Blessing or Flattery, You Choose!

Flattery will get you anywhere as the old saying goes. Well it may get you anywhere, but it will not keep you there. We do not need people to flatter us, we need people to bless us. We usually experience blessing as a statement about peace in our lives.

In Exodus 4:18 as Moses seeks release to go back to Egypt, where he committed murder and would be in danger Jethro blessed him by saying: “lech l’shalom.” Literally “Go TO peace.” Moses, of course, succeeds and follows a greater calling.

In 2 Samuel 15:9 King David bids his son Absalom bye with the phrase: “lech b’shalom.” Literally “Go IN peace.” This episode ends with Absalom dying in 2 Samuel 18, against the David’s command.

We often do not get the power of what it means to “go TO peace” rather than “go IN peace.” The difference is that TO is said to people who have a better future and IN is said to those who are on their way to death. TO is spoken as a blessing and IN is spoken as flattery. We need to learn to speak clearly and powerfully with the intent of God if we wish blessing rather than pronouncing a death sentence.

We all need a Jethro, or Jethrine, that can help us see where we really are and clear the haze out of mind so that we can set a course to our potential. Jethro’s come along in a spiritual, emotional and intellectual four wheel drive to pull us out of the mud hole into which we have sank. They do not tell us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear to get us beyond our own limited sight.

The reason we need Jethro’s is that we really are blind to our own issues. To assume that we are spiritually gifted enough to analyze and diagnose the ailments of our spirits is actually arrogance. We have lost the art of true and open direction and guidance because everything is about “ME!” Jethro’s wake us up to the reality that it is NOT about ME, but about everyone.

Jethro’s make us see decisions and directions in wake of how it will impact OTHERS and make us better able to be who we were created to be. We all want promotion, but few want the true responsibility of that promotion. That is true in all areas of life, not just at work. As it is written, “To whom much is given, much is required.” Ascending levels of call and conviction require higher levels of personal sacrifice. Jethro’s remind us that we were created to be doers rather than critics. TO see for a better future for everyone.

Most of us really want to be flattered rather than blessed. We do not realize that we are seeking the benediction of our life when we do that. We would rather hear sweet nothings that to be told we need to go TO peace. This week which will you choose? Life or Death? They are both set before you and God gives you the choice. Choose Life and a true blessing!

In Christ,
Pastor Greg

True, not Best, Friends

Are you a Friend, or a Real Friend?

I am amazed at the people who will make a fool of themselves to be Paris Hilton’s New BFF (Best Friend Forever). Really, you think that you need ONE best friend and that someone who is a BFF will make you make a fool of yourself to just to become that. Over the past weeks we have looked at different relationships we need, and we have 5 more to look at after today, and at some time they are all your best friend. They are your best friend in different ways, but they are still that. We do not need a BFF, but a TRUE Friend. As Proverbs 18:24 says: “Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.” As The Message shares it. In the NIV it ends …”there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”

A Friend helps you move. A Real Friend helps you move a corpse. That old joke is not about a true friend, but a real friend is not far from a true friend. Cicero argued that if when we die we can count on the fingers of one hand the number of TRUE friends we have we will have been the wealthiest person on earth. Montaigne thought Cicero was an optimist and that you could only share that with one person. Let’s look at an interaction between David and Jonathan in 1 Samuel.

“’Come outside,’ said Jonathan. ‘Let's go to the field.’ When the two of them were out in the field, Jonathan said, ‘As God, the God of Israel, is my witness, by this time tomorrow I'll get it out of my father how he feels about you. Then I'll let you know what I learn. May God do his worst to me if I let you down! If my father still intends to kill you, I'll tell you and get you out of here in one piece. And God be with you as he's been with my father! If I make it through this alive, continue to be my covenant friend. And if I die, keep the covenant friendship with my family—forever. And when God finally rids the earth of David's enemies, stay loyal to Jonathan!’ Jonathan repeated his pledge of love and friendship for David. He loved David more than his own soul!”

Jonathan is sacrificing his throne and his family at some level because he is true friend. His father is less than reliable, but he will not betray his friend. (We can think about the other parts of the relationship at a different time.)

Jonathan is willing to do this because he has overcome the sins that prevent us from experiencing this relationship. He is not ego centered. He has let go of his self-centeredness and it frees him to go to deeper levels with David. The next sin that he let go was to stop being just surface with David. The last sin that Jonathan had to overcome was the one that kept him from sacrificing. He had to sacrifice to be a true friend to David.

