YOU MUST MASTER IT...

It was a warning that an all knowing God lovingly gave to his son...a son who would hold the infamy of being the first to take human life. As rage and murder burned in the heart of Cain, God spoke to him words that now ring almost as clear in my own ears as if they were spoken to me directly: "Sin is couching at your door. It desires to have you, but you must master it." Lurking at the entrance to your heart...vigilantly waiting for it's opportunity. Engulfed with a desire to overwhelm you as strong as a newly-wed husband's desire for his wife on their wedding night. It's close...closer than you realize, and it's purpose is domination and control. Utterly. Completely.

But..."you must master it". There is an art of war that I must own. A warrior code that is to be as much a part of my life as breathing. A familiarity with the weapons of my warfare and the armor of God that make the word of the living God, the sword of the Spirit, feel as natural in my heart and on my lips as the clothes that hang on my body each day. "Praise be to the Lord my Rock. Who trains my hands for war; my fingers for battle." (Psalm 144:1) It is a quiet confidence in battle born out of the awareness of my dependence on God, and His loving validation, commission and protection of me. That he calls me, his child, to take my place on the spiritual battle plain and wreck havoc on darkness in the legacy of His Son. This Warrior Lamb who fought and won wars in wildernesses and gardens. And as his servant, my brother David did...standing defiantly before an enemy without a hint of fear or an ounce of compromise, intent on leaving the battleground with the rule and standard of God established in the void created by the resistance to, and the eradication of, evil. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. In this place, as it is in heaven.

A soldier fashioned in the image of his Commanding Officer. Unmoved by civilian affairs. Seeking only to please the Master of all. (2 Timothy 2:3, 4) Hands that wield weapons with skill and precision. A heart that loves goodness with absolute passion. A humble child, in the shadow of a mighty Father, who has learned to put serpents and scorpions to flight. A heavenly host cheering. A proud Father smiling...whispering tenderly over his son: "That's my boy."

PEARL OF GREAT PRICE...

"Out over the hillside I see the houselights shine, burning bright to guide somebody home. Here inside my own house I am lighting mine, and it burns against the night for you alone. Until these arms grow to heavy, to hold this candle high. Until these eyes grow to weary, to search the midnight sky. Until this heart has stopped it's beating, until these dreams have all run dry... I'll be, keeping watch for you." - Margaret Becker

These are among the most beautiful lyrics to a song that I have ever come across. An articulation of a longing that finds it's home in every recess of my soul. Try as I may to drown out the ache with pleasure and vice...the inescapable, unavoidable and immutable gentle whisper refuses to release it's earnest grip of me. Calling me to wait. Beckoning me to seek. Hoping that I would forsake all other loves and elevate it above all other desires that would aim to lay claim over me. How foolish I have been so many, many times. So many times have I fled the arms of perfection and crashed into the clutches of destruction. How blind I have been to a beauty compared to which all other beauty is but a murky shadow. How often I must have grieved the heart of a Lover who watches my wayward path...ever present...never forceful.

This life taunts and seduces with numerous trinkets that demand their price. Agents of darkness sprawl out their spiritual snares. Promises of delight ooze from their contorted lips, forcing shallow smiles that mask seething snarls. They maim, manipulate, mutilate and gleefully salivate as trace after trace of life escapes our weary lungs. Liars! Thieves! Murderers!

There is but ONE pearl of great price! There is but ONE treasure that is worth forsaking all others. There is but ONE wondrous Love that shines brighter and more dazzling than anything the universe can boast of, or anything beyond. He eternally remains utterly unique, unchallenged, unparalleled, unsurpassed. The very sight of whom makes the mountains tremble and the heavens burst out in song. The Bright and Morning Star...radiant forever more. Jesus the Christ. May my journeying heart yet find it's home in Him. Devoted. Faithful. Blissfully content. For there is none other worth pursuing. None other at all. Simply...Jesus.

SONLIGHT

One of the most beautiful things I've seen recently is the sight of leafless trees...there limbs encased in ice...the result of freezing rain in sub-freezing conditions. And when the moon is full, and forests such as these are bathed in moonlight, what one witnesses is a sea of crystal branches reaching for the heavens. As if the very landscape itself was fashioned from sparkling glass. It's a breathtaking spectacle. However, the primary architect of this wonderful scene goes largely unnoticed and unacknowledged.

The trees play their role because of the ice. The ice derives it's gleam because of moonlight. And the moon only bathes the earth below in it's glow because it is itself bathed in the radiant light of the sun. Remove the sun from the equation, and the moon has no glory of it's own to boast of. This celestial icon would be doomed to circle the earth in utter obscurity had it not been for the dazzling brilliance of the sun. This sun, which lends the moon it's splendor, and equips it in turn to enchant the earth. The moon is beautiful and shares it's beauty, only because of our nearest star.

