God Be Like, Give A Free Hug To An Evil Person

But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. ⁴⁰ And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. ⁴¹ If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.

Mt 5:39-41 

I think it's difficult enough to love the people we love. Actually, the people we love are often the most difficult to love. With their wonderful imperfections, they come into the sharpest contrast with our feelings, and often expectations. 

And then there are our enemies. People we don't even like - for so many reasons. And we are called to love them. I am beginning to see that it is this kind of love alone, that could ever compel us to turn the other cheek. I don't know who would ever sue me for a shirt, the means sounds a little dramatic for the occasion, but I know that to give up my coat as well could happen with different motives.

#1 Fear of the court. This person seems to be determined to go all the way to get this shirt, so I try to avoid attorney fees by shutting this person up with even more clothes than they asked for.

#2 Impatience. This person is annoying, won't go away, and sounds a little desperate. Here's the shirt, the coat and my new boots, so go away and don't bother me any more.

#3 Legalism. Jesus told me to do it, I don't really understand it, but if I do it, I'm a good christian. I hope people notice. (Maybe even, poor me, I always lose things...) 

#4 Arrogance. You want what? Which shirt? Oh, I didn't even know I had that one. Yah, I don't care, I don't wear it anyway.

But of course, none of these would cut it with Jesus. He explains a few verses later that we are to extend acts of kindness to the lovable and the unlovable alike, just like God does. His idea of giving is with motivation of ---

#5 Love. This person is willing to go to court over a shirt. I wonder why it's so important. They seem to have issues beyond what I can understand right now. Maybe I can give up my coat as well, I do still have a jacket, and see if we can talk a little. ...

...or...

#6 Hot coals bucket challenge ---

Paul puts it in similar terms, it seems a little more specifically developed interpretation of Jesus' words.

 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Rom 12:17-21

#6 --- What this person is doing is evil. He/she is demanding my best shirt as if I owed it to him/her. Now I will give them also my Armani coat (that doesn't fit him/her anyway), Jimmy Choo's (although my size is smaller than his/hers), some pocket money to spend and show them off, and a big hug. He/she can't refuse a hug after that. And then let him/her think about what had just happened until they fry their brains.

Sometimes it's easier to pour ice over your own head than to put hot coals on someone else's. I don't know if I'm "there" to take on the  Hot Coals Bucket Challenge. Are you?

Seek First - Seek Always

Alright, so my 40 days of Sermon on the mount are finished. And it wasn't a daily thing and from technical angle, I failed. Some may say that I also failed from the spiritual perspective. I didn't read every day and as the days went by, I also read less often. At many points I also failed to seek the Kingdom and righteousness first, so life threw me out of my groove a couple of times.

But knowing God, my challenge is a success. He saw me make all my mistakes, actually one mistake over and over: not seeking Him first. - And He also saw how I kept coming back, trying to do better. Of course, it was in vain, because it was on my own strength and it's difficult to stop the car that's rolling already halfway down the hill. But it finally crashed - it's not even a big mess! - and I have a day off to take two steps back and analyze the situation.

Had I stuck with it, reading every day from the chapters 5, 6 and 7 in Matthew's gospel, ... wow, that would have been great! Admit it, it was a fantastic idea! The sermon is powerful!
But let's see, the wobble in my focus started after I got engaged. ...Hmm...

Here is what I really believe about putting God first.
It has to become a habit is boring. Or normal, if your life is never boring. OK, normal is also difficult to define. My friend once said that one should get the driver's license before it is needed; when you need it it's already too late. It's the same with relationship with God. We need to build the "God first" life when there is no other things that could compete - career, romantic relationship, trip, something shiny, whatever you consider big and cool. You know that one thing that creeps in over and over, "...If I only had that... then I would...". SO far from God's plan. He wants us to be truly, deeply, madly in love and happy with Him, so much that everything else is details. He wants our happiness to depend on His presence, not His blessings. Can you even imagine that kind of life? Or are you afraid that this perpetual joy would water out the cool things that happen?

