The Freedom In "IF"

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

Phil 2: 1-2

If... 
This is interesting. This appeal to unity takes such a fundamental element of christian life - encouragement we draw from being with Christ - and makes it conditional. -With a tiny "if" in front.

The Bible doesn't say "Since you find daily encuragement and comfort in Christ...", it says if. This part is taken from Paul's letter to a Church, to believers.
Is it possible to believe in Christ and not get encouragement from the relationship with him?
If unity with Jesus doesn't encourage and comfort me, why do I read the Bible?
Why do I seek God?
Why do I go to church?

What I love even more in this small passage, is how God doesn't assume anything. He gives us room to do things our way, hoping we would choose His way.
There is no instructions for those who are not encouraged by Christ. 
He speaks to the ones who "get it".

It makes me think of when Jesus says that his sheep know his voice and follow him (Jn 10: 4, 27). I'm not always one of the smart sheep. Too often I go chasing "more exciting voices" and "the grass that looks greener". The result is usually disappointment and embarrassement, but Jesus knows exactly what to do when a sheep goes missing. 

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?

Lk 15:4

As soon as I give a small signal I am ready to be found (which also means admitting I am lost), Jesus leaves the sheep, the cows, chickens, horses, fields and a running tractor, he activates heavenly reinforcements and sattelites to locate me, and then gets into the rain, not afraid of getting muddy and messy, he brings me home for a party and makes me the homecoming queen. 

And then He says: "If you get any encouragement out of this.... ... ... ... if this attitude that I have towards you gives you comfort... ... ... if you can understand this spirit and you are capable of having compassion on others... ... ... ... then live for unity with the others. That would make me happy beyond words."

We can make our Lord's joy complete. Not only Paul's.

• What do you genuinely draw from the fact that you are friends with Jesus?
• Do you see Jesus as someone who can be hurt and joyful over your responses to him?
• If He was physically present in your life, how would He feel in your friendship so far?
• Do you give your brothers and sisters as much room to get to God, like God is giving to you?

God-fearing Or Intimidated?

Many times the delicate border between fearing God and just being afraid is unclear to me.

How do I have confidence in Him, and fear Him at the same time?
How do I stay honest with my doubts, but have faith?
I really want you to like me, God! But I'm so... (fill in the gap).

Somehow I think that fearing God shouldn't be such a traumatic experience, for why would He promise us a hopeful future (Jer 29:11-13), and have us live out our lives in discomfort?
Something David once said to the prophet Gad comes to my mind:

David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let us fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is great; but do not let me fall into human hands.”
2 Sam 24:14

God's mercy is much greater and better than mercy of humans.
Often times we take our disappointments from the world and attribute them to God, forgetting that people sin, and God is perfect. The question "Why does God allow this to happen?" gets the best of us, and we can start protecting ourselves from God. This question turns into "Who knows what pill happen if I surrender myself into God's hands, maybe I'll get hurt again."
But what David says is that NOT surrendering to God is much more dangerous.


The context of this thought is a little unpleasant. 2 Sam 24:1-14 gives the account of events.
He had sinned. He had replaced trust in God with statistics (The Message) and had to face consequences. Namely, he needs to choose the punishment: 3 years of famine, 3 months of running from an enemy, or 3 days of plague.
Famine and plague are induced by God directly, pursuit of an enemy is an act of people. Having failed the test of trusting God already, David can see only this difference among the three options. He doesn't even make a specific choice (as to famine or plague), he just tells the prophet that being hunted by men is out. Prophet Gad understands it, and God sends the plague.

Now, see what happens.

So that morning, the Lord sent an angel to spread a horrible disease everywhere in Israel, from Dan to Beersheba. And before it was over, seventy thousand people had died.
When the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, the Lord felt sorry for all the suffering he had caused and told the angel, “That’s enough! Don’t touch them.” This happened at the threshing place that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite.
2 Sam 24:15-16  (CEV)

"The Lord felt sorry for all the suffering..." It was not that God liked David's choice of punishment. This part is not about David at all. This is all about God's character. Mercy. David counted on it, and he was right. 

Fearing God is not:

• the kind of fear that drives us away from Him, 
• relying on other people and our own devices,
• intimidation by His power and avoiding it,
• fear of having to give up on something because of God and His will.

Fearing God means:

• dislike the emptiness of living without God's guidance,
• consider what will happen if I choose something that isn't God's will,
• beware keeping something God wants me to give up,
• consider what blessing God has in store if I follow.

You get the idea. God has a good plan for us. Don't get intimidated by difficulties of life and people. Let God be your God.

• Is something holding you back from surrendering to God's hands?
• What?
• What is it that "you know better than God"?
• How would your life be different, if you had trusted God at first call? 

