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“Who do you think you are?”

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“Who do you think you are?”  I heard this from one of my sons just the other day as he was sent to his room and was expressing his outrage at the sentence that I had just handed down to him.  He yelled it at the top of the stairs just after stomping up each step like a charging Elephant.  His comment kind of brought me up short, who was I?  In a moment of tears and anger, my son had struck a chord in me.   It wasn’t so much the situation at hand, he certainly needed to be sent to his room (consequences of poor behavior), but it was an existential question that got me thinking literally “who do I think I am?”

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In order to answer that very basic question, the Lord gave me His response that question.  A moment of epiphany took place within me in my preparation for Good Friday.  I was to bring the message that evening and so my study of God’s word became focused on the crucifixion story.  Prior to the crucifixion story is an amazing yet brief expository examination on the identity of who Jesus was.  Matthew 16:13-16 records this event.  Jesus asks His disciples “who do people say the Son of Man is?”  His question is first what does the common person know about the identity of this Son of Man?  And their response to His question is essentially the Son of Man is a good person, maybe John the Baptist, maybe Elijah, maybe Jeremiah or some other prophet.  It’s a response that essentially declares the people didn’t know who the Son of Man was.  They truly didn’t comprehend what God’s plan was within the identity of the Son of Man.

Then, after Jesus hears their responses He asks them a more directed question…this time it’s personal, intimate, unguarded; “But what about you?”  He asks them looking into their eyes as if He is looking directly into their souls, the very fibers of their created being.  The moment of truth is hovering and hanging upon the completion of Jesus’ question, and slowly He asks it almost as if He’s concerned what their answer may be; “But what about you?  Who do you say I am?”  Imagine Andrew glancing at John, as John frowns and exchanges eyes contact with the others and then finally looks at Peter, who always seems to be the boldest of the group.  Peter, as if prompted by the non-verbal exchange looks back at Jesus and makes his declaration of faith, identity and purpose; “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!”

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In a single solitary sentence, Peter makes a statement so bold that to speak it in the wrong place at the wrong time with Pharisees or priests within ear shot would have meant a death sentence.  Peter declares Jesus to be Messiah and God’s Son!  Jesus’ identity is revealed in scripture, confirmed to His followers, and this epic redemption story is about to unfold for all of humanity.   All because that question “Who do you think you are” is answer by Jesus.

Identity Revealed:

Because of who Christ is, revealed to us, we are then able to be identified with Him, who was crucified for our sins and also with His resurrection which is our door by which eternal life is opened to us!
“But as many as received him, to them gave he the right to become children of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12 ASV)

We now have the right to be called sons and daughters, children of God!  That’s who we are!  If we are members of the body of Christ, then we ought to no longer struggle with this identity crisis!  We are His children!  Christ has been revealed to us, His identity is real and His power as the Son of God has conquered sin and death for us!  When people ask “who do you think you are?”; we can humbly and confidently reply that we are children of the Most High!  Our identity doesn’t give us license to lord it over the world, or judge the world either, but I hope it does provide a measure of peace for our souls.  WE ARE HIS!  If we identify ourselves as Christians, and we also claim that we too are crucified with Christ then our identity is also answered and we ought not to live in crisis over who we are in this world!  (Galatians 2:20)

Who do you think you are today?  This question isn’t asked in a condescending tone, but simply inquiring whether or not you know who you are and more importantly WHOSE you are!

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Lost and Found

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2 Corinthians 5:20-21 (NIV)
20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

A sister never gave up hope in finding her long lost brother.  She spent two decades searching for him.  They had been separated and adopted out and records were sketchy at best in terms of locating his adoptive parents.  She had almost given up until her searching paid off…Her brother was found!  After twenty years of searching, she found him and a tale of reconciliation could finally be told.  It would be hard to describe the emotions in that room when she finally glanced at him as he entered…how the tears must have flowed freely as images of her brother as a child swam in her head.  The tearful reunion after such a vacuum of time, lost time had separated them. 

Stories like these happen all of the time.  What a day of celebration when families get reconnected after so many years!  It is certainly a joyful time I would imagine.  I’ve never actually been to one of those reunions; I’ve never been separated from my family for more than a few weeks at best.  But you almost don’t have to, in order to imagine the overwhelming joy and happiness that is poured about that lost, now found soul. 