We rely too much on the desert. Somewhere in the back of our mind is the concept that God would bring us into the desert to have our attention on Him. And He will. But that is a broken car that needs servicing and maybe a replacement. God wants us to prevent the car from ever crashing - in other words, He doesn't want us to find ourselves in the desert time and time again. He wants us to live in the spiritual oasis, nurtured by His love.

I truly believe there is a way to live in full awareness of God's presence. In the bliss of knowing that all is done, that the game knows how to play itself, that God has ALREADY PROVIDED. Can you imagine that peace? Are you afraid that this kind of life would be boring?

To prove that this is not just my wishful thinking:

From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. ²⁷ God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. ²⁸ ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.

Acts 17:26-28

God wants us to find Him. He really wants to be with us. He lets life happen to the good, the bad and the ugly, and we can face it in the desert, or, perhaps, in an oasis. God Himself has given us this choice.

Seek First 40, Day 21

It all worked out well with my boss. It seems that I got more upset than was necessary. Bah, I took it personally.

Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (Mt 6:25)
And isn't work more than receiving acknowledgement and earning money?

... Is it? Hmm! 

I am half way through my 40 day challenge. So far, I can honestly say I could be more focused on this subject.
I mean, REALLY seeking God. A wonderful young lady that is studying the Bible pointed out that seeking God actually exceeds believing that God exists. True seeking God is actually seeking relationship with Him. 

I am a disciple of Jesus, and therefore my work is just an aspect of my relationship with God. He is my employer, so I work for Him... But He is also my coach, friend, support and father.

If I can focus on THAT, ... wow. It should make my work day different. I work the late shift today, and have a great opportunity to apply this immediately.

Why am I thinking about it only 14 years into my christianity?

 Will keep you posted how it goes.

Peace. 

Seek First 40, Day 16

Apparently I am still failing to shine at work.

Two days ago (immediately after my last post) I had a confusing and discouraging talk with my boss, who described me as tired and "not smiling", and is worried about my health.
First I got so angry I got into intense counter-attack mode, but soon figured out that I can't influence people what to think or say. All I can do is keep my own motivation and performance in check, and after a thorough soul-examination I found no bad conscience; therefore I decided to keep doing my job to the best of my abilities, like I have so far. My experience with the colleagues and customers is in fact exactly the opposite, so it's really difficult to understand what he is trying to tell me.

I also couldn't help but go through a difficult phase of self-blame and looking for my failures and weaknesses. But seriously, I like my job. 

Anyways. This man is my employer, I respect him, and if he thinks I don't do my job well, he can always choose to tell me that and/ or let me go. And I would respect it. I believe he has this authority for a reason, and at the end of things, I work for God. And if I do my job as well as I think, it would be wiser to keep me employed, and encouraged. =)

Meanwhile, I have a wedding to plan - print invitations, choose the menu and have the dress made. I asked God what he thinks about all this. He said:

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
Mt 6:28-32

...and then the punchline in the following verse (vv 33-34)
³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. 

 

Seek First 40, Day 2, - in retrospect -

Things have been happening and I am a sinner and one of my weaknesses is lack of discipline. Therefore I haven't reported on the cool things that have happened, but I want to do so now, just to praise our faithful heavenly Father.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 
Mt 6:33

On the day 1, I decided to meditate on what that means. I figured it's a fail-safe idea, and it is seeking. I was really happy with my decision, and still am.

On day 2, I was considering how I can be more of a light at work, and shine God's love to my colleagues. I honestly like them - as personalities and as coworkers - and sometimes when I feel left out of private jokes, it hurts me with unexpected depth. The only thing I could come up with, is to be loving and keep being myself (making jokes, talking,...) as if I never got that unpleasant feeling. Every once in a while, this feeling turns out to be wrong anyway. I wasn't completely satisfied with the answer to my situation, but it is difficult to seek God's Kingdom where most people don't believe in Him. So I take this attitude with me every day I go to work. Nothing dramatic happened at work that Friday.
Late afternoon, my boyfriend picked me up for dinner. Let me just share at this point that we have a history of a difficult relationship, which ended in October last year. I am still deeply convinced that it was a good thing. However, after a few months of God's work on our hearts, we started seeing each other again in late February (?... Early March?), and this new relationship had very little in common with the one that had to go. I was happy. I still am.
We had a picnic on a beautiful Spring day, and in this fantastic river side scenery, Stephan asked me to marry him. I said yes.
Now, you may argue that attempting to seek God at work is not at all related to getting engaged, but I believe that God was faithful. He doesn't need me to be perfect. He said in the passage quoted above that if I seek Kingdom, everything else will be given to me. And it is exactly what happened. And there was evening, and there was morning - second day.

