am not sure where that originated, but most have come to accept that it means to not understand or appreciate a larger situation, problem, etc., because one is considering only a few parts of it. 

In a biblical sense, the few parts is how one looks at himself/herself. The larger situation or the whole of the matter is God – His sovereignty, His incomprehensibleness. We miss seeing the picture because we are too narrowly focused on ourselves rather than focusing on who God is, His character, and what God can do, His authority and power. 

There are times when God declares the He will do something. In those instances, it has nothing to do with our gifts or the lack there of, but because we are so consumed with ourselves, which is pride and idolatry at its finest, we do not see it. We just see ourselves. All too often for so called believers or followers of Christ, we live by sight rather than by faith. We know from Habakkuk 2:4 and Romans 1:17 that God said, “but the righteous will by faith”. crf The believer must stand in faith in God. 

We don’t see the forest (God) because we are looking at the trees (self). When we do not recognize God for who He is, His character, and what He can do, His authority and power, we miss opportunities for God to bring glory to Himself and to bring the gospel to life to other through us. The irony of wanting to be so important that we miss the greatest demonstration of being important by being used by God to bring glory to Himself and to bring other to Himself through the gospel. 

The passage today was Exodus 3 and Exodus 4. God had called Moses to go to Egypt to tell Pharaoh to let His people go. Moses gave several excuses or presented several reasons as to why Moses could not accomplish what God called him to do. 

1. Our inadequacy – Moses said “Who am I…?” How many times have we disqualified ourselves from seeing the forest because we focused on the tree(s). We continue to look at how we don’t measure up which is what we hate for others to say or to project on us; however, we do the well enough ourselves. The antidote is given. God promised His presence – I will be with you. 
2. Our authenticity – Moses could not authenticate that God had spoken to him and given him direction because he would not be able to prove to the people that it was actually God who said and and sent him. The antidote is given. God told him to tell them I AM WHO I AM sent him. This was the self-existing God. God gave Moses the road map of how to explain who He was and assured him that He was more than capable of getting the people to believe wha Moses shared with them. 
3. Our capability – Moses knew he did not have any power to do anything. Again, he was looking at himself, the trees. He did not recognize God’s authority, His right to choose or decide, and His power, the ability to accomplish what He chose or decided. Jeremiah 9:23-24 tells us not to trust in our wisdom, strength or riches, but in Him through our relationship with Him. As believers, we need not focus on our lack of capabilities i.e. our gifts, talents, skills or abilities. We need to trust in God’s capability to bring about His desired end despite what we are able to do or not. The antidote is given. God gave Moses the capability to reveal God’s power by turning a staff to a snake, making his land leprous and turning it back normal, turning water to blood on dry ground.
4. Our Coherency – Moses pointed to him not being eloquent in speech. God allowed Aaron to speak for him; yet, God told him to perform the signs which would overshadow Moses inadequacy, provide authenticity and demonstrate God’s capability. (Not sure if it should just be three points – the first three)

Despite all of those reasons to doubt whether God could use him, God used Moses to get Pharaoh to let the people go – go worship Him. It was not just to let them go. It was not just to relieve them of their slavery. It was so that they could go an worship God. So many times, we focus on us, the trees. The bigger picture in all of this was God, the forest. God wanted the people whom He had chosen to go and worship Him. Pharaoh would not let them go. The people would not see God. God used both of those situations to bring glory to Himself and propagate the Lord God, Jehovah Elohim, as the one true, self-existing God. The Israelites needed to see it as well as the Egyptians. God accomplished both. 

Let’s look at the end of chapter 4. “29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31 and they believed. And when they heard that the Lord was concerned about them and had seen their misery, they bowed down and worshiped.” Belief and worship is God’s ultimate goal. Will you believe and will you worship God?

But out of Reverence for God

Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.

