Glad in God

When I think of spiritual disciplines, I usually think of reading the Bible, prayer and fasting (although I hardly ever fast and when I do I think I am headed for a near death experience). The word "discipline" conjures up images of suffering and hardship. We desire to be obedient though and so we do as the Lord has commanded. Its all about being obedient. Obedience, a word that usually carries a pretty negative connotation.

That is why learning that God commands us to be joyful was a shocker that changed my life several years ago. Could that be right? That God actually demands that we be happy? That His glory is on the line and that He insists upon us being a joyous people? That He cares just as much about our enjoyment of life as He does our living clean lives? Yes, that is exactly how it is. God wants us to be happy because He wants us to be intimately close to Him. Long faces and long lists of do's and dont's are not God's idea of being like Christ. Being glad in God is what I hope most for myself in this life.

Is there Scriptural evidence that God cares about our joy? Yes, there is, and here is the cliff notes version. Galatians lists the fruit of the Spirit and checking in at #2 is joy. The Psalmist writes "in His presence is the fullness of joy". Peter says that because we believe we are filled with a "glorious and inexpressible joy." Paul commanded the church at Thessalonica to "be joyful always." James even tells us to consider hardship "pure joy."


At times joy will have to be fought for. Other times it will come easy. May we always remember though that God is not only "okay" with us being happy people who laugh and have a great time in this world, but that He has actually commanded us to live that way.

A State of Despair

The state of Oregon is one of the most beautiful places in the entire U.S. I recently visited and it is in my top five for prettiest states. Mount Hood, Crater Lake and the scenic drive along I-5 are truly breathtaking. Oregon has some of the best coast lines in the country as well. Along with all of this beauty you would think would come passionate worship of the One who created it all. Not so.

Oregon is the least "churched" state in the union. Church attendance falls way below the national average. Their divorce rate is among the highest. Drug and alcohol abuse are near the top as well. That all sounds bad, and it is, but the news gets much worse. Oregon has more "adult" bookstores than any other state. As I drove south on I-5 it reminded me of the western corridor of Missouri along I-70. Needless to say, these stores do untold harm to marriages, families and the social fabric of the entire culture. How truly tragic it is for there to be such widespread sin and unholy living.

While in Oregon I thought a lot about Paul's words in Romans one:

18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.

Oregon is a beautiful place where God's power, glory and might are clearly on display. However, for the most part, worship of Him has been exchanged for a lie. How heartbreaking. I pray for revival for the state of Oregon and applaud all those who are laboring there for the Kindgdom. Their work is difficult, the task is monumental and the oppostion they face is stifling. Please remember them as you pray.

No better option

As Americans we face many decisions. Coke or Pepsi (I say Coke, the cherry kind), paper or plastic, Curly fries or regular, Dove or Hershey, Ford or Chevy, the list goes on and on. These decisions are obviously fairly trivial. Other choices are much larger and truly matter. The most significant decision that any human makes is what they do with Jesus Christ. Will they worship Him as almighty God? Will they deny the reality that He is God? Or will they marginalize Him with words of belief but no acutal faith?

John records for us an incredible event in the earthly ministry of Christ. It is one of my favorