Your Story, His Story

Paul's letters to the early churches were, on one level, just that - - personal letters.  Accordingly, he greeted old friends and commended to old friends new ones.  We see an example of this at the end of Philippians (2:19-30 NET)

19Now I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be encouraged by hearing news about you. 20For there is no one here like him who will readily demonstrate his deep concern for you. 21Others are busy with their own concerns, not those of Jesus Christ. 22But you know his qualifications, that like a son working with his father, he served with me in advancing the gospel. 23So I hope to send him as soon as I know more about my situation, 24though I am confident in the Lord that I too will be coming to see you soon.

25But for now I have considered it necessary to send Epaphroditus to you. For he is my brother, coworker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to me in my need. 26Indeed, he greatly missed all of you and was distressed because you heard that he had been ill. 27In fact he became so ill that he nearly died. But God showed mercy to him – and not to him only, but also to me – so that I would not have grief on top of grief. 28Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you can rejoice and I can be free from anxiety. 29So welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honor people like him, 30since it was because of the work of Christ that he almost died. He risked his life so that he could make up for your inability to serve me.

Here we begin to see a bit of Timothy's and Epaphroditus' stories.

Timothy was a young preacher/missionary, being mentored by Paul.  Being a minister of the gospel is a lonely, arduous calling.  Ministers need mentors, whether they are 18 or 24 or 58, or however old...They need mentors for encouragement, advisement and fellowship.  Mentors are godly advisors, those who are "farther down the path" and can point out signposts along the way.  We see here that part of Timothy's story is he bore a great love for the church at Philippi, and he was passionate about advancing the gospel.

Then, we have Epaphroditus.  Paul describes him as a Christian brother, coworker, fellow soldier of the Cross, messenger of the gospel and minister to the Flock as a whole.  It appears that Epaphroditus developed an illness which resulted from his arduous pursuit of the work of ministering the gospel.

In giving the Philippians a peek into the lives of Timothy and Epaphroditus, Paul also revealed some things about himself.  He would have loved social media, I think, because it would have allowed him to interact more frequently and more easily with the baby churches he had been graced by God to establish.  He confessed to some anxiety over Epaphroditus' condition and relief at God's mercy in the situation.

I am grateful at the many "stories" of people's lives, as they are revealed in the Bible.  I'm convinced that each one is there for the specific purpose of our edification.  None of them, except Jesus' own story, is flawless or free from either "potholes in the road" or downright "ditches".

All of this makes me think about my own "story", and I invite you to consider yours as well.  Another word for "story" is "legacy".  What type of story is our life leaving?  What will each of our legacies be?

Here is a key question:  are we trying to write our own stories?  Or, are we allowing God to write them, to use us to tell His story?

This is so important for Christ-followers to get right!  I was having a conversation about it with a friend yesterday.  One of the hardest things to discern is the voice of God, His leading in our lives. Often, we don't get a "lightning bolt answer".  There is no Damascus Road experience, as Paul had. Notice that Paul did not get those all the time.  Here, for example, he didn't know if E. was going to live or die!  It produced in him some grief and anxiety!

Our daily walk with Jesus is to be one of faith, a faith-walk.  If we ask Him to give us direction and discernment, to show us His way, He will.  If we seek and listen to His heart, He will speak.  And, what He speaks will always line up with His revealed, written Word, the Bible.

Unfortunately, we are prone to try to write our own stories....sort of the "I did it MY WAY" syndrome.  So ridiculous!  People who do that don't even realize that they are not in control at all....Furthermore, often, taking that approach results in many landing in a deep, dirty ditch, as opposed to walking the straight and narrow path of faith.  Paul alludes to these folks (Christians in this context, although both Christians and non-Christians are susceptible to this folly) in verse 21:

Others are busy with their own concerns, not those of Jesus Christ.

The best way to live out "your story" is to let Him write it on your heart.  Allow Him to write HIS story on your heart!  It will be a "work of art"!

https://youtu.be/ecV1NHmELuA

Father, thank you for the life stories, the examples You provide in Scripture.  Jesus gave us His perfect example.  Everyone else's was imperfect, some wildly so!  We can be assured, though, that if we allow You to write our stories, they will be magnificent testimonies to Your grace, mercy and boundless love.  They won't be easy, but they will be oh, so worth it!  Write Your story on our hearts! May that be so for each of us who call you Lord, precious Jesus!  In Your name, this prayer goes forth, amen.