But the progression does not end there. The sun in turn is only as spectacular as it is, because of the glorious might and radiance of the Son...the Creator of all things who holds it all in place. So it is with human beings. Cut off from the Son our existences are dull, lifeless...devoid of glory. But were we to expose ourselves to the light of the Son...we could not but be transformed, and in turn illuminate all that crosses our path. We were all born to shine...born to radiate...as one songwriter has put it. But our radiance is dependent entirely on our position to the Son. Let us set our face like flint toward Him. A world plunged in darkness awaits.

PERPETUALLY PRODIGAL...

Sometimes I view the story of the prodigal son as a season of life...a period of time when I've lost my senses and gone against my Father's best for me. Sooner or later I'll regain them, realizing the error of my ways, and return home in pursuit of honor and nobility. Other times, I suspect the story represents my condition as a human being...period. A habitual falling short of the glory of God. A recurring theme of failure and compromise which leads me to intimately understand my desperate need for a Savior. It makes me began to catch a glimpse of how colossal his work of redemption is, and how absolutely dependent on it's promise I am. Outside of the grace of God...I was doomed to remain utterly lost. Diseased with sin and imprisoned by vice...beyond any glimmer of even beginning to save myself. I would've hoped that having been on this journey with God for as long as I have, that I would have by now attained a certain measure of maturity and groundedness in the faith. Yet I often feel as helpless and as ignorant as when I first heeded the call of God at all. I know the scriptures speak of a progression of faith, but perhaps that progression goes mostly unnoticed by the disciple themselves. I hope that's at least partly the case. That God sees in me a development of character that I fail to recognize myself. Alternatively, it may just be that I really am as poor an apprentice of Christ as I often suspect...a lowly son who's sold out his birthright...in dire need of a Father's liberating embrace. That when it's all said and done...I am decreased, He is increased...His steadfast love and tireless goodness celebrated for eternity evermore. A humble saint, bowed reverently at the throne of the Master, forcing proclamations of passionate and grateful adoration through the joyful sobs of an eternally grateful heart.

DEFIANT LIGHT

Sometimes the thought of pursuing God or spending time in His presence makes me feel hypocritical because of the sin in my life that I seem unable or unwilling to let go of. I find myself waiting for some magical moment when I can guarantee a significant period of sinlessness before I approach Him. As I reflect on this, I find the thought rather flawed.

What are the properties of light? A burning candle doesn't glow in the dead of night because the darkness has volunteered to retreat. Rather, the flame does only what it knows to do, and the darkness must surrender it's grip. Never before in the history of this world has the smallest candle been extinguished by the darkest night. Similarly, Christ's light in my life doesn't shine because the grip of sin has relinquished it's hold. The light of Christ shines regardless, and the sin is overwhelmed. The emphasis is not on the weakness or power of sin, but instead completely on the omnipotent power of God. A candle shines because of the properties of light, not because of the nature of dark. It is in positioning myself in close proximity to the radiant presence of Jesus, however dark my heart may be, that I find myself reflecting his glory, goodness and greatness. I don't gain control of my sin before approaching a Holy God. It is in approaching a holy God that my sin increasingly loses control.

• The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it.
• Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
• 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.

NARROW IS THE ROAD...

Lately I've been feeling the squeeze. Now, there are of course pleasant forms of this phenomenon, but the one I refer to is less alluring. I recall the words of Jesus saying that the road to life is narrow, and that the way that leads to it is straight. Preparation to effectively navigate this kind of path involves a few things. It means I have to travel light...letting go of any unnecessary baggage that might hook on the surrounding clutter or shrubbery, and cause me to lose my pace or my footing. It means I have to be watchful of bandits and thieves who have an easy shot at assailing me. I need to remain ever mindful of the destination I'm pursuing, and of the path I'm on being the only sure way I have of reaching it. I need to resist the attraction of more spacious roads lined with every imaginable entertainment, company and distraction. The forces that seek to knock me of course are varied. Sometimes they arrive in the form of seduction with promises of satisfaction and pleasure. Other times they appear in the form of heartache, trial and tragedy that test my faith and commitment just the same. They all appeal to vanity, and they all lead to vice. Whether or not my symptoms are lust, greed, covetousness, bitterness, cynicism, doubt, rebellion...it matters little. The end result is identical. A life off course. A destiny missed. A purpose forfeit.

I find it so hard so often to do what I know to be right. I feel overwhelmed by my perceptions of what the Christian life requires of me. As if I've been given a task that I was not sufficiently equipped to complete. I feel dwarfed by the temptations and distractions of life...unable or unwilling to set my face like flint toward the face of Christ. I fatten myself with sin and compromise, doubt and stubbornness, and find the yoke I carry become exceedingly heavy as opposed to light as He promised. The road to life seems impossible to squeeze through, let alone to travel at all. I can only echo the words of the apostle Paul: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!" In the end...it was, is and always will be God's grace. Yesterday, today and evermore...by the sustaining strength of His Spirit. I feel again the call to life. The call to nobility and integrity. The whisper of heaven defiantly persistent in the face of life's pressures...beckoning me on an adventure to pursue a Savior and Lord who requires and desires all I have and am, and who promises and offers all He has and is. A worthless, futile exchange? I think not. Oh by God's amazing grace...I think not!

HAZARDOUS CONDITIONS...

So a couple of nights ago I'm driving on the freeway. It's a cold night. It's snowing, and the road is slippery. I can feel it in the way my car is handling. I'm driving cautiously and staying focused. I'm on a dead straight section of the route...doing no more than 60mph...my foot is light on the accelerator...my hands steady on the wheel. It makes no difference whatsoever. My car develops a mind of it's own, begins to slide uncontrollably on the freeway, and in the end sends me spinning off the asphalt onto the median separating the lanes of traffic. And there I find myself...totally stuck...my vehicle unresponsive in conditions it was not engineered to be effective in. What follows is a 3 hour adventure getting towed out of there at no insignificant expense and eventually making it back home. So, I get to thinking...

How many times are my best intentions at living a honorable and moral life compromised by positioning myself in conditions or an atmosphere that are always going to be dangerous? If I keep counsel with the wicked...if I refuse to keep my eyes off vile things...if I maintain a practice of alienating myself from the transforming presence of God...then no attempt at subsequent integrity will provide me with any sustainable sense of progress or success. In fact...the dangers are invited and come with the territory. Perhaps my intentions and efforts at integrity would best be served when the overall climate of my life is surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus. This means that I choose Him in the broad decisions that affect how I spend my time and who or what I allow myself to be influenced by, along with the ways I negotiate specific temptations as they arise.

Careful driving does little to safeguard my life when I willfully venture out in hazardous conditions.

JUST DO IT!

Isn't this what striving to do something significant or meaningful often feels like? We feel dwarfed by the immensity of the task even before we begin. We wallow in self-defeatism and procrastination while precious opportunities for growth and development slip through our fingers. There is a time for relaxation and leisure no doubt, but embracing the practice of habitually resting before we are tired is nothing short of laziness. Even times of leisure not intentionally and thoughtfully engaged in can degrade into a mere "killing of time"...a nice way of defining what really amounts to the robbing of life.

This is a state which we should resist...and this resistance is especially hard when the fight is new and the soldier is untested by the rigors of battle. Sometimes the most difficult part of the journey toward excellence and purpose is the psychological barrier we face before a single ounce of energy is spent on the activity or craft itself. That moment when the urge to postpone just once more is so attractive. This is the problem of inertia...a resistance to a change of course or action. Don't be deceived. Rewards aplenty await us on the other side of work and diligence. (Proverbs 14:23)

What is God calling you to do...both this moment and with your future? Open that Bible? Write that card of encouragement? Learn that instrument? Read that book? Make that call? Take that run? Just do it!

SUCH A HONOR...

Not too long ago I was watching TV. It was a talk show where some young, talented and aspiring actress was being interviewed. She was being asked to comment about the recent news that she had been approached by Playboy to do a full spread (excuse the pun) in one of their upcoming issues. She mentioned that she hadn't yet reached a decision about the invitation, but that regardless of her choice, it was just such a honor to be approached by this Pornography Mogul to pose nude for them. Such a honor...

I casual flip through prime-time television these days will reveal anything from a bunch of young people occupying a house...vying for the opportunity to win the acceptance of a bisexual exotic dancer and soft core porn model...to the daily ins and outs of life in the Playboy mansion...to documentaries and interviews with hard core porn stars. What a greased pole we've embraced (excuse that pun too). Our society's downward spiral into immorality and self-indulgence seems to show no signs of abating any time soon. And in the process, impressionable minds of young and old alike, desperate for something or someone to affix their passions to, lose or forfeit their God given identity and worth in exchange for superficiality and deceptive promises of happiness and excitement. Such a honor...

Either we will anchor souls to the unshakable, immutable goodness of God, or we are doomed to drift aimlessly in an ocean of vice and venom...ultimately to be capsized and drowned by the storm of sin, self and sickness. We would all do well to relearn and reclaim the meaning and implications of words like honor. God help us all.

CONNECTING...

Happy New Year everybody! OK...so traditionally, I'm not into the whole new year's resolution thing. However, I do sense a need in my life to inject focus, intent, effort, discipline, passion and stewardship into a number of areas that for so long have been neglected and ignored. Procrastination and laziness aren't exactly the mothers of a sense of self worth, achievement and purpose. I also sense, as I have for some time now, that genuine sustained progress in any of these areas will be more of a testament to the grace of God at work in my life than my own diligence and self-discipline. So, perhaps the most important thing I can do is commit to aligning my heart with God's will for me, and draw close to His heart for me as best I can...to allow Him (as incredible a concept as that is) to infuse into the gifts He's committed to me, His energy...His creativity...His self-control. Oh...that I may see the image of who He's created me to be increasingly revealed as the Master sculptor ever gently, yet persistently, chips from the rough block of Grant all the selfish and destructive things that cloak my true identity. That I may truly find myself in the mystery of losing myself in Him. By His grace...songwriting, writing, musicianship, health, godly stewardship, teaching, self-control...here I come!

Dear Lord...for the glory of your Name and your Will, grant me the wits to discern it...the grace to accept it...and the strength to pursue it. I'm in dire need of connecting with You. You are, and always will be...my Way.