Journey Essentials: No More Fig Leaves

Would you agree with this statement- The largest obstacle in our journey is failure? Why or why not?

I would argue that the largest obstacle that stands in our way from going forward and keeping up with momentum, in our journey is failure. That failure can be mistakes, sin, shame, guilt, you name it, it holds us back from experiencing all that God wants to share with us and do with us.

No doubt the bible is God's love letter to us and it details his pursuit of a relationship with us. But what is unique about the bible is it is also the hall of fame of failure. Throughout the pages, it has names and stories of people who failed, sinned, screwed up, and then had to learn to live with that reality. The greatest of all failures was Adam and Eve (Genesis 2:25-3:13). Take some time and read through their story. And ask yourself these questions:
1. What was Adam and Eve's response to their failure?
2. What is my response to my failure?
3. What was God's response to Adam and Eve's failure?

If you take some time to read through this story and ask those questions, I believe you will be amazed to see how God works.

In most of our failure, we turn and run and hide. We are filled with guilt and shame and so we hide, just like Adam and Eve. But yet, how did God respond? He looked, he came towards, he sought out, Adam and Eve. And he does the same with you and I. We believe that our failure, sin, shame and guilt disqualify us from God's love. But the reality is, God loves us and in the midst of our failure, sin, shame and guilt, he wants to come near us and love on us.

In his book, He Loves Me, Wayne Jacobsen says, "God sees something redemptive even in letting us fail. He seems less concerned about our mistakes than how we respond to them. Do our mistakes lead us away from trusting in our own strength or wisdom and toward seeking what it means to put our trust in him?"

Maybe, from today forward, instead of seeing failure, sin, shame and guilt as an obstacle to your journey. Maybe God wants to use it as a catapult to launch you ahead in your journey, and experiencing the depth of his love for you.

Journey Essentials: His Plan

Have you ever started on a journey, road trip or adventure and at some point during your time you realized you forgot something? Or maybe you realized you weren't prepared enough for the long haul? That happened to me on a trip up the Boundary Waters of northern MN back in 1995. I thought I could do the entire trip on eating ramen noodles and beef sticks. Needless to say, by the last night of our 4 day trip I was hungry and sick of my menu choices. It caused me to resort to some drastic action, but that is for another time or listen to the message online. But the point is, I didn't have a journey essential. It may sound foolish, it may sound naive, but the truth is I thought I could get by with a limited menu.

I believe the same is true in our spiritual journey. I believe that we think we can get by with certain things or survive without certain things and we then at some point gravely wish we made a better decision. Maybe that is where you are at right now. Maybe you are walking on your journey and your stuck? Maybe you are at a crossroads and just don't know where to turn? Maybe you have created a belief of how the journey should be, and its not that. I don't know where you are at on your journey, but I do know there are certain essentials we just need to have.

The journey essential I want you to have with you, like food, is this: know that God's plan for you is to experience the depth of his love. Some of you are like "dah" I know that. Just like I know you should pack more than just ramen and beef sticks. But I would argue we don't live that way everyday. I don't believe we live as though God loves us deeply, because we allow things to get in the way. Then we determine that God must not love me today because of the circumstances we face.

We decide that based upon a certain criteria God loves us or doesn't love us. And we miss the truth that at the core of who God is, HE IS LOVE (1 John 4:8 and 16). I know all of us do this, but if we pray or read the bible, we believe God loves us. But if we curse or lie to save our a*# he doesn't love us. If we get a raise God must love us, but if we get sick or loose a loved one he doesn't love us. If we help someone in need he loves us, but if we are bitter with our children or spouse, he doesn't love us. It is as if God's love is like our first grade school crush, and we pick up a flower and pick the pedals wondering each and every day; he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me. It must be a good day.

Folks, our journey doesn't need the added attraction of a roller coaster, up and down with God's love. The Journey Essential you need to have with you each and every day is God loves you period. Not because of anything we do or don't do, not because of anything we say or don't say. Not because of circumstances or failures. He loves you because at the core of who he is, he is love.

Check out this verse:

1 John 4:16, “we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.”

This is the verse I want you to carry with you this week and the steps ahead on your journey. Print it, write it down, e-mail me and I will send you a laminated copy I have here. Hold this truth, this journey essential close to your heart. This will guide you each and every step and will give you freedom to stop striving to make God's love a reality in your life.

This week, rest in this verse and rest in his love.

Don't Pray For It. Or Maybe You Should?

The dreaded "P" word- patience. Most folks don't want to pray for it because it takes "forever" as Caleb would say, to receive. But maybe it is more about our perspective on patience than it is on how it actually applies to our life.

My wife Theresa shared in her blog this past week about our son Caleb and gave a great life example of patience. She said, "My little guy turns 6 today. We spent years trying to have another child. Years of heartache and loss. Years on our knees praying for a sibling for Jayda. In God’s perfect timing, He gave us Caleb. Though it was not my timing or the road that I wanted to walk to get him, it was ALL worth it. Caleb amazes me daily." There is no doubt patience was what was needed during that period of time. In our grand scheme of things we wanted 4 kids- two boys, two girls. But God had other plans and allowed us to have 2 beautiful children who are filled with life and love. As I have seen and as Bill had preached about this past weekend, maybe patience is more about waiting on God than it is to have patience with another person who annoys you.

Bill gave a new definition of patience which I think is valuable and necessary as we walk through our journey,

"Patience is waiting expectantly for something of much greater value to happen with God's involvement than you could of achieved by your own intervention."

How true it is. How many times do we "run out of patience" because it isn't going the way we expected it or wanted it or dreamed it? How many times, do we try and crawl up on God's throne and say, "no, I meant life to look like this?" As Bill shared and reflected on David's writings in Psalms, we can grow in patience when we are willing to climb off the throne and trust that what God wants to do is greater than anything we could ever dream or imagine.

This week I would encourage you to look back through Psalm 40 and share with us how you have seen this passage and God's directive, of trusting and waiting upon him, has worked in your journey. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to interacting with you.