So it is within the Kingdom of Heaven.  Christ has searched for us, has extended Himself to the very cross to that we might be reconciled with our rightful family!  All of heaven rejoices when we are at last reconciled to the Father through Jesus His son and the shedding of His blood for us.  What a wonderful tale of reunion is told every time a soul who was lost is now found again!  Like the sister in the story, Christ never stops searching for us and He wants us to be found! 

Are you in need of being found today?  Do you know someone who is still lost in this world?  Christ is searching, and wants so desperately to reconcile the lost back again to the Father! 

-Just a thought!   

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Spinning like a Merry-Go-Round

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James 1:5-8 (NIV)
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.

A few years ago I experienced a very bad bout of vertigo.  I was laying on my bed, looking up and the room was spinning round and around and around.  It was like involuntarily being on a merry-go-round as it spun faster and faster and faster.  It was a very disconcerting thing for me.  I felt sick to my stomach; I had lost control and couldn’t stop this awful ride.  To put it plainly it was hell.  Eventually I had to go to the emergency room and get checked out.  After a series of tests it was revealed that I had a buildup of fluid behind my ear and this was the culprit to my world spinning around.

Isn’t it funny how such a small thing can become such a problem in life?  I struggled with my world seemingly spinning out of control and it happened that one of my ears had an issue.  It makes you really appreciate and also realize just how delicately balanced our lives and bodies are.

So it is with our faith as well.  Not so much on God’s end, but our end.  We are often like a merry-go-round in our faith.  We go round and round and sometimes we never come to any decision and we make no long term commitments to God.  Yet God is standing there ready to supply us with the wisdom that we need if only we ask Him.  Why is it that we forget that He’s there?  Why is it that we don’t cry out to God every day when our world seems to be spinning around us?

I think pride is a part of it.  All too often we feel as if we need no one’s help and if we were to ask it would be a sign of our weakness or inability.  Yet God wants us to call on Him in every season of life, spinning or not.  He knows how difficult life is because Christ lived it.  Jesus came to our level and He can truly identify with our struggles, our temptations, and our pains.  Having this knowledge of His intimate understanding of the human existence, it would be foolish NOT to call upon Him in our times of need and contentment.  Pride shouldn’t play a part in us missing out on His wisdom and strength.

Lastly, as James writes, we shouldn’t doubt that when we ask God that He will or will not respond.  God is always faithful to those He loves…and guess what?  He loves YOU!  So don’t have second thoughts about God hearing you, answering you or being there for you…He will be there, He will hear and He will answer!  If there’s one place in the Universe that you can place your faith and your hopes upon it’s our Father in Heaven.  He will never let us down!

A closing word of caution:

Even though He will never let us down and He hears us when we call, don’t treat God like a good luck charm or a ‘Get out of Jail’ card.  He doesn’t work like that.  His desire is for us to seek Him every minute of every day.  He desires a relationship with us that is so much more than a word of prayer in the midst of our troubled times.  God desires our hearts, our lives our love.  When we have this type of relationship, He not only intercedes amidst our merry-go-rounds of trouble, but He joins us in the battles and in the struggles.

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Victory is near!

“Thanks be to God who leads us into victory!” What victories are you in need of today? Each of us have struggles, some of these struggles are things we much endure, but it doesn’t mean God can’t provide a measure of victory in the midst of our struggles.

Do you need to surrender control today? Perhaps it’s time to allow God access to your struggles…and He can give you some measure of victory right now…if you let Him.

-Just a thought

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Worship…not just reserved for Sundays

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This song has been running through my head all night and all of yesterday.  We sang this song on Sunday, but it has just stuck with me.  For me, music speaks…for me not a day goes by that I don’t find myself breaking out in some sort of song.  It’s just my temperament I guess.

But singing songs of praise isn’t the only form of worship to God is it?  Music is a very easy conduit that brings us into worship though doesn’t it?  It can transform a humble chapel into the very throne room of Heaven, and connect with in ways with the Savior.  Worship is so much more than just the songs we sing though.  Mere words cannot express who God is, and how we are called upon to bring Him glory.  But that doesn’t mean we ever stop…after all the creatures before God in the heaven are singing His praises never ending (Rev 4:8).

