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Gratitude Kairos-Style

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“A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough” (1 Timothy 6:6-8).

Gratitude makes all the difference. That was one of tonight’s themes from Rachel Cruze, daughter of Dave Ramsey and speaker extraordinaire. Comparison is the thief of joy, according to Theodore Roosevelt, but gratitude makes what you have enough (so said Ann Voskamp in her book, 1000 Gifts).

So here’s what I’m supremely thankful for tonight.

I’m so very grateful for the many people I’ve crossed paths with at Kairos over the nine years I’ve attended and served as a greeter.

You may not know this, but I’m a different person because of you. You will never know how you’ve encouraged, blessed, challenged, rebuked, and lifted me up during all these years.

I see a generation of godly women whose true beauty comes from within. If God chooses to bless me with a wife, I hope she will be half as pretty and tender and sweet and loving and generous and godly as these women.

I see young men who are learning how to be masculine without being macho. I’m encouraged that it’s still possible to be a man of God in this day and age when such a thing is about as politically incorrect as you can get.

I see people every single Tuesday who never fail to make me smile and feel better about myself. I see people who make me want to be more like Jesus.

I serve with some of the greatest people on the planet whom I am privileged to call friends. Yes, I am shamelessly plugging the Kairos Greeting team if you’re looking for a safe place to serve and meet people and show the love of Jesus to people.

I’m grateful most of all that I came to serve and bless and I have found that I’ve been served and been blessed a thousand times more than anything I’ve ever done for anybody. And that’s the Gospel Truth.

 

Do Not Seek the Treasure!

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do-not-seek-the-treasure-o

 “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being” (Matthew 6:19).

I went to dinner with some friends and the topic of discussion turned to internet security and hackers. There was much that I did not understand and that made my brain hurt, but the gist of the conversation is this– if someone wants your stuff bad enough, they’re probably going to find a way to get it.

There’s no such thing as security when it comes to the internet. Someone (or maybe several someones) out there is smart enough, patient enough, wily enough to crack any encryption and figure out any password.

Besides, even if you manage to fend off every thief, swindler, and hacker out there, you still can’t take it with you when you die. Case in point: have you ever seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul? Me neither.

Jesus told us that true treasures aren’t the kind behind bank vaults or in walnut frames behind your desk or the initials before and after your name. True treasures aren’t things; they’re people.

I heard a pastor say once that the reason the streets in heaven are paved with gold is that gold isn’t the real currency there. It’s like asphalt is here. The true currency in heaven is L-O-V-E. Not the syrupy, romantic kind in all those power ballads, but the kind that gives up its rights and lays down its life for the beloved. Like Jesus.

What’s the point to all this? I’m not saying to withdraw all your money and put it under your mattress. I’m telling you to remember that your worth isn’t found in your bank account or your job title or your degrees. Your true worth is in how much you love and how much you are loved.

The best treasure of all is knowing that the King of the Universe loves you truly, madly, deeply, and that love will never change.

The end.

PS I just remembered a great line from It’s a Wonderful Life that seems appropriate here– you can only take with you that which you’ve given away.

What I Read This Morning

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the-voice-bible

I’ve been reading through the Bible this year in a different translation. It’s called The Voice, and I really like it. It’s not perfect, but I have yet to find a translation that was perfect. That’s why I tend to use more than one and go back and forth between different ones.

That being said, I was struck by reading a familiar passage in a different way. Here it is:

“If you’re listening, here’s My message: Keep loving your enemies no matter what they do. Keep doing good to those who hate you. Keep speaking blessings on those who curse you. Keep praying for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, offer the other cheek too. If someone steals your coat, offer him your shirt too. If someone begs from you, give to him. If someone robs you of your valuables, don’t demand them back. Think of the kindness you wish others would show you; do the same for them.

Listen, what’s the big deal if you love people who already love you? Even scoundrels do that much! So what if you do good to those who do good to you? Even scoundrels do that much! So what if you lend to people who are likely to repay you? Even scoundrels lend to scoundrels if they think they’ll be fully repaid.

If you want to be extraordinary—love your enemies! Do good without restraint! Lend with abandon! Don’t expect anything in return! Then you’ll receive the truly great reward—you will be children of the Most High—for God is kind to the ungrateful and those who are wicked. So imitate God and be truly compassionate, the way your Father is.

If you don’t want to be judged, don’t judge. If you don’t want to be condemned, don’t condemn. If you want to be forgiven, forgive. Don’t hold back—give freely, and you’ll have plenty poured back into your lap—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, brimming over. You’ll receive in the same measure you give” (Luke 6:27-38).

