Cake

Christmastime, like most celebrations, is a visual feast.  Everywhere we look, people are focused on the glittery and the flashy.  Our family had a college graduation party yesterday for our two sons.  I had ordered a cake, decorated with a little mortarboard, etc.  Very flashy and appropriate for the occasion. In fact, you see those little spindly things?  They moved with the ceiling fan's breeze!  I was told this masterpiece tasted delicious too, which is major.  Really, if the cake tastes bad, who cares how fancy the frosting is?

It is for this reason I have a LOT of trouble with the Christmas season.  Do you wonder why I blog nearly every day of Advent?  At a time of year when there is already SO much to do?  It's because ... I don't want to miss the cake for all the frosting.  In the middle of the massive hustle and bustle, I often find myself craving "cake."  Many days, I don't get to the cake until the end of the day, because I am too rushed in the mornings to sit down, meditate on the Scriptures and blog.  At least, then, it is good to end the day with some healthy heart food, meditating on the Bread of Life, the true cake of Advent.  All the rest is frosting.

Take a good look at the Reason for the Season.

Some of us are hyper-focused on the visual; others are blind as a bat.  Some have excellent gifts of intuition.  Others are clueless as a goat.  I have a friend who is SO good at this - - - noticing how others are feeling, knowing exactly what to say at the right time.  It is hard not to be envious of such a great gift.

The LORD opens the eyes of the blind. 

Psalm 146:8a

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him.

The LORD doesn't see things the way you see them. 

People judge by outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

1 Samuel 16:7

It gives me a little comfort, as one lacking great gifts of discernment and "noticing", that Samuel wasn't so hot at this either.  God had sent him to anoint the next king of Israel.  Like most of us, he was making judgments based on what his physical eyes saw, rather than what the Holy Spirit was whispering to his heart.  

He was missing the cake, for the frosting, you see (pun intended).

God the Father wanted us to focus with a laser-like beam on His Son, at His birth.  I think this is why Jesus' birth was so simple and unadorned.  Other than the angelic announcement, which a few straggling shepherds witnessed, there was nothing majestic about His birth.  He knows we are distracted by glittery things. That is why He removed those distractions, so that we could truly see.

In 1 Samuel 16:3, God promised to show Samuel, to open his eyes, so that he could recognize the next king of Israel.  If we but take the time to seek Him in these last days of Advent, open our hearts to Him, He will enlighten the eyes of our hearts as well, open them as only He can.

Lord God, in this Advent season we need to get past the frosting to taste the cake, get past the wrapping, to get to the Gift inside.  Don't let us miss hearts this Christmas, Lord, especially Yours.
In Jesus' name, amen.

Ain't Me; It HE!

Good morning,

At first reading 2 Cor. 10 seems like a strange, little chapter.  No one verse jumps out until the very end.  You get the idea that Paul is uncomfortable talking about himself, to some extent, and so talks all around the actual point until he gets to the very end.  What's going on here is that the Corinthians, as mentioned before, were at the nexus of a spiritual "power grab" from competing religious factions, of which Paul was one.  Paul was defending his authority, with meekness, but he was also pointing out that the Corinthians, by focusing on all these "better than thou" comparisons were missing the point.

I think that we tend to do that in Christian circles today.  While it's true that "spiritual fruit" is an indicator of God's blessing, we should not get "hung up" on that.  There are times of dormancy, which are not only a natural part of the growth of fruit trees, but also of ministries.  When a ministry has been through a particularly nasty attack from Satan, the results will be visible and plain.  It often takes some time to recover.  One of the biggest fallacies of comparing ministries is failing to realize that God works in His own ways and in His own time.  Some folks "stars" are "ascending" while others' are on the wane, at any given point in time.  So what?  Soli Deo Gloria!

The main thing is this:  each ministry must remain true to its calling and true to the Word of God, using powerful God-tools to smash warped philosophies and tear down barriers against that Truth (vs. 4-5).  That should be the focus.  Then, if there is any comparing, boasting, bragging or claiming of credit to be done, it should be the way Paul put it in verses 17 and 18:

17 But the one who boasts must boast in the Lord. 18 For it is not the person who commends himself who is approved, but the person the Lord commends.

NET

This is meekness: not some trumped-up sense of false humility, but rather a determined, carnality-stomping focus on what He has done, not on what we have done.  "God gives the increase", not us. (1 Cor. 3:6)  Since He is in charge of results, why all this comparing?  Paul says when we do that we demonstrate a lack of proper understanding (vs. 12).  Indeed.

A frequent, unfortunate outcome of spiritual pride is that it blinds us to what God wants to do in our ministries next.  We are so sure WE know where God is going to lead us that we miss seeing what He would like to do.  I know I've been guilty of that.  "Man judges on the outward appearance, but God judges the heart."  My recollection of 1 Samuel 16:7.  Here it is from the NET:

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Samuel was making comparisons between the sons of Jesse, and he thought for sure that Eliab, one of the taller, handsomer sons, was the one God would choose as Israel's next king.  But, no....and the verse above is what God spoke to Samuel in response.

Basically, spiritual pride just kills spiritual discernment.  So, let's seek meekness in our walks, in our ministries ... not seeking to promote ourselves, but rather, seeking to promote our Lord and His saving gospel.  We are called to meekness and to faithfulness.  He will grow His work in and through us.  He will "give the increase"!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6QqBJu55oXM 

Father, please forgive me for my self-aggrandizement, my extreme deficit of meekness.  Oh Lord! It's all about You!  Nobody else.  In Jesus' name, amen.