Category Archives: Spiritual Formation

Discipline IS Love

One of the backward ideas we seem to have is that God doesn’t “punish” his people because he looooovvvvves them.

As if discipline isn’t love.

He finally had to bring Judah down to get their attention. It was harsh. It was brutal. Yet, it was not out of God’s fierce anger for revenge. It was out of his heart to get them back home.

And they would learn:

18 I hear, yes, I hear Ephraim lamenting:
“You disciplined me,
and I learned my lesson,
even though I was as stubborn as a mule.
Bring me back, let me return,
because you are the Lord my God.
19 After I turned away from you,
I regretted it;
I realized what I had done,
and I have hit myself—
I was humiliated and disgraced,
and I have carried this disgrace
since I was young.” (Jer. 31:18=19, CEB)

“I have hit myself…”

Remember that old Skin Bracer commercial?

Too often we think God dealing with us is some sort of “child abuse,” so we think it’s someone else’s fault. It’s not someone else’s fault. God had to deliver the discipline. And it’s not HIS fault, either. If we’ve strayed off, it’s our fault. 

Getting God to Change His Mind

This isn’t a very good Calvinist post. Good thing I’m not a Calvinist.  I’m probably not an Arminian, either.

I love Exodus because it messes with Calvinist and Armininian viewpoints. It brings the tension of the action of God and the action of humanity into sharp relief.

In Exodus 32 Moses has been up on the mountain receiving the covenant from Yahweh. Israel gets impatient. They’ve been slaves for 430 years and they can’t wait 40 days.

They slip right back into Egyptian mode and demand something to worship. Aaron, fine leader that he is, has the Israelites collect all the gold goodies they brought from Egypt, cranks up the fire, and builds them a couple of golden calves.

“These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” (Ex. 32:4, CEB)

Shockingly, God is angry. This is why the God of the New Testament is SOOO much better. (Just ask Ananias and Sapphira.)

God is ready to wipe them out. Moses intercedes. God changes his mind. 

There are those who love to talk about the power of intercession and how we can move the hand of God. There are those who are completely uncomfortable with the idea of God changing his mind, so they skip this passage or work out some scholarly explanation.

I see God changing his mind twice.

He has brought Israel out of Egypt because he wants to draw them to himself. Now, he changes his mind? 

7 The Lord spoke to Moses: “Hurry up and go down! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, are ruining everything!8 They’ve already abandoned the path that I commanded. They have made a metal bull calf for themselves. They’ve bowed down to it and offered sacrifices to it and declared, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I’ve been watching these people, and I’ve seen how stubborn they are. 10 Now leave me alone! Let my fury burn and devour them. Then I’ll make a great nation out of you.” (Ex. 32:7-10, CEB)

He is ready to destroy them and start over.

Moses isn’t the only one to “change the mind of God.” Israel did it first. Their unruly behavior and utter disdain for the holiness of God sent God into thoughts of starting over.

Then, Moses intercedes and God changes his mind again. 

I have no great profound thoughts. All you Calvinists will get me straightened out on this passage.

What I find in this passage is not only the powerful intercession of Moses, but the incredible impatience of the people of God. They just couldn’t wait.

There are clear lessons for us. We want God to answer us in our way and in our time and when he takes his sweet time we want to take our bat and ball and go home. We are so impatient when it comes to waiting on God. Maybe our impatience changes the mind of God more than our “fervent prayers.” (Or our lack of fervent prayers, anyway.)

My impatience with God lately is a huge temptation. I get impatient with what to do in the way of income and I panic. Anxiety sets in. I try to solve problems on my own.

My foolish actions to try and solve my problems when God is trying to get me to wait on him may make God change his mind. He may step back and say, “Well, Dan, have at it. You want to get this thing solved on your own? Give it a shot.”

Maybe my quick action is changing the mind of God.

Maybe I need the heart of Moses on these types of decisions. I think I’m more like Moses than the children of Israel. I don’t build golden calves. But I AM impatient. And perhaps my impatience is changing God’s mind more than my perceived “powerful” intercession.

Call it what you want… God changing his mind or something else… it often our actions that are like the children of Israel that create a response rather than our action in prayer.

We need to be people of PRAYER rather than people of impatience. God… help us. Well… help ME.

