Living Jesus Pictures

Do you remember your first picture of Jesus? Mine was on a thick cardboard slab, about 18’’x24’’, that my parents had bought and put in my room. Jesus practically filled up the picture, but it had a light blue frame, tattered edges, and the universe behind Jesus. His hair was long but not neatly combed like so many other pictures. He wore the white robe and the red sash; he was particularly svelte and he had a slight smile on his face. When I was younger, I was nearly certain that His eyes followed me as I walked around the room. Through His face, you could see some of the stars shining through.

I still see that Jesus when I close my eyes to pray, and it comforts me, but I’ve had other pictures of Jesus. My high school algebra and geometry teacher gave me a picture of Jesus. This picture was full of passion for teaching, was willing to hang out with the bodies and the nobodies, and he was unashamed at the things he love; which included socks with sandals, animal ties, and crows (he did his master’s thesis on crows).

My Grandmother gave me another picture of Jesus. Hers was full of love and devotion for her family. Thirty years after the loss of her husband, she still talked of her love for him. She taught me about Jesus’ tender heart, and how He could love and show discipline at the same time

Then there’s the picture of Jesus my wife has given me. One of amazing beauty and unspeakable love for a fool like me.

Each of us has the opportunity to share a picture of Jesus with our family, our coworkers, and our students. We all need to see Jesus better, and my challenge to you is simply to consider what image you’re portraying and how that image will help others come to know their Savior even better?

It is my prayer that as we prepare for the start of the school year we could each spend time contemplating the image of Jesus through the pages of His word, “for as we do, we are transformed into His image (for the sake of others) with ever increasing glory which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3: 18) So go and be Jesus for someone today!

LOVE'S MOTIVE

The other week, I got bit by a bug. I’ll call it the love bug. I was so intent on showering my wife with love that I got this hare-brained idea (love will often cause those kinds of ideas).

You see, Tricia had been talking for a while about how she could get more countertop space in the kitchen. We entertain a lot and we are scrunched for room when it comes to spreading the foot out. Once upon a time she had an idea of getting a smaller microwave and building a shelf above the oven to slide the microwave onto. This would free up a good chunk of counter space which I knew in turn would make Tricia happy and feel loved.

So, on a Friday afternoon I told Tricia I had some errands to run, though I wouldn’t tell her what errands those were. I left the house, bought a microwave and cut a shelf to the measurements needed. I put the shelf up, leveled it out, drilled it in, sanded it, primed it, and painted it. I then quickly placed the microwave into its new resting place and went to get Tricia.

She was surprised. Shocked in fact that I went to all that trouble and even remembered what it was that she had requested. Her face, and her heart, were beaming with gratitude and my heart? Oh, I was oozing with love for the one who chose to spend her life with the likes of me. I didn’t do the shelf because I thought I should, but because I wanted to express my love to my wife, pure and simple.

It got me to thinking about all that God does for me and all that I do for Him. Is my motivation for all that I do for God love? Making God smile? Warming His heart? Or is it a false sense of religiosity that is motivated by a sense of obligation and duty? Is it a relationship based on love, or relationship of duty and obligation full of “shoulds” and “oughts” simply because “it’s the right thing to do.”

I wrote the following passage down from a book I’m reading, “If Christ is in you, then the Christian life is not about striving to be something you are not (the shoulds and oughts). It is about becoming what you already are.” And what is that? A child of God (I John 3: 1). The object of His affection (I John 4: 7-10). A new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17). Saved (Ephesians 2: 4-8). Redeemed (I Peter 1: 17-19) His beloved (Deut. 33: 12), His betrothed bride (Hosea 2: 19-23).

Our relationship with God must be driven by the fact that He loves us and His greatest desire is that we would love Him. Not because it’s the right thing to do, but because when we realize how amazing and pure is His love towards us, loving Him is the only thing we can do.

May you, this week, be caught up in the beauty of the Creator and His amazing, reckless, passionate, never-ending, unfailing, all encompassing love for you! May His love be all you can see – healing you, building you up, dressing your wounds, transforming you into the person you truly already are.

Footsteps

Last week, I had the incredible privilege of spending a couple of days at the beach with my family.

I had some work to do to prepare for a convention I'm helping to plan for next year, but I took a break from that work to take a walk with the kids. We went off to the north side of the beach while the tide was down, and we went climbing and exploring. The algae on the rocks made them very slippery, and my daughter was scared she was going to fall. I was holding her hand, but it wasn’t enough. She wanted me to carry her. I told her something that seemed practical, but it’s implications were huge and didn’t hit me until she began following my direction.