The book of Nehemiah reveals some principles about leadership and living that we all can benefit from. Listen to Nehemiah in chapter 5

“14 Moreover, from the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, until his thirty-second year—twelve years—neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. 15 But the earlier governors—those preceding me—placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels[a] of silver from them in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I did not act like that. 16 Instead, I devoted myself to the work on this wall. All my men were assembled there for the work; we did not acquire any land.”

For me, one phrase jumped off the page, “But out of reverence for God” How many of us truly reveres God enough to alter our behavior? If you profess to be a follower of Christ, that is exactly what it means. The problem is that too many times “I” takes over. It isn’t about God; it is about us. “I” stands for idolatry. The first commandment is to have no other god before me. When “I” dominates our thinking and action, we are idolators.

In the passage, we see Nehemiah contrasts his behavior with those of former governors, all of which were also Israelites. The former leaders did not differentiate themselves as god-fearing leaders. With leading a city or a household, our challenge is to apply the principles of God by allowing the fruits of the Spirit to come forth in our behavior. Our challenge is that often we do not have the discipline or courage to stand for God. We make it about us. Let me let you in on secret – it isn’t about us if you profess to follow Christ. It is about Christ. To that standard, God will hold all of us accountable. Knowing God is the primary means of how souls will be separated.

Jesus illustrates that in Matthew 7
²¹ “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Ask God to help you today to remember “But out of reverence for God” and act accordingly. Otherwise, you may end of hearing “Away from me, you evil doers.”

God’s Sovereignty and Our Responsibility

“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14b

In Christendom, there is a delicate balance between our responsibility and God’s sovereignty. It is true that God requires us to have faith. Hebrews 11:6 tells us that without faith that God is not pleased. Yes, James 2 tells us ” In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”

On the surface, one might think these two passages contradict one another. The Word of God never contradicts itself. We have to let scripture interpret scripture rather than allowing our feeble minds misconstrue the the truth of God.

Nehemiah demonstrates that balance for us in Nehemiah 4 as he was walking that road that God called him to walk. Despite facing opposition, Nehemiah had faith that God would accomplish what He had promised. At the same time, Nehemiah led the people to arm and guard themselves from the purported attacks that would stop them from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem.

In blind faith, we must not abdicate our responsibility to do our part in any task that God has given us. It is a shared work. God gains greater glory when we have faith and fulfill our responsibility in the face of challenge, difficulty, hardship or just down right evil.

What is the part that God has called you to do in your current situation? Do it and watch God work.

For further study of God’s Sovereignty and Our Responsibility, explore that dynamic in lives of the examples God has provided for us:

• David as fought Goliath on the way to being king – 1 Samuel 17
• Joseph realizing his dream – Genesis 37
•  Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah refusal to bow down to Nebuchadnezzar in worship – Daniel 3
• Daniel as he refused to not pray to Jehovah, the Almighty God – Daniel 6
• Hezekiah standing up against Sennacherib king of Assyria – 2 Kings 18-19
• Jesus taking on flesh to redeem mankind – Philippians 2

Jesusteenth

According to Wikipedia, Juneteenth (officially Juneteenth National Independence Day) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. Deriving its name from combining June and nineteenth, it is celebrated on the anniversary of the order by Major General Gordon Granger proclaiming freedom for enslaved people in Texas on June 19, 1865 (two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued). Originating in Galveston, Juneteenth has since been observed annually in various parts of the United States, often broadly celebrating African-American culture. The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law; however, early celebrations date back to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. Participants in the Great Migration brought these celebrations to the rest of the country. During the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, these celebrations were eclipsed by the nonviolent determination to achieve civil rights, but grew in popularity again in the 1970s with a focus on African American freedom and African-American arts.

Just as Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, I submit that Jesusteenth, commemorates the day that freedom from sin is given to anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Like Juneteenth, Jesus’ proclamation of freedom came before the realization of that freedom. In John 8 Jesus said, “³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” ³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Jesus Christ offers a freedom that many fail to realize. In vast numbers, people see a life surrendered to Christ as limiting and a bunch of do’s and don’t’s. In actuality as Romans 6 tells us, “Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?” Either way, we are slaves. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to be a servant to the one who offers me true freedom in my service to Him.