That’s a hard teaching. I know I could never do all that in my own strength. But that’s what t I’m aiming for. That’s what we’re all aiming for if we truly follow Jesus.

I had another thought. People want to paint Jesus in their own colors. Either they make Him into an ultra-rightwing conservative or a peace-loving liberal fanatical. I do think there’s some merit to both, but yet each side falls short in its vision of the Messiah. Jesus Himself prayed for Jerusalem that she might know His peace, but yet He also said that He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword.

To me, Jesus was so much more than either conservative or liberal. He was (and is) the Eternal God-Man and, just as God’s thoughts and ways are so much higher than ours, so in a way is Jesus. He’s beyond any of our categorization.

One thing I know. Jesus didn’t come to legitimize one side or the other. He didn’t come to justify a belief system or a political platform. He came to seek and save the lost, no matter where they came from.

He asks one thing of us. His command is, “Follow me.” More than an ideology or a systematic theology, Christianity is and has always been about following the person of Jesus. That’s it.

To Every Zaccheus Out There

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Zacchaeus in the Scyamore Tree Luke 19:2-5

“ For the Son of Man came to seek and to liberate the lost” (Luke 19:10).

If you grew up going to Sunday School, you’ve heard the song that starts with “Zaccheus was a wee little man, and a wee little man was he . . .”

Zaccheus was more than just a vertically challenged man. He was also a crook and (according to the majority of his own people) a traitor. His job was collecting taxes for the Romans and he made a very comfortable living by hiking up the taxes and lining his own pockets with the extra profits.

No one wanted to be friends with Zaccheus. No one wanted him around. Certainly, no one ever invited Zaccheus over for dinner. Until Jesus came along.

Zaccheus had heard about this Jesus and wanted more than anything to meet Him. His desperation won out over his dignity and he found himself climbing a tree and hanging out of it like a schoolboy. I’m sure everyone around him thought his cheese had slid off his cracker or there were a few bats in his belfry. In other words, he’d gone nutty.

But Jesus didn’t think so. Jesus said to him, “Zaccheus, today I’m having dinner at your place!”

The rest is history. Zaccheus walks away from that dinner a changed man.

I wonder if you’ve ever felt like Zaccheus. Like you’ve made a train-wreck of your life and alienated everyone around you. Maybe you think even God won’t have anything to do with you anymore.

The good news is that just as Jesus came looking for Zaccheus, He’s looking for you. And it’s not like He can’t find you. He’s waiting on you to admit that you’re the one who’s lost.

Jesus didn’t say to Zaccheus, “Get your life cleaned up” or “Get your act together” before He showed up at his house. He didn’t throw Zaccheus’ past in his face or  let him have it for all his bad choices. Instead, He loved him as he was.

Jesus calls us to love the people around us like that. Regardless of whether they choose to follow Jesus or not, we’re still called to love them, not because of anything other than that’s the way Jesus loved us first.

PS I wonder if Zaccheus was really a leprechaun. He was short and loved his gold. Whaddya think?

 

Comparison Shopping

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cash register 3

You gotta love the new trend in internet shopping. I mean the one where you go to a website that helps you find the best deal on planet tickets, hotel rooms, or just about anything else you might want to buy. That’s where comparison is a good thing.

But I’ve found myself using comparison in a way that’s not so good. As in when I compare myself to some one else. I see someone who’s found true love and I wonder why I haven’t. I see someone who’s found a career that’s a perfect fit and who loves going to work every day and I wonder when that will happen for me.

I read somewhere that comparison is the thief of joy and contentment. Comparison either leads to pride when you think you’ve got something that the guy next to you doesn’t, or envy when the guy next to you has something that you don’t.

Comparison is always misleading because you never know the whole story. Appearances can be so very misleading. That man or woman you’re comparing yourself with may be happy in that one area, but struggling in another area that you don’t know about. He or she may actually envy you for something you have that he or she doesn’t.

If you have to compare yourself, compare yourself with where you used to be. Remember where you were and see where you are now. Look how far God has brought you. Look at what you’ve already overcome.

Rejoice for those who have what you don’t. Root for them and keep your eyes where they belong. And that’s on Jesus. He didn’t create you to live someone else’s life or be who he created them to be. He created you to live the life he custom-made only for you.

Your path is your own and no one else’s. Your timetable is your’s alone. You get where you need to be, not when everybody else does, but when in God’s perfect timing. Not a moment sooner and not a moment later.