But what do we call God’s response to us when we are obedient? Is that also favor? Do we have a name for it?

As a Christ-follower, I think I have shied away from talking about this subject because of my undeserving nature. I see many things in life as acts of the Lord’s grace. But there are Scriptures that point to actions the Lord takes in the lives of his people as a result of their obedience.

Consider this declaration from the Sons of Korah, “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.” (Psalm 84:11)

I believe we as Christ-followers also refrain from talking about anything the Lord may give in response to our actions because we do not want to cross that line into earning our salvation. So we do not talk often about rewards or merited favor. We probably speak less about seeking it. Thus, when someone did speak of it (albeit a movie character), it caught my attention.

In the Old Testament, the word ”favor” seems to act like the word “grace,” as an unmerited act towards an undeserving person. Other times, it seems to be the result of finding something of worth or value in a person.

So what would we call the Lord’s good gifts that flow from obedience? Does “honor” or “favor” fit well enough? Is there another word or concept we could explore, like “reward?” And while we explore it, could be not be shy about speaking of it to one another. If it is worth seeking, it is worth speaking about.

It made the morning interesting.

I was preparing to take the girls to school and started the car, which got both kittens mewing, but not moving.  They were not leaving the tire!  Our youngest located them.  We all discovered together that the only way to get them out was by going under the car and pulling them out.  I jacked up the car and went under. I grabbed one by the ear and he came out.  I grabbed the other by the paw and he came out.  We got them into a warm box and Cheryl took it from there.

On the way to work, I mused over the whole incident.  The kittens knew they were in trouble, but they were not about to come out.  The only thing that ended their reluctance was a forced evacuation.  Someone had to rescue them whether they wanted it or not.  Fear caused them to cry out and the same fear caused them to stay put.

Sometimes, that is my story as well.

I know when I am not in the best place or the right place.  I make a bad choice , use the wrong words or display a sour attitude.  I’m in trouble and need help, so I cry out.  But I don’t want to move from my secure location, whether for fear or pride – most of the time, it’s pride.  The only rescue comes from a benevolent forced move.  I need to apologize whether I like it or not.  I need to own up for making a bad situation worse.  The difference is life or death.

I could have knowingly left the kittens there.  After all, we were late!  Now all of you kitten lovers, remember that is not what we did!  It was one option, but we chose health over harm and life over death.  Yes, they are kittens; and they are a creation of the Lord after all. 

I may not always like how the Lord rescues me or shows me that I need rescuing.  But I am always grateful that I am so important to him that he will not leave me in harm’s way when a way of escape can be made.  The temptation to stay where it is comfortable or even pleasurable to my human nature.  But with every temptation, a way of escape has been made.  I am pretty sure that the Lord has used some kindly pulling at an ear or a paw to get me out of the danger zone.

For the moment, put aside the question about how we define success.  That question will not get settled here.  For this discussion, I will define success as achieving the desired outcome to a person’s satisfaction.  For one student, success is just passing the test or may be even getting a “B” grade.  For another, success is onloy measured by how strong the “A” is on the same assignment.

I like succeeding at my work, at hobbies, and whatever else I do in life.  Over the last year, I went out on a number of interviews before landing a job prior to the one I hold now.  I did not succeed in all the interviews that led up to the first “yes.”  Sometimes I did not get an interview.  I did keep at the process until I got a (much needed) job.  Not succeeding was difficult.  Persevering was hard. 

A student I know is working hard to succeed in his classes.  He is not succeeding in one class because he is not getting the material.  It doesn’t help him that the teacher is not the best communicator.  He projects that he will not get a good grade in the class which will reflect on his GPA and affect where he goes to school.

This guy is working hard and has defined success as getting an “A.”  It does not seem that it will be enough to take the class, persevere and pass the class.

So I ask you to reflect with me.  Are we so success-driven that we cannot embrace or even enjoy perseverance, if even for a season?  I am asking myself this hard question as I feel I am in that kind of season.  I would love to here what you think.