In Christ, what have we been freed from? Let me give you a few of the innumerable freedoms we have in Christ Jesus.

Being condemned – John 3:18

Being objects of His wrath – John 3:36

Being unholy and unacceptable to God – Romans 15:16

Being on the wrong path that leads to death – following the wrong people and ideas. Blind leading the blind. Not left in the darkness any longer – Colossians 1:13

Being redeemed – Luke 1:68; Galatians 3:13-14; 1 Peter 1:18

Being controlled by sin – idolatry, envy, lust, rage but by the fruits of the Spirit – Romans 8 and Galatians 5:18-23

Being hateful to our enemies – Luke 6

Being unmerciful- Luke 6

Being unloving – 1 John 4

Being one with an evil heart – Luke 6

Being an enemy of God – Colossians 1

Being unable to be at peace with God – various

I could continue, but I believe you have the idea that Jesusteenth provides freedom most have never known. If you didn’t realize that you did not have freedom from the things aforementioned, surrender your life to Jesus as Lord and Savior, so you can have access to the greatest freedom every known.

Remember that I AM

In the American Folktale, The Little Engine That Could the story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work.In spite of that story, have you ever wondered how hope is lost? Most of us have looming thoughts of facing an impossibility and also being unworthy. There is no amount of positive thinking that can overcome such a foundational pair of thoughts. When we look at ourselves, truth is that most of us know that we are not able. When facing the unknown, that is even more daunting. So how does one experience victory when life is in 3D – Doubt, Discouragement and Disbelief? Jehovah says that we must have faith in Him remembering who He is, His character, and what He can do, His authority and power. Remember that I AM is Almighty God who rhetorically asks “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” God questions us to think through the question of is anything beyond His abilities to accomplish. 

Many people that God has called to accomplish a task have felt inept. Remember when God called Moses? “Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”. After God reassured Moses by telling him that He would help Moses speak and teach him what to say, this is what Moses said, “ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:10,13 Moses knew he was overcome with 3D. He did not Remember that I AM.

In Exodus 3 when God called Moses to go to Pharaoh to secure the freedom of God’s people, Moses said, ““Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” We see Moses acute 3D vision at work. God never made it about Moses. He made it about Himself. Listen to God’s response – “I will be with you. ” God promised Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jeroboam, the Apostles and everyone who follows Jesus Christ “I will be with you.” God also told Moses to tell the people “‘I am has sent me to you.’” The problem is that we, like Moses, do not Remember that I AM. 

On a daily even momentary basis, our goal in relating to God is to Remember that I AM. God promises to be with those who trust and follows Him. God conveys that I AM everything you need me to be, but you must trust me. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” God’s character, who He is, is impeccable and perfect. God’s authority and power are unparalleled and infinite. This is why I am encouraging you to Remember that I AM.

Remember that I AM

In the American Folktale, The Little Engine That Could the story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work.In spite of that story, have you ever wondered how hope is lost? Most of us have looming thoughts of facing an impossibility and also being unworthy. There is no amount of positive thinking that can overcome such a foundational pair of thoughts. When we look at ourselves, truth is that most of us know that we are not able. When facing the unknown, that is even more daunting. So how does one experience victory when life is in 3D – Doubt, Discouragement and Disbelief? Jehovah says that we must have faith in Him remembering who He is, His character, and what He can do, His authority and power. Remember that I AM is Almighty God who rhetorically asks “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” God questions us to think through the question of is anything beyond His abilities to accomplish. 

Many people that God has called to accomplish a task have felt inept. Remember when God called Moses? “Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”. After God reassured Moses by telling him that He would help Moses speak and teach him what to say, this is what Moses said, “ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” Exodus 4:10,13 Moses knew he was overcome with 3D. He did not Remember that I AM.