Day 4 was a Sunday. It made me think of this years little New Year's Eve celebration with a few of the most extraordinary women I know. At dinner, we shared our "plans" for 2014. Hongshi said she will be baptized. Anna said she will be baptized too. I said I will get married. Now, Hongshi and Anna were studying the Bible, but I had just broken up a relationship. The girls gave me a confused look and asked: "Who will you marry?!" I said, Stephan.
On this specific Sunday in May, after the worship service, we took a ride to Köln, to witness a dear, and very strong woman, a determined student of the Bible, give her heart to Jesus and be baptized. Her name is Anna.
Hongshi is already our sister, since early April.

I have to admit that I had lost the focus on my study target, but I keep going. I have been in a whirl of new feelings and ideas since engagement, and I'm slowly getting my foothold back. With everything there is to do, it will be a very good idea to seek God first.
Last few days I have been thinking about this one:

“The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, ²¹ nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
Lk 17:20-21 

Let's see what happens.

Seek First 40, Day 1

Here's the deal.

I've read in the Bible the other day... This:

Matthew 6:33
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

 I have read, heard and thought of this verse countless times. One of the first principles from the Bible that I actively tried to apply. In fact, I read it a couple of weeks ago when I started my study of Jesus' teachings on life and God. And yet, I read it on Monday again, and it has stuck with me since. Every moment that my head goes vacant of deliberate thought, this line comes to my mind.
So I sat down today and read the Sermon on the Mountain again. Carefully. A powerful sermon delivered by the Lord himself.

It happens to address so many issues currently present in my life. Take responsibility. Don't be shy. Don't abuse the spiritual freedom to sin. Take it higher. Don't swear. Know when to say no. Love unpleasant people. Don't fight back. ... many points. Except from the one about praying in public places, I have no problem praying in private, but I guess He was talking in time when praying actually made you look cool or something. Don't worry. Don't show off. Don't judge. Don't be a fool.

When I collected all the "dont's", I was left with a side of me that I really, really liked. It is also very hard to think away all those things I'm not supposed to do. And yet, I was not left with a void. In contrast to the early days of my conversion when I gave up bad words and suddenly realized I have nothing to say.
This time, with all the don'ts out of the way, the person that remained was a mindful, peaceful, believing, profoundly joyful, and loving. And after a few days of chewing on the verse I've quoted above, I'm starting to believe that the key is in seeking God's Kingdom and righteousness first, in everything.

Somehow, focusing on God makes me a better person. It makes me stronger and my perspective clearer. So I decided to take a 40-day journey.
For the next 40 days, I will meditate on the seek-first verse, read only Jesus' teaching about life and God (no acts or epistles), and attempt to apply this principle in every situation that I notice.

I don't know whether I will be able to share my thoughts every day, but I will try to write down my findings in this blog, should God grant me any. I pray that this journey transforms me into a person that is closer to what God has in mind for me. My challenge for today is: don't try to be perfect. =)

What about you? Wanna take this trip with me?

The Day God Grounded Me For Idolatry

I was doing everything right.
We had more business than ever, I was doing my best, coming to work even when I was a little sick, telling myself that complaining just makes things worse. I was less sick than the year before. It is good to work, to have the responsibility, to be accountable to my colleagues. They would also work with headaches, fever, sore throat, and who knows what else. So if I thought about staying at home for feeling nauseous, I would also end up feeling guilty. The lesson was, work even when nauseous; work as long as I can stand on my feet.