This week, I pray that you overcome these same sins so that you can be a true friend to someone. I also pray that you find a true friend who has overcome these sins to be in your life as well.

Blessings,
Pastor Greg

Edit or Account? Choose Edit!

We do not need anymore accountability. We need more editing. The minute you have someone that wants to be your accountability partner – RUN - do not walk away from them. They are NOT interested in improving your abilities – they are interested in showing you where you do not measure up to THEIR standards. I find it interesting that many want justice for someone else and mercy for themselves.

Accountability should keep us from failing, by design. Yet, even the people with the best accountability systems fail - as Bill Clinton, Ted Haggard and others have shown. We do not need someone keeping account of our wrongs – as that actually shows that there is less than love for us. Paul tells us: “Love… it keeps no record of wrongs.” 1 Cor. 13:4-5. I have been amazed at how often we do keep a long list of accounts of where we look for wrongs, or where we thought someone else sinned.

That is the basic difference between accountability and “editability.” An Accountant looks for errors whereas an editor looks to hone and make better. We all need an editor. Someone who knows us, loves us and knows how to tell the truth in ways to helps us see ourselves as we are and how we could be with the changes God sees can take us from good to best. That editor needs to be a person who can speak frankly with us, but also understand that truth is to be told – not vomited. If it cannot change, or it really is unimportant at that time they know that it is best to follow this simple concept: “Know everything, correct a little, and ignore a lot.”

To keep an account of all the wrongs a person does is in direct contradiction to the call and command of God. It tells us that a person does not love us – even if they say the words. A person who edits us is one who truly loves us. How do we know that an editor loves us.

We know because they speak the truth in such a ways as to open a vista into the panorama of our life. They let us see the whole play, but show us where we can tighten the dialogue, improve the flow and sets of our lives. Oh, to be sure, honesty is not always easy, but in the right tones, attitudes and intentions it can help us see ways to improve rather than create division, deprecation and destruction. An Editor is in our lives for a life and stays with us when we feel at our weakest and most vulnerable to show us ways to rise as a phoenix from the ashes of a broken heart and or life.

This week I pray, you have an editor in your life so that they can speak for God and make you the best you can be. If not, find one and stick with them.

Blessings,
Greg

Rich and Poor

We see this parable about giving and receiving: "There once was a rich man, expensively dressed in the latest fashions, wasting his days in conspicuous consumption. A poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, had been dumped on his doorstep. All he lived for was to get a meal from scraps off the rich man's table. His best friends were the dogs who came and licked his sores.

"Then he died, this poor man, and was taken up by the angels to the lap of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell and in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham in the distance and Lazarus in his lap. He called out, 'Father Abraham, mercy! Have mercy! Send Lazarus to dip his finger in water to cool my tongue. I'm in agony in this fire.'

"But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that in your lifetime you got the good things and Lazarus the bad things. It's not like that here. Here he's consoled and you're tormented. Besides, in all these matters there is a huge chasm set between us so that no one can go from us to you even if he wanted to, nor can anyone cross over from you to us.'”

Jesus shares this parable so that we may see the power of giving and receiving. We often think that the Rich Man must give to the one that is poor, and say that the beggar must be the receiver. Even though that is the most obvious read of this parable, it may not be the most effective for us.

What would it mean for us to learn that we must become gracious receivers from the poor rather than just servers of the poor? How would it change our worldview to think that everyone has something to share for others? We need to begin seeing how the poor can serve the rich and what the rich have to gain from being with others without using or abusing them in either way.

We need a new way of thinking about our relationships and how they transform us. We need a new way of ending both physical and spiritual poverty in each person’s life. Ending one kind of poverty means that we must alleviate the other. We must learn how to live and grow with and toward one another as a society and as individuals. We learn to receive when we give and as we do God will begin to live in and through us in new and powerful ways.

If we want that lesson we must not rely on great signs or “miracles.” Jesus shares the last of the parable below. Listen to the Prophets of God or you will not get the hint until it is too late.

"Abraham replied, 'If they won't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they're not going to be convinced by someone who rises from the dead.'"

This week will you be a graceful receiver and a generous giver so that you may know the full measure and presence of God in this week?

Blessings,
Pastor Greg