Early last week, I began to stress over a potential life change I have no control over. Forgive me for not mentioning it in specific but that is part of the point of this post. Mind you, the change is no small thing and with no disrespect to the authors of the first title above, this is NOT small stuff.

As with most change, I feel stress. What is on the other side? Will my family and I be taken care of? Where is God in the midst of all this? All of these things I began to lift to my Father in heaven. IN the midst of those prayers, I was directed back to a familiar portion of Scripture in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

Be anxious for NOTHING, but in ALL things by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, make your requests known to God. And the peace of God which passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7, emphasis added.

There are many things we stress over day to day and it’s small stuff. God invites us to give these to him through prayer. Somewhere along the way, I think I learned that the bigger the issue, the more right I had to be stressed and live in that stress. Go ahead, I reasoned, don’t sweat the small stuff. But if it’s big, then make sure you take the stress seriously!

What dawned on my conscious was that there is NOTHING I should be stressing over in a persistent manner. ANYTHING that would concern my heart should become a signal to seek my Father’s face.

As I have done this with the potential change, I have found His peace in the remembrance that I am his beloved and He will take care of us. He has not alleviated the circumstances nor made life easier. The situation is still unsettled at best. He has made me aware that HE is aware. How much more then should I sweat anything? As Jesus told us in his mountain top sermon, “Do not worry then …”

We just returned from Hartland Christian Camp, where the speaker reminded us that God has a Sabbath rest for us that we enter into only as we allow God to lay bare our souls before Him and His word (Hebrews 4). As we give up control and the things that control us, God gives us mercy. He reminds us that Jesus was tempted as we were in these same things and persevered without sinning. He knows our stress first hand and invites us to rest.

I am not claiming victory at this point. Along with this potential change is my concern for where life is going in the future. I do not feel like I have any say in the script as much as I would like to write it. What I do have is a new scripture focus for this season of life. Don’t stress ANY stuff, but learn to rest in the Lord. That rest comes with an exchange – give the Lord control over the script and He will keep my heart at rest. Give up my control and He will see to it we are cared for. Check back with me in a week or two to see how rested I am.

After the service, I mused on the number of funerals I have officiated or attended where I did not know the person being remembered.  Many of these people were remarkable and intriguing.  I am sure I would have loved conversation with this young man about the themes of justice and mercy.

Someone might say that we only see the best of people at their funerals; no one tells the full story during such a sad time.

Iwould beg to differ.  Last night, I heard about the young man who was growing and launching out in faith, but who had not arrived and was still maturing.  In other memorials, I heard numerous counts of the person’s wonderful points and weaknesses.   In some ways, I began to miss these people as if they were part of my community.

The young man we remembered last night was indeed part of my community, even if it was a distant connection.  We both embrace the same Lord and the same hope.  As one eulogizer said, ”he is a part of me even though he is dead.”  He is still very much alive for the impact he had on those he knew.     

So I grieve for those who grieve and pray for their comfort.  I also grieve with them for the many opportunities that will not materialize.  I grieve for the relationships he leaves for now, and for the relationship he and I will not share (whether we would have or not, I do not kn0w; I can only imagine).  But we all grieve as people who have hope in Jesus, for in Him we will all be reunited.  In that day, there will be no parting.  I will know face to face what did not materialize for us here on earth.

Peace to S.D. as he rests in the arms of Jesus and to his family and many friends, his community.  I grieve with you and look forward to connecting with him again…for the first time.

Imagine you move to a city where you family lived for generations, but you never did. You are returning there to restore a worship center and a whole society that went missing seventy years previous. What would be your first priorities? Like an ultimate Survivor start-up, you would build shelter, find food and water, and figure out how life will continue once the supplies run dry.

This was the life of many Israelites who returned to Jerusalem to Babylon. They returned to their city with the task of reestablishing the temple and their culture. They started with basic life needs and struggled on from there.

Then they got a message from the Lord through the prophet Haggai, “What about my house?”

Now this question strikes me as odd since the Lord made a point of telling his people that his house could not contain him, nor could it substitute for him. Part of their issue with Yahweh was relying on the existence of the temple, but not the Lord of the temple.