Light Sabers for Light Bearers

So here it is - - - the most blessed night of the entire year, Christmas Eve, the night that Christ -followers celebrate His birth.  After a lovely Christmas Eve service at our church and a good dinner, I had the privilege of going with the Hubster and the First Son to see "The Force Awakens".  Finally. All the fa-la-la-la-la of the season had prevented me from seeing it before now.  A strange juxtaposition, you think?  Not so much.

I remember back in the days of the first Star Wars movies (when I was a twenty-something) there was a twenty-something dude who went to church after seeing the first in the series.  During the welcome, you know, where you are to shake people's hands, he turned around to the folks seated behind him and quipped, "May the Force be with you."

Why has the Star Wars series been such a huge mega-hit?  Last I heard, in its opening weekend, this latest installment had taken in over $317 million!  There are several reasons, but I believe that there are two main ones.

1.  We identify with the characters who are trapped in the Dark Side.  The Bible tells us, and in our souls we know this to be true: we are, from the moment of our human conception, "wired" for sin.  It is part of our human DNA, since Adam's and Eve's escapades.  Although there are times we seem to break free, we quickly find ourselves like the fly in the spider's web, caught once again.
And, we desperately want out.  Oh...there are shenanigans, those strategies we are tricked into trying, in order to solve the problem ourselves.  "I did it my way!"  But, they are only temporary fixes.  They never take care of the sin problem, because they can't.

2.  We are fascinated by those who have "The Force" because we long to have it too.  We desperately want "the light" to overcome "the darkness", both in the story and in our own stories, our own lives. In the movies, sometimes the dark wins; other times the light wins.  Red saber vs. blue saber.  This mimics our lives; the ongoing cosmic battle resonates with the ongoing spiritual battle within us.  As I told a loved one the other day: those with the most potential for the light are always most severely opposed by the dark.  There is in each of us, however, the image of God in which we were created, that spark of the divine, by which we choose - - - either the light or the dark.

Jesus said that if we want "The Force", we can have it.  Well, sort of like that:

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Perhaps he was thinking of Isaiah 9:2, when He made this declaration.

The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them has the light shined.

When we hear the message of the gospel:
how God condescended to us,
how He from before Time began knew that He would put on flesh,
be conceived as a human inside a woman's womb,
go on to live the life of a Jewish man until He
allowed Himself to be crucified,
submitted to His own plan to redeem us by not only suffering the worst imaginable death, but
raised Himself from the dead...

All of earth's finest stories mimic His Story.  His is truly "the greatest story ever told".  Who but God could have spun a (true) tale like this one?

When we hear the gospel, we are faced with the choice: the light (Jesus) or the dark (the world, Satan).  It is the divine spark the "image of God" which the Holy Spirit kindles inside those who submit to Him, those who choose Him.

Upon our "YES", He performs that irreversible, transformative change in our souls.  He gives us a new birth.  He puts His Spirit in us, Light unparalleled, incomparable.
Then, we bear it.  We not only carry Him within us, we wield His light in the world, wherever we go.  It is "the light of life", the one and only, from The One and Only Savior.  There is none other.  All the rest are pretenders, deceivers, cheap imitators.

There is no life like the abundant life.  I was thinking about this precious gift of salvation earlier today - - - how it is the best of this earthly existence, how I would not trade it for anything.  It is the Gift of God, everlasting life, everlasting light.  He is the Gift, the Incomparable One.

So, stripping away all of the fancy paper, the carols, the celebrations, Santa, Christmas cookie swaps and deck-the-halls, it comes down to this:  God came down for you at Christmas.  Will you embrace and follow Him?

"Choose wisely, young padawan!" and "May the Force be with you!"

Heavenly Father, I am so grateful to be Yours.  I did not deserve to receive the greatest gift a human can be given, but You gave it anyway.  Thank you for reconciling me to Yourself and not only me but also anyone who will receive You.  This is unfathomable love.  This is Christmas.  All my praise and worship are Yours, Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Source:

http://www.italianrenaissance.org/wp-content/uploads/Michelangelo-creation-of-adam-index.png

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Dir. J.J. Abrams, story by George Lucas. LucasFilm, December 18, 2015. Film.