Our worship is all about God and what He has done for us.  If it becomes mere performance and we lose the emphasis of authentic praise then we ought to re-evaluate our intentions in His sanctuary.  When our songs become anything less than praises to Him, they become empty words that only edify our old selfish spirits.  That may sound harsh, but that is the reality of things.

Worship isn’t just for Sundays:

Truth be told, we come on Sundays to get reconnected to God, but we shouldn’t  unplug ourselves from Him as soon as we shake the Pastor’s hand and exit the building.  In fact His praises should be evident in all that we do, through-out our week!  Worship takes on other forms in the work place and on our drive to work.  How we relate to others around us can be evidence of our Worship to Him.  How we respond when others attack us or cause us difficulties is also further evidence of that same worship of Him.

Why Worship in every aspect of our lives?

Because if we believe in a living and active God who created everything and wants to be apart of our lives then shouldn’t we also invite Him into our work week and into our homes? When we do so, we begin to see the full spectrum of the kind of worship that is required of us.  Don’t just hang up your worship with your Sunday suit and tie, only to sit there until the next Sunday morning.  Take His praises with you every day!  He wants that kind of love relationship with you!  He deserves so much more than just an hour a week!

Worship…is not just reserved for Sundays…worship is reserved for everyday!

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Amazing Grace…showing love when love is barren.

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Some thoughts on grace today…after all, isn’t that what Christ’s redemption story is all about? We are those who spurned God, rejected Him, sinned and fell hard…we damned ourselves.  We held the match while the bridge burned all the while smelling of gasoline…so to speak.  Christ came so that we might once again have hope of Eternal life.  When Christ died, the bridge called grace was built and lowered for us once again.  Did we deserve this gift?  No!  But grace is still given to us, despite our stubborn, stiff-necked attitudes.

Turning the tables:

Who in your life needs some grace today?  If we are to receive grace from God, then aren’t we to in turn extend that grace to others?  Extending grace to others isn’t for the weak of heart…it takes real guts, courage and fortitude. Extending that grace to those who have spurned you, mocked you, disliked you, ‘un-friended’ you, doesn’t mean you should expect that grace to be reciprocated back…it simply means you love them despite their indifference, and act as Christ would act…you may be the only reflection of Christ that they ever see. Extending grace, means you live consistently within that love and grace regardless of who it is that grace falls upon.

 

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Not today…its my shipwreck!

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Candidly

the candles burned down low

time seemed to flow

far too fast.

Awesomely

I crashed and burned

the tables turned

and the dreams changed

into nightmares…

without a care

the walls caved in

exposing my sin

and I was left

with nothing.

How can these

heartaches

mend again?

How can shattered

pieces

be glued back

together?

The cracks will still

show

when the light

is right

but candidly

these candles burn

too low.

Painfully

the seas all

capsize my memories

my logic flees

and all that’s

left is

second hand sympathies.

Why can you see

when blindness

takes the heart of me

when the pain

is more to me

than just a heartache?

Is there freedom

inside?

Some place to

hide?

I’m waiting for

these storms to

subside

maybe

maybe

one day…

but not today…it’s my shipwreck!

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What is love?

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I find it seriously ironic that many writers of love songs or love stories are good at the concept of but not in life experience of love.  Is it their deep desire to find love that keeps them writing even after so many failed attempts at it themselves?

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Not to be cynical or sarcastic but why do we keep listening to their music when what they speak about isn’t practiced?  It’s like going to a college professor who teaches medicine for open heart surgery…they just don’t have the practical experience where as a seasoned cardiologist in the field performing surgery every day would be so much more reliable.

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Real, true, authentic love isn’t for the weak minded or weak of heart.  Writers may ponder its existence and miss their opportunity all together.  I don’t profess to know all there is about real love, but I do experience it every day with my wife and my kids…and it’s amazing and yet difficult at the same time.

We will always hear the siren call of those writing about love but never actually living it.  It might be just me, but I would prefer to live it rather than profit from it as a profession.