⁴ As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
¹¹ So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. ¹² Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son..."
1 Kings 11:4, 11-12

I read this part as my Bible study one morning during my sick leave. I picked up what at first seemed like a cold, which in a few days developed into bronchitis. I had to stay at home the whole week (!!!), and it was a good thing that I had vacation after that, otherwise I'd be officially sick even longer. 
But, here I was, with a whole day on my hands, the first thing (or one of the first things) was that I had longer time With God.  I also noticed that that week was the first after a while when I'd had regular Bible study. My prayer life was there, but I had lost connection to the Word.

So, I went back to my study of the splitting of the Kingdom. This was THE point in time when God decided it had been enough of Solomon's lunacy. His numerous wives - whose number was not even that big of a deal - had led him away from the one true God. Solomon took on other priorities, although he began his reign with splendor of God's wisdom. God fulfilled His promises, Solomon strayed from his. Then God did what had to happen: He took the kingdom away from the king. Well, from his son, but don't think Solomon took it lightly. He later tried to kill the young man, Jeroboam, who was promised to become the king of the northern ten tribes, but he escaped to Egypt. 
First thing after Solomon's death, his son makes a bad political move, which leads to the rebellion of the Northern tribes, and they indeed crown Jeroboam the king. God keeps his promise to David - his descendants are still kings.. But with the painful knowledge that ten tribes have a kingdom of their own.

And there I was, with more time in the Word, readying about consequences of Solomon's idolatry. Then it hits me: that's the name of the sin; this is what I did. OK, I don't have 700 wives, nor do I want to have one, but I did let people that I respect and care about lead me away from God's standard. The tension in my friendships was growing. I also noticed how my shifts more and more overlapped with church meetings. And then it took  toll on my health. It took insight from a dear friend (thank you!!) to bring my attention to the dynamics of the situation.

Hopefully, I have learned something from the bad example of the wisest man on Earth. It has been days since my realization, and I am still processing all the ways how it affects my attitude and decisions. 
It's trickier than it seems, to keep to God's guidance in the midst of all the voices. I believe that recognizing God's voice is again the question of training and the habit of bringing Him into the situations. But God believes it is doable. =)

So let's do it before God starts taking things away.

Do you go to work/ school/ appointments/ ... with the attitude of bringing God's perspective into the situation?
What does it take for it to happen?
Do you really want God with you all the time?

The Matter Of Perspective

You know the feeling when the sun is shining, you've just bought the perfect piece for your outfit, dinner was delicious and with great people and you are on your way home to read before you fall asleep..., and then you get a text saying that you need to come up with a certain solution by tomorrow/ the team building karaoke gets cancelled because so many people can't make it/ you come home and find a bill for something you'd forgotten to pay months ago/ somebody puts you down in front of other people... ?
Good feelings gone. And you know exactly whose fault it is, and you struggle to forgive them...

But..

²² “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,^[c] your whole body will be full of light. ²³ But if your eyes are unhealthy,^[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Mt 6:22-23 

It is easy to observe an unpleasant situation take place and call it bad and feel bad about it. It is natural.
But Jesus calls us to have the eyes of faith. Basically, it depends on our attitude when we observe something. Imagine your eyes were actual lights, shining out of your head. ...OK, I realize this is a little absurd, but this is what he says. 

When the light is shining directly into the thing you are looking at, that thing is clear. Then what we see, we interpret in the perspective of that clarity. 
If we take the metaphor further, and say that what shines out of our eyes is God's light, we see things in His perspective. We interpret things from His perspective. That interpretation is good for us, and fills us with God's light.
But if our attitude is not shining God's light on the situation, Jesus says that not only our eyes are impaired, but our interpretation as well. For, how can we see things correctly in the dark? That interpretation is therefore wrong, and bad for us. And it increases the dark.
Whether the light in our eyes is on or off, depends on us alone.