So I told her, “Just step where I step, in my footprints, and you’ll be just fine.” She wasn’t sure at first, but the more she followed my footsteps the more confident she became.

The analogy is obvious. Jesus has gone ahead of us. Hebrews says,

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Hebrews 4: 14-16

Jesus IS the Way because He has been there and done that. He has walked the road ahead of us and if we keep a close enough eye on Him and study His footsteps, we can walk even more confidently because we have someone to go to who went through it first. Jesus can empathize, He can listen, and He understands. He also promises us that if we could just stay close to Him and walk in His footprints, we’ll be okay. It may not be easy, but we’ll be okay.

Here’s to hoping and praying that this summer you and I can keep in step with the Savior, and as we follow closely after Him that we will learn to walk even more confidently all the Way Home!

Undignified Passion

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been talking on campus a lot about passion. We talked about it at the Awakening on Sabbath and it was talked about last night at Fireside, so it seems to be a theme right now. Passion can be defined as a powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, as in love or hate, or an outburst of strong emotion or feeling.

I was at my son's little league game this last week, and I got a front row seat to see passion lived out.

One of my son's teammates had gotten a hit. When he got on first base, he celebrated by throwing his arms up in the air and jumping up and down. The next batter got a big hit that would have gotten the first base runner home, but when this same kid got on second base, he stopped, stood on the base, and began throwing his arms up and jumping up and down, AGAIN! He was so excited and so into his celebration dance that he missed the opportunity to advance to another base. This kid was passion lived out; he was so into a moment that he was unaware of what else was happening around him.

I love when I have those kind of moments with God. Moments when I lose track of time and space and revel in His presence. They don't happen all the time, but when they do, it's all I can do to keep from throwing my hands up in the air and jumping up and down for joy. Kinda sounds like King David before the ark of the Lord, doesn't it. When you have time, check out that story in 2 Samuel 6, but here's a favorite quote from that passage: “I will celebrate before the LORD. 22 I will become even more undignified than this” (2 Samuel 6: 21-22). I have seen that kind of joy in God’s worshippers at a Kutless concert as well as at an organ recital, at a time of worship and meditation in Heubach Chapel on a Tuesday night, and listening to Tony Campolo speak on loving others as if my life depended on it (I Peter 4: 8, The Message). It doesn’t happen in the same way for every person, or at the same time or at the same event, but when it does happen it is awe-some!

It is my hope and prayer that this week you will experience that kind of passion for the God of Wonders, the God of all creation, the God in Heaven and the God on earth…the God who is now in the room with you. And as you do, may you not hide your passion for the Lord but may it bubble out of you and into the lives of those living beside you

Growing Pains

About six weeks ago, my wife and I dug up a section of our yard that was becoming bare of grass. We prepared the soil and replanted grass with a special mulch to help the grass grow faster and come in thicker. According to the instructions on the back of the bag, we planned on having thick green grass to walk on in two to four weeks.

Like an expectant child, I watched for that grass to come in. One week went by, no grass. Two weeks went by, no grass. Each day, Tricia and I watered the grass and did what we were supposed to do, but with no results. I went away for a conference and came back 1.5 weeks later, no grass. I started to think we bought a defective bag. But then after another week, I started to see just a shade of new grass starting to pop up. It was thicker on one side of the patch than the other, but it was coming. And now, ever so slowly, the grass is starting to fill in.

The analogy is obvious. Waiting for something to grow can be frustrating. We live in such a microwave society of 30 minute answers to all of life’s major problems that we hate to wait for anything let alone growth and change in our own lives. When will we stop getting so angry? When will that temptation no longer have a hold on me? When will I be more consistent in my walk with Christ? When will I stop taking my relationships for granted? We think we should have life figured out by now, or we see someone else growing and we think, “Why can’t we be more like them?”

Well, the truth to this dilemma comes from Mark 4: 26-29. Jesus is teaching and shares this parable:

"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. 27Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. 28All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. 29As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come."

The good news is, when we accept Christ as our Shepherd we lack nothing (Psalm 23). We have everything we need to grow built right in to us, just like the seed has all the components it needs. Yes, it needs water and time, as do we (Acts 3: 1-9). We need to be nurtured, cared for by the Spirit, by our community, and in full view of the Son. But the rest, the growth part, comes in its own time. You can’t rush growth, it happens over time as it is already laid out in our DNA.

So the next time you’re impatiently waiting for growth in your own life or in the life of someone you’ve been praying for, remember to take a deep breath and try to be patient. In God’s time, not ours, He makes all things beautiful (Eccl. 3: 11). And hopefully, over time, we’ll come to see ourselves the way God does…as His precious and dearly loved children in whom He is well pleased.