When they returned to the land, they did what was natural and good – settle in and live. They missed part of their purpose for being there – reestablish the worship life and relationship with their God. They knew the temple was supposed to be built. But in their mind, it would have to wait. The Lord had another plan in mind.

Our family relocated to the “homeland” of Central California after living in Oregon for ten years. We still feel like we are “moving in” a year later. Finding and keeping a job has been a priority. But what of the kingdom work the Lord wants to do? In the midst of living, our relationship to the Lord does not go on hold. I know we recongized our heightened dependence on the Lord during this time. But are we also plugged in to his agenda while we attend to life matters?

How about you? How would you answer this question, “Is life overtaking your orientation to God and his kingdom work for you? How are the transitions of life, whether large or small, moving you more into his plan or away from it?”

The Lord is moving us through this season of life and part of our intentional activity is to remain oriented to him. Where we find ourselves loosing perspective (and it has happened), we need to reorient to Him. May we here the message of Haggai and know that the Lord is with us as we reorient our lives to his plan for us in the world.

Such writing would be a discipline – focused, consistent, frequent. My experience of disciplined acts includes the quasi-pursuit of running and attempts at regular prayer and Bible reading. I can be focused at times, but consistency fails me. Frequency then falls close behind.

Yet I see the value of this pursuit so I am going to attempt it more often. As we contemplate spiritual practices at church, I can see this not only as a discipline but a spiritual practice. In the end, I hope it helps you and me both to pursue following Jesus with passion and obedience

For my part, I’ll write and get my thoughts out there for you to ponder. I will look forward to reading and interacting you’re your comments. Through this mode, may we all draw closer to Jesus.

For the time being, the focus will be on the discipline of writing – focused, consistent, and frequent. I will mostly write about discipleship, church life, and the books of Haggai-Zechariah around the theme of “when life is not the same anymore.”

So here’s to a new discipline. May it help us all grow towards Jesus and may those who stumble across this blog and those who look in regularly be encouraged and challenged.

The trail allows some solitude time.  Today, I turned over thoughts in my head about discipleship.  I considered how many times I have felt that I should be at a different place in following Jesus.  Just like myrunning, I shouldn’t feel like I am ever starting over…though there are times that is exactly what my following feels like.  Shouldn’t I be more mature or more loving or more … something?

It struck me that the problem with this thinking is that it focuses my progress in following Christ on me and not on my teacher, Jesus.  He is the one I am aiming to be like and he is the one teaching the lessons.  I am in the “class” that he wants me in.  Granted, I can slow the process by not learning from him or by letting myself get tangled up in my own life.  He is a patient teacher.

When I get focused on where Ithink I should be, I lose sight of the focus of my following – Jesus.  What did the writer of Hebrews say, “Let us fix our eyes on Christ, the author and perfector of our faith.”  When we are fixed on him, then we will know where we should be in his teaching us.

The aim of discipleship is to follow and become like our Master; the purpose of discipleship is to make us influencers and blessers of others in Jesus’ name and for His kingdom.

Once again, regardless of where we think we should be, it’s really about where He has us.

So what was going on?  I couldn’t figure it out.  I spent the afternoon on the edge of tears.  It took me until the next morning to figure it out.  I was grieving.  That picture reminded me of what I used to do on a regular basis, something I truly enjoyed doing as a pastor.  While I miss the pastoral role as a whole, I particularly miss that piece. 

So why did it spring out right then?  Probably because this is one of the first moments where I was not preoccupied with something else.  When I resigned a year ago, I concentrated on the move that we planned.  When we got to Fresno, I had to find a job, then look at our living situation.  With many of the major things settled for now, I turned my gaze to what was next.

My soul needed a moment to grieve what was behind me. 

So I have been grieving this loss the way I might grieve losing a member of my family.  I have been doing better, but a saddness remains for the time being.  As I have learned from some of my grieving friends (who have lost actual people in their lives), it is not something I can go around.  It is something I have to go through.  So onward I go, thankful that my heart and soul knew enough to stop me from looking forward until I took care of some unfinished business behind me.