Month: January 2015

Whatever It Takes

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“Those who are wise will take all this to heart; they will see in our history the faithful love of the Lord.”

It is an awesome thing, after you’ve lived a while, to look back and see how the faithful love of the Lord has always been there. Constantly working to bring you to himself even when you weren’t aware of it, even when you were running with all your might in the opposite direction. To have lived some years and to have gained the perspective that only time can afford is a wonderful thing. What seemed like a jumbled tale of happenstance and random events crystalizes into a glorious story of the steadfast love of the God who will do whatever it takes. And for me, I think that Psalm 107 illustrates this point as well as any pericope in the Bible.

The author of the Psalm describes several groups of people (I’ll call them wanderers, prisoners, fools, and merchants.), and he describes their journeys and how God moved on their behalf. The wanderers were poor and destitute, without food and drink, close to death. But God heard their cry and rescued them. The prisoners had outright rebelled against the Lord. Their rebellion had bound them in misery and gloom. But God, in his mercy “broke them with hard labor; they fell, and no one was there to help them.” Then they cried to the Lord, and he delivered them and “broke down their prison gates of bronze; he cut apart their bars of iron.” Then there were the fools who also turned from God, and in their folly found nothing but dissatisfaction, deep discontentment that ate away at their very lives. But when they cried to the Lord he “sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.” Finally, there were the merchants, sailing the seas, perhaps with minds only set on finance. But when the storms struck and their ships were tossed around, they feared for their lives and called on God who “calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves.”

The story goes on to tell of rivers being changed to deserts, “and springs of water into dry, thirsty land. He [God] turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there. But he also turns deserts into pools of water the dry land into springs of water.” This Psalm provides a beautiful description of God’s faithful love, it’s both poetic and eloquent. In it you see that God is the God who will do whatever it takes to deliver his people. In the midst of our wandering, when chains have bound our foolish, rebellious heart, when we’re giving all of our energy in pursuit of the riches of this world; this Psalm shows us that God will do whatever it takes to bring us to himself. But I can do you one better than Psalm 107.

The “whatever it takes” ultimately meant that God would become part of his creation. In the man Jesus, the unimaginable occurred: God joined divinity and humanity. In the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, God displayed his great love and willingness to do whatever it takes to join us with himself. He personally becomes part of his creation. His appearance means that instead of being wanderers, we are adopted into his family. We are prisoners no more, for he himself has come to make us free. He has rescued us from the folly of seeking our own way by becoming wisdom for us. And instead of being mere merchants, relentlessly bargaining for the riches of this world; he has become our treasure and desire. This was his plan all along, and it gave him great joy to do so. What we see in pictures and poetry in Psalm 107 becomes flesh and blood in Jesus. We now know that the ultimate goal of God’s faithful love was not only to deliver us from the death, insanity and brokenness of sin, but to actually join us with himself. And in Jesus he says, “This is how far I’m willing to go! You in me and me in you- whatever it takes.”

Shechem

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

From Genesis to Acts the name Shechem comes up repetitively. Sometimes it’s a person’s name, at others the name of a place. Both good things and bad happened at Shechem. And I’m convinced that due to the repetition of the name alone that there are deeper, spiritual, even prophetic truths to be gleaned from a study of Shechem. I wish I had something like that to share with you, but I don’t. But there is something very practical that did come to mind as I thought about Shechem and the way it keeps cropping up in scripture: One of the ways that God speaks to us is through repetition.

I think that for all of us there are times when we think to ourselves, “I’ve been here before.” Perhaps we recognize that we’ve visited the same “place” multiple times, sometimes many years apart. And then once more we find ourselves there again. A different scenario, different people- same place. Or maybe it’s a particular verse or section of the Bible that keeps coming up over and over. The Spirit puts it on your mind, then in your car, on the radio, something about that verse is said again. Later, you’re talking to someone, and the theme is repeated. Or it could be that a particular trial comes around again and again. Whatever the case may be, I believe it’s important that we recognize that God utilizes repetition to speak with us. (I believe you’ll find that this bears out in scripture as well.)