In Exodus 3 when God called Moses to go to Pharaoh to secure the freedom of God’s people, Moses said, ““Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” We see Moses acute 3D vision at work. God never made it about Moses. He made it about Himself. Listen to God’s response – “I will be with you. ” God promised Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Jeroboam, the Apostles and everyone who follows Jesus Christ “I will be with you.” God also told Moses to tell the people “‘I am has sent me to you.’” The problem is that we, like Moses, do not Remember that I AM. 

On a daily even momentary basis, our goal in relating to God is to Remember that I AM. God promises to be with those who trust and follows Him. God conveys that I AM everything you need me to be, but you must trust me. Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” God’s character, who He is, is impeccable and perfect. God’s authority and power are unparalleled and infinite. This is why I am encouraging you to Remember that I AM.

Love One Another Especially when it Hurts

Several weeks ago, I was asked to be on a former student’s, Kelli Rae, Facebook live. The focus was on what a husband is looking for in a wife. Instantly, I knew that I could not make the focus about women. While there are attributes that men definitely desire, a proper marriage focuses and functions well when Christ is the focus. Since that appearance, God has challenged me even more to Love One Another Especially when it Hurts.

What does Love One Another Especially when it Hurts really mean? Ephesians 5:25 says, “ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” It means to give yourself for her. That sounds nice even “clichéish“. Does that really tell us how Christ gave Himself for the church? Yes, but Philippians 2:1-11 gives us a more detailed way and provided the impetus for Love One Another Especially when it Hurts.

Philippians 2:1-11

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

If you read that text, I am not sure if the gravity of what was said is truly understood. I know I probably didn’t grasp it, but what God did share with me that spoke to me and said Love One Another Especially when it Hurts. Deny, Deny, Deny ourselves !!! Soooo, what was it? It was that loving like Christ is a mindset, i.e. being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Simply, Christ was humble.

If Christ, who is God, “did not not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant”, how can I, who is nothing, think that I am more than Christ? That is the challenge of this life – to not think too highly of ourselves. We are told in Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” Yet, every denial of Christ being Lord in our lives is tantamount or equal to us saying we are more important than God, so I will do what I want. In order for Christ to be Lord in our lives, we must yield our lives to Him. This is not my saying. It is Jesus’ –

1. Luke 9:23 – Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
2. Mark 8:34 – Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
3. Matthew 16:24 – Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Christ serves as the epitome and ultimate model of Love One Another Especially when it Hurts. Christ did not have to give up being worshiped and adored in heaven to become subject to scorn, ridicule and humiliation, but that is the point – humility. There was no way for man to overcome his separation from God because of His sin. Christ took on our sins, so we could become acceptable to God. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

I cannot truly capture what Christ gave up in a few words with my finite knowledge. Suffice to say that He gave up a lot every day that He lived on earth as a man. He, the creator, subjected Himself to that He created. That thought alone is perplexing.

Love One Another Especially when it Hurts is the standard and expectation set by Christ. Why does it hurt to love? It hurts us because we do not truly love. We want what we want because we think we deserve being served rather than to serve. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”, but we demand that our thoughts, needs and wants be attended to by some other soul who is just as selfish as we. How could that ever work well and for God to bless and use for His glory save by “being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

If you are not being hurt deep down in your heart and mind by putting others whom you claim to love first, then you are not truly loving them to the standard and expectation that Jesus exemplified. Remember, Jesus showed us how to Love One Another Especially when it Hurts.

HOV Lane Frustrations

“From the day President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the Interstate System has been a part of our culture as construction projects, as transportation in our daily lives, and as an integral part of the American way of life. Every citizen has been touched by it, if not directly as motorists, then indirectly because every item we buy has been on the Interstate System at some point.” ref

As a young officer during the summer of 1919, Eisenhower saw how challenging it was for an 81 Army truck convoy to travel from Washington D.C. to San Francisco. The convoy averaged about 6 miles an hour, or 58 miles a day. Decades later during World War II, Eisenhower, now a season and leading officer, saw how efficient military forces moved on the autobahns within Germany. That efficiency and effectiveness was the genesis of his thought for the vision for the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, the Interstate System.