Think about it. Whose fault is it really that our good feelings are gone? 
I'm not saying that we should be always smiling like everything is peachy keen, even when heavier drama comes into our lives. 
But we can always make sure that we see things in God's light. It may not work the first time. God knows that. Consider:

⁷ Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. ⁸ For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. ⁹ This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.
1 Tim 4:7-9 (emphasis added)

'Train yourself to be godly' implies a process. Sure, it starts with a decision, but training takes time, it's a continual follow-up on that decision, involves baby steps and perseverance, perhaps considerable time before we see the fruit of that training. 
And yet, Paul says that even the training itself has value. It seems that the promises of this life and the one to come are just a bonus!

Train yourself to see things in God's light. What better way is there to observe this world, than from God's perspective? Love the process. Give yourself a mental high-five every time you see a spark of improvement. Keep training.

I've sort of started this training in November last year. Every time I saw myself keeping my cool in an unpleasant situation, I was encouraged to keep trying, as it always seemed I'm almost "there". The thing is, I have gotten a lot better in keeping the faith, but the more I learn, the more I see that I am in no immediate danger of perfection. But I also see more clearly how much God rejoices when we take on this journey. Because it's a journey with His son.

Meditate on Mt 6:22-23
Decide to radiate light when life catches you by surprise, and allow Jesus to show you life according to God.
Observe wonders and praise Him for it.


Co-written by Alena, Düsseldorf

Something To Remember

It is Sunday.
Most Sundays we go to Church and take communion, we "remember Jesus". It's what he wanted, right?

¹⁷ After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. ¹⁸ For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
¹⁹ And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Lk 22:17-19

In my spiritual moments, I wish I was at that table, and years later, I would remember my dinners with Jesus, how he would break bread, and make us drink from the same glass. And I would remember how he healed my friend, and probably me at some point, and how he rebuked me and laughed at my ideas of heaven. 

But I wasn't there. It was roughly 2000 years before my time.

I so appreciate the brothers who give thought to new ways of softening my heart before I take bread and wine in His name. Today's sermon was so moving, it actually moved me to do something. Like, pick up this blog again after weeks - months! (I'm sorry!)
But Jesus gave us communion - breaking bread and drinking the wine - because it is a normal thing to do at dinner; and a simple gesture, like having dinner with other believers, would spark a memory, and somebody would say: 
"Hey guys, remember when Silvija told Jesus she wanted to fly?"
Everybody would break into laughter. And then somebody else would say:
"Yeah, she thought faith would give her wings or something, haha!"
And:
"And then Jesus grounded her!"
And next:
"Oh, right. 'Sure, why don't you shave your hair off and see if you grow feathers, Sil!' "
More laughter, then:
"Or, 'Why don't you just climb on top of the temple and jump off, Sil!"
Laughing stops. Not funny. And then I would hear this gentle voice in my head: "God has even greater plans for you than flying. You'll see."
And I would smile and say, "Yes, I remember. He gave me so much more than that." And then I would bite into the gluten-free bread and take a sip of wine, and not worry about all the people who drank from this glass before me, because it wouldn't matter. And some more stories would come up. 

And then I would say: "Actually, I did fly." Silence. "In a glider. it's amazing, just the whistling of the wind around the cockpit, and blue sky, a little rounder than it looks from the ground." More silence. 
"And I'm sure that if it wasn't for Jesus, I wouldn't be there on the right place at the right time, to have this experience. I didn't think of it at the time, but I'm sure it was Jesus." 
Somebody says 'Amen', and I continue:
"But the peace that Jesus gives me in the most stressful situations is beyond compare, I wouldn't trade it for any experience of flying, ever." 

Jesus wanted us to remember him. And it seems that in order to have memories of him, we need to make memories with him. Have personal history together. Bring him into the situation we are in. Acknowledge his presence and help. Hear his voice. After all, we have given our lives to him, and he knows how we can make the best of the new ones. 

Jesus has given us something to remember. We have given him our lives. The question is, are we living this new life with him? Or is our only memory of Jesus what he did for us by dying on the cross? 

I believe in Jesus that lives. I believe he is present in my life and takes active part in it. I don't want the cross to be my last memory of him, but rather the first of many.


How about you?