Most of us recognize that God speaks to us through the Bible, the voice of the Spirit in our hearts, and through other members of the Body of Christ. But I think many of us may ignore (or maybe have just never considered) the voice of the Lord in “divine repetition.” Think about it: repetition is pretty much how we learn everything in life. It was through the consistent repetition of hearing our parents speak that we ourselves learned to talk. How often did you repeat the multiplication tables to learn them? What about the alphabet song? Acquiring work skills, mastering a craft requires repetitive endeavor. But perhaps you’ve never really thought about the fact that God utilizes repetition as a means to speak to you, to work in your life, and to indicate his will.

If you find yourself running into “Shechem” over and over again take a moment to stop, and ask why? Ask God to give you wisdom as to why this (whatever it may be) keeps occurring. It could well be that He is teaching you, desiring to effect change in you through a repetitive theme. Perhaps in your previous visits to Shechem you were unwilling to stay long enough to learn what He wanted to teach you. So, here you are again. And I’ll bet you that you’ll keep coming back until you “get it.” (I know I do.) How many times have you asked yourself, “Why am I always running into people who…?” It could be that it’s not about them, but rather a work God desires to do in you by repeatedly bringing such people into your life. May be you’re seeking God’s will about a particular direction for your life. Pay attention to repetitive themes that occur during this time.

Oh yeah, don’t go it alone. Share your thoughts and observations with others in your community, and allow God to use their perspectives to help you. You can bet that they have visited Shechem themselves. As you walk with Jesus, yielding yourself and abiding in Him, pay attention to repetition. Sometimes, He speaks that way.

“Pete and Repeat were sitting on a fence. Pete fell off, who was left………………………..?”

Jesus Wears Nike

Posted on by Kyle Fuller

“Pressure pushing down on me

Pressing down on you no man ask for

Under pressure…”

In the odyssey of life, the saying, “Anything can happen.” is proven true over and over again. And it seems like the “anything” that can happen tends to happen at the worse time possible. Thus, the old adage, “When it rains it pours.” Relationships we thought would never change are sometimes dissolved in such a manner that it makes our heads spin. Sickness, death, misfortune, work situations, you name it; it can all happen at any time. Living in the tension of these moments causes pressure. We feel restricted and confined, bound in such a narrow place, it’s hard to move. Pressure bears down and continues to tighten until we feel riveted to the ground. Thus, another old saying, “Getting the screws put to you.” Whether it’s self-inflicted, perpetuated by others, or a “combo-meal,” sooner or later; life will hit you smack in the mouth. And we have all sorts of ways by which we try to overcome the pressure and find peace. The thing is, most of our ways don’t work or are temporary at best. We too often forget that Someone has faced the pressure, beat it and offers his victory to us.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

 

Jesus himself assured us that we would have “tribulation” in the world. That word “tribulation” means: pressure (what constricts or rubs together), used of a narrow place that “hems someone in”; tribulation, especially internal pressure that causes someone to feel confined (restricted, “without options”). But the cool thing is that Jesus took all the pressures that life has to give and has overcome the world. He said, “I have νενίκηκα (nenikēka) the world.” Yeah, you recognize the middle part of that Greek word. It’s “nike,” which means “victory.” Jesus had on his Nike long before the shoe company was ever thought of, and he has shared his victory with us. He assumed the totality of the human experienced (even death) and says to us that we can have peace, despite the pressure-in him.

The “in him” is more than just some ethereal concept. Actually, we know what it means and use it all of the time. Think of it this way: In love songs, we hear all the time lyrics such as, “Oh baby, in you I’ve found everything I’ve ever wanted.” Well, that implies relationship. Two people are sharing their lives together. They walk in each other’s shoes. They are “in” each other if you will. They walk, talk, live, love and simply do life together. The pressure that affects one affects the other. The husband and wife have actually become one and they have peace by just being together. Ask a guy and he’ll tell you that no matter what happens, knowing that his wife loves him somehow makes it bearable. Well that’s kind of like the idea of “in him.” Us in Jesus, him in us, living, loving, doing life as one. “In me you may have peace.”

Yep, Jesus wears Nike, and he wants us to walk in him, experiencing his victory and peace. Oh yeah, in this world there will always be pressure. But guess what; Daddy’s got a brand new pair of shoes!!