Just as the Interstate highway system aids us in efficient and effective transportation, God has a system of thought, beliefs if you will, that make life efficient and effective. That system is revealed in His holy Word, the Bible. It reveals God’s character, who He is, and His power, what He can do. Since the Word of God is the primary means that God reveals Himself, it would behoove us to know what the Word of God says. For those who have chosen to surrender their lives in faith of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God obligates and delights Himself to relate to man. After all, we were created to have relationship or fellowship with God. The Word of God is our system that aids us in efficient and effective living. I have termed or coined Innerstate 7 as the title that captures our relationship with God through His Word and His Spirit as the means for us to live an efficient and effective life. Innerstate 7 Life is a regular word of how the Word of God and the Spirit of God can lead us down the road to completeness in Christ.

When the Interstate System was developed by the U.S., there were technical standards enforced for the highways. The government required that lanes had to be 12 feet wide and shoulders 10 feet wide, the bridges had to have 14 feet of clearance, grades had to be less than 30 percent, and the highway had to be designed for travel at 70 miles an hour. The most notable attribute of the system is the limited access concept. The 42,000-mile system only has approximately 16,000 interchanges. The interstate system has had an enormous and lasting impact on the social and economic fabric of the nation, even as it has provided, as Eisenhower hoped, a system of highways that might be needed to move materiel and troops in time of war. Source

When I gained access to Innerstate 7, God’s regulations or standards set the expectations required to achieve that efficient and effective living. The highway does not alleviate travel. It just makes travel easier. Following Jesus as Lord and Savior does not alleviate our living in this fallen world. It just makes it easier to live. We don’t escape challenges, difficulties, hardships, trials or just down right evil; however with the Word of God and the Spirit of God, we can live with strength and face those with confidence and peace. Who does not want to travel Innerstate 7?

High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) – Back in 1976, Southern California officials converted one lane into a carpool-only lane on the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) from downtown Los Angeles to the ocean. In Atlanta where I live, HOV Lanes first opened on December 14, 1994, 18 lane miles on I-20 from Downtown to I-285. In 1996, 60 additional lane miles opened on I-75 and I-85. Another 23.6 lane miles opened on I-85 in Gwinnett County on October 31, 2001. HOV lanes are purportedly for vehicles that have two or more occupants. The point of HOV Lanes was to reduce traffic and to give vehicles that carpooled exclusive access to the lane which could travel more efficiently and effectively than the other lanes.

Well, you know human behavior. We normally do not follow the rules – HOV Lane Frustrations. It is frustrating to see a vehicle in the HOV lane with only one person. What is more frustrating is to have a vehicle in the HOV Lane that is traveling extremely slow. They do not even obey the minimum speed limit. Similarly, God has HOV Lanes, Heavenly Occupant Vision. There are three aspects of God’s Heavenly Occupant Vision. He is

• Omniscient – He knows all.
• Omnipotent – He is all powerful.
• Omnipresent – He is present everywhere at the same time. 

God’s precepts are His commandment or direction given as a rule of action or conduct. We are supposed to follow to make life more palatable. In Deuteronomy 32:47, Moses said this about God’s Word – “They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” Just like with HOV Lanes, people choose to not follow the expectations complicating life for themselves and others in the process. Just as the Israelites did not enjoy life and the land fully as God had planned because of their disobedience, we too forfeit the blessings of God for our lives by our disobedience. You can drive in the wrong lane if you want to, but it costs you God’s best. Living life as you desire is your choice. The bible is replete with examples of people living their lives as they chose. We see the damage too.

In Romans 6:13, Paul tells us “Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.” Furthermore in Romans 8:11 he says, “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” When we fail to obey God’s precepts, God and man experiences HOV Lane Frustrations. Let’s just obey and experience better life.

Be blessed – get in God’s HOV Lane.