Silvija, Duesseldorf

Keep Talking To God

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well..."
Ex 4:13-14

Time and time again I read Moses' conversations with God, and I wonder: Why is this man the most humble being ever (Num 12:3)? If he knows he is talking to The Almighty, why isn't he afraid to object? And if God is angry, why does He keep negotiating with Moses?!
Allow me to show you how the conversation between God and the most humble man sounds to me. Exodus, chapter 3:


Stop.
Take your shoes off.
- OK, burning bush.. (Ex 3:5)
Hello, I am God.
 - (Moses hides his face in fear of God. - v.6)
Tell my children to come home for a family reunion, they have been working long enough. 
- Who am I to talk to your kids about a party... (v.11)
I'll be with you, just tell them to come over. 
- But - who are you? (v.13)
I said I was God. Now here's what you tell them-... 
- They won't believe me! (Ex 4:1)
Fine, you'll be Harry Potter. Turn your staff into snake or water into blood or something. I can also give you temporary leprosy, how's that? If they don't-... 
- (Panics, probably over leprosy) Oh, but I'm such a bad diplomat! Remember how I solved the last injustice? I'm lousy, really lame. (v.10) 
Hey, I made you a prince there! You do know that I could also make you blind or deaff, right? So now go and-... 
- I'm sorry but I can't do it. Just send someone else!

'Just send someone else'?! How exactly is that humble? In fact, he reminds me of me! 
Now, true, God has never sent me to deliver a nation from slavery, but the concept of avoiding responsibility seems the same (as mine).

Re-reading the account of the conversation hasn't helped in the last 13 years since I've been reading the Bible. So I decided for a different approach to finding answers. I could wait to meet Moses in Eternity and ask him personally... or I could ask the other one involved, one who is very much alive and present right now, where I am.
I asked my questions directly to God.
The more I prayed about it the more lessons came to life before my eyes. Right now I want to share with you what I found out on the subject above.

First of all, what Moses did RIGHT, was to stop in respectable distance; he acknowledged the sanctity of the ground he was standing on, by taking off his shoes, as he was told to do, and, he covered his face as to not offend the living God by looking at Him.
What I do in my prayers often is to take God's presence for granted, I call him Father when I need help, but ignore Him when He wants me to make an effort to have dinner with Him.

The second thing was Moses's honesty. When God gave him the task beyond his skills, he stayed in the conversation, threw out all of his doubts and fears. The last one, 'just send someone else', probably deals with some deeper issues of self esteem or similar. Now, this made God angry, because Moses was focusing on himself instead of God, but God kept negotiating with Moses, because Moses kept talking to Him.
My response is usually to dismiss the idea, because God obviously couldn't be talking to me about it, and run away. 

Third, finally, we've all read the book and we know that Moses obeyed. He went to Egypt, waved his wand in front of the Pharaoh and his evil Slytherin wizards, and got the Israelites out.
Who knows how many things I haven't done, but could have with God's help?

After all, God knows exactly what weaknesses He gave us. When he gives us a calling beyond our abilities, He's counting on getting involved!!

Silvija, sometimes you need to stop in your daily frenzy to talk to The Almighty. Now, you never know what you will hear, so take your shoes off. That way, if you're tempted to run away, the time you'll need to put them back on will give you a chance to reconsider and hear God. Trust me, it's better to keep talking to Him, He knows anyway what your doubts are, but by talking He can help you. And for the love of life, do what He says. His plans are always AMAZING!
This is how I now imagine the response of the man who in respect to God covered his face, and ended up talking to Him face to face.

• Does the thought of following God's call fill you with peace or anxiety (or other)?
• What does it mean to you to keep a respectful distance?
• What is your vision of life - one of God protecting you or one where you work together with Him? 

Silvija, Düsseldorf

Foundations

I’ve been discovering that the beliefs I profess and the beliefs that I believe can be in stark opposition. 

I know that God delights in me and in each person - just because we are His creation. I also know that it’s Jesus who has saved me - not my own actions or goodness.

Yet, when situations have arisen where my unspoken beliefs have surfaced, I’ve seen how different and damaging these unspoken beliefs are. A heavy dependence on people’s approval.  Clinging to performance to find self-worth.  Explaining my lack of joy as an unavoidable consequence of situations.

The result? Hopelessness, despair, and increasing self-focus as I continue to rely on these false foundations.  And when the storms came, I watched myself start to implode.  It makes me think of the wise and the foolish builders.

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Luke 6:46-49

God is kind.  He could have allowed me to keep these false foundations, but instead, He exposed them. And while I do feel I’m slowly and gingerly picking up the pieces, I also see the way to build on a solid foundation.  My beliefs that God gives me worth, that Jesus has redeemed me, that I have been given fullness in Christ are the things I’m clinging to this time - not the accolades of others.

The floods are coming.  But Jesus promised us that when we hear his words and put them into practice, we are wise builders.  Happy building, my sisters!

• Where are some of the places where the beliefs you profess and the beliefs that you believe differ?

• How has God allowed situations to reveal weaknesses in your foundations?  What can you do about it?

Kimberly Bonner
Geneva, Switzerland