How to Make Jesus Useless

1 Jesus left that place and came to his hometown. His disciples followed him. 2 On the Sabbath, he began to teach in the synagogue. Many who heard him were surprised. “Where did this man get all this? What’s this wisdom he’s been given? What about the powerful acts accomplished through him? 3 Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t he Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” They were repulsed by him and fell into sin.

4 Jesus said to them, “Prophets are honored everywhere except in their own hometowns, among their relatives, and in their own households.” 5 He was unable to do any miracles there, except that he placed his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 He was appalled by their disbelief. (Mark 6:1-6, CEB)

When Jesus becomes too familiar to us, and we think we know him… the power is gone. The majesty and beauty are gone.

How do you keep your walk with Jesus fresh? How does it NOT become routine and “familiar” to you?

Don’t forget! When you post comments you get the opportunity win a copy of the new translation, the Common English Bible!

Elijah and Radical Dependence

2 Then the LORD’s word came to Elijah: 3 Go from here and turn east. Hide by the Cherith Brook that faces the Jordan River. 4 You can drink from the brook. I have also ordered the ravens to provide for you there. 5 Elijah went and did just what the LORD said. He stayed by the Cherith Brook that faced the Jordan River. 6 The ravens brought bread and meat in the mornings and evenings. He drank from the Cherith Brook. (1 Kings 17:2-6, CEB)

One of the tough things to learn in my own life in this particular era of our society is the difference between abundance and wealth. Too often what I look at (and this is confession time) is wealth. I look at the financial side of the ledger. It worries me. I am constantly in a mental state of, “Do we have enough?”

Elijah was the man of God. His radical dependence on provision consisted of sitting by a stream of water waiting for nasty ravens to come and drop off some bread. It could have been crusty bread they had already picked through and then dropped off what they didn’t want to Elijah.

But Elijah knew abundance. He had the provision of God. It was enough.

My Name is Legion, Pt. 2

Mark 5:1-20 is the story of Jesus delivering the demoniac. The first challenge out of this story I posted here.

The second challenge I have is the response of the people.

14 Those who tended the pigs ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who used to be demon-possessed. They saw the very man who had been filled with many demons sitting there fully dressed and completely sane, and they were filled with awe. 16Those who had actually seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man told the others about the pigs. 17 Then they pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. (Mark 5:14-17, CEB)

They begged Jesus to leave. The maniac who had made their lives miserable was well, but they asked Jesus to leave.

Loren Cunningham, founder of YWAM, had a great message I heard many years ago called, “Choosing Swine Over the Savior.” It was from this story, and I still think of that title every time I read this passage.

What is it that causes people to want a raving lunatic in their midst rather than the power of the Kingdom of God?

Perhaps it’s control. Even though the maniac was painful to deal with, they could manage that pain. With Jesus they came face to face with Someone they couldn’t manage. This Man had crushed demonic spirits. A lot of them.

What did that mean for them?

We often will tolerate a lot of pain in our lives. We will tolerate things that are often considered intolerable because we fear the pain of change. When the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same, then we change.

The people of the area feared change. They feared what they could not control, or at least manage.

Setting people free is messy and it’s hard work. Often we’re just not up for it. We like the manageable God we have come up with and any sense of something new can really put a jolt in us.

But people are bound. The gospel sets them free. And we are the instruments of change.

My Name is Legion

2 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out of the tombs. 3 This man lived among the tombs, and no one was ever strong enough to restrain him, even with a chain. 4 He had been secured many times with leg irons and chains, but he broke the chains and smashed the leg irons. No one was tough enough to control him. 5 Night and day in the tombs and the hills, he would howl and cut himself with stones.(Mark 5:2-5, CEB)

There are several things in Mark 5:1-20 that challenge me.

In this passage it is the horrible torment that a man is going through. Society couldn’t handle him any more. There weren’t enough ways to deal with him in their own strength and knowledge. It had come to just dealing with a man like this.

The torment that was outward was also something that challenged me. As I was praying through this passage yesterday the thought was this: “It’s not just the torment that is outward. There are many who face that same intense torture inwardly. No one knows.”