…and they lived happily ever after… 😉

 

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Giving up on Easter?

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It’s April 1st today.  Obviously the stores are all preparing for the next big holiday and opportunity to make money.

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The Easter bunnies, Lilies and other ‘seasonal’ items are on sale at severely discounted prices…it’s a steal!  But the thought came to mind this morning, are we giving up on Easter?

Not so much the Easter eggs or the fancy dresses, but rather the the implication of resurrection in our lives.  Our culture moves at such a fast pace that Easter is literally and figuratively yesterday’s news and we move on to the next best thing.  But are we missing out?  Are we losing the true meaning of Easter when we cast our vision on tomorrow and miss out on the sacredness of Jesus’ resurrected ministry before the ascension?

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I think the answer is yes.  I reminds me of driving on the highway.  I like to speed a little, and down I go on the highway making good time, and once in a while I will drive right by an exit that I’m supposed to take.  I have to keep driving up the road, which is out of my way and make a u-turn at the next exit to reach my destination.  So it is sometimes with us, who are immersed in our cultures.  We get up to cruising speed, we’re really speeding through life and we miss our exit.  We miss the destination all together if we’re not careful.  The danger is the meaning of the resurrected Christ vanishes in our fast paced lifestyles.

When Jesus said I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10) He wasn’t just saying words to make us feel better, He truly meant them!  We can have new life, new hope, new peace…but if we speed by this wondrous event at the speed of light we may never grasp it.

It may be Monday, the day after Resurrection Sunday, but don’t be too quick to move onto the next best thing.  Take some time today to reflect on Resurrection, Eternity, Heaven, God’s Kingdom here on Earth!  Take your time, ponder it, and allow the peace that passes all understanding fill you today.  Don’t give up on Easter just yet…matter of fact, don’t give up on it at all.  This event was epic, never duplicated again and Christ invites us to the empty tomb today to participate in this resurrected life and to live it abundantly.

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Holiday Christians

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Written a few years ago:  

Easter Recap
Our church had a great Easter Sunday this past Weekend. Our SONrise service began at 8:00am, and we had about forty minutes of worship and a devotional. The power of the Holy Spirit was so wonderful to experience. After our Son-rise service, we had breakfast which was followed by our Traditional Easter Service . We were wiped after yesterday but God was awesome, hearts were touched, mine as well.

In reflecting on what Easter means to me, I have come to the conclusion that even though there are those who come to our churches only on holidays like Easter it still gives us the opportunity to plant seeds in their lives. At first I used to be very judgmental towards them, but the more and more I have been reading and praying the more I see that it isn’t about church…its about daily life. Sure we could look down on the “occasional church goer, we could confront them, make them feel guilty about not coming; but what will that do? Maybe some would get that message, while most, if not all would never returm (or take years to come back)

Now I know going to church is important for spiritual growth, but it takes sometimes huge steps for people to even grow to that point. Many are still (to quote one of my favorite movies: What about Bob) baby steppin’ it. They haven’t quite gotten to the point of seeing the need for weekly fellowship with other believers. So in their baby steps coming to church even on a holiday is a huge step.

As Christians who are maturing in the faith. planting the seed is our part (not putting on a guilt trip)…the Holy Spirit does the work, we just need to be consistent in our ministry and in our lives.  And therein lies the paradox sometimes. Our lives and ministry can’t be divided where one ends and one begins, they are the same, it’s just that the hours intersect between work and home and that makes the difference. But within those segments of our lives: work, home, leisure: is there consistency? I would say sometimes it’s a fifty/fifty toss up. But we certainly have room to improve, and within those improvements the seeds that the Holy Spirit allows us to plant are so much more fertile. 

Of course three things that I have continually been convicted on are these:
1) It’s the Lord’s Ministry – not mine.
2) When Victories come – He gets the credit.
3) I need to be thankful in ALL things – even the rough times.

So the next time you start to get annoyed as we all sometimes do with the “Holiday Christians” remember your job is to plant the seed, let the Holy Spirit do the rest. Just be consistent in your faith journey and see what happens.
-Just a thought.(written and re-edited by me (scott strissel) taken from my web site on Xanga: Salarmy -2007)

 

 

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