Lent prepares us for the Resurrection. The resurrection is power. The same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead dwells in us. All around us we may encounter people facing intense battles. Some are outward. Some are inward. And the resurrected Christ has sent his Spirit to empower us to deal with people in bondage. People that no one else can see changed… this is where the Kingdom of God touches. No one is beyond Kingdom blessing. No one is beyond the powerful touch of the Kingdom of God.

Consider Carefully What You Hear

What you hear in the Kingdom of God is vital. It is not to be taken lightly. If you hear, then do something with it. Grow. Expand. Exercise what has been given to you. Don’t hold onto what has been given you to when that gift is meant to be given away.

The Kingdom of God is about us being a conduit. What is given to us has a purpose. It is to flow through us to touch others. No hoarding.

The beauty of the Kingdom is when you refuse to hoard, you get more. But by then you know what to do with it: you keep giving it out.

Be a conduit, not a hoarder.

24 He said to them, “Listen carefully! God will evaluate you with the same standard you use to evaluate others. Indeed, you will receive even more. 25 Those who have will receive more, but as for those who don’t have, even what they don’t have will be taken away from them.” (Mark 4:24-25, CEB)

The Spirit, Forms, Ritual, and New Things

I was in Mark 2 for my preaching text this past Sunday. The subject was new wine and new wineskins. When the Kingdom of God is bursting on the scene, we need to be able to move with what the Kingdom is doing. I was able to walk through vv. 1-17, but didn’t get to 2:18-3:6.

Often when I hear talk about or sermons on wineskins and new wine it has to do with throwing out everything that has been done before. That is not what Jesus is doing in this passage at all. He does not toss out fasting or the Sabbath. He teaches how to use those forms in the context of the Kingdom.

There is no question we can get stuck in a rut. It may not be a bad idea to change up the routine from time to time. However, there are forms that have been in the practice of God’s people all through the journey of Israel and the Church that aren’t necessarily “dead.” It may be US who need the jolt!

Fasting is one of those forms many of us would probably like to see go away. When I was in Bible college there was a professor who used Mark 2 to show that we didn’t need to fast anymore. Jesus was the Bridegroom and because of the Spirit being with us, the Bridegroom was still with us and we didn’t need to fast.

In Matthew 6, Jesus would disagree. He says when you give… when you pray… when you fast.

There isn’t a preacher anywhere who would say we need to give up giving and praying… Yet, fasting… well that’s just for monks and ascetics. We don’t need that legalistic practice any more.

But Jesus doesn’t toss it out. He reforms the use. Too often we let a practice become a rut or a ritual for us and we need renewal in our own lives. We need the new wine of the Kingdom flowing through us, but we need new wineskins to retain what the Spirit is telling us.

But the days will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Mark 2:20, CEB)

Learn how to utilize fasting in your own life. Listen to the leading of the Spirit. Don’t make it so rigid you miss what the Spirit may be saying or doing.

It May Not Be the “Form” That is Dead

In my particular tribe of Christianity, “cutting edge” is the deal. If the “form” is dead… change the form.

That may not be it. It may be US.

Jesus encountered opposition from the religious leaders in Mark 2 over “forms.” Jesus doesn’t toss out the forms. He recognizes how the religious leader weren’t understanding the forms. The forms weren’t dead. They were.

18 John’s disciples and the Pharisees had a habit of fasting. Some people asked Jesus, “Why do John’s disciples and the Pharisees’ disciples fast, but yours don’t?”

19 Jesus said, “The wedding guests can’t fast while the groom is with them, can they? As long as they have the groom with them, they can’t fast. 20 But the days will come when the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Mark 2:18-20, CEB)

Jesus didn’t toss out fasting. He instructed them to learn HOW to use the form. It’s a matter of having the law on our hearts. We need to hear the voice of the Spirit in our lives once again.

Farm Faithfulness

Trust the LORD and do good;
   live in the land, and farm faithfulness. (Psalm 37:3, CEB)

Is your faith “farm fresh”?

Our faith needs to be cultivated. It needs to be attended to. Lent is a season of reflection because we need to have times to see what God is doing. Pause. Look around. Take inventory.

Our life in God is not always about the next “hot” thing. It’s often about cultivating the incredible faith we have in the rich soil of the Kingdom and watch the power of God do something great.

Keep your faith active. Walk the fields of your soul and tend to what the Spirit is doing. Watch what HE is doing in your lives. It may not be “flashy”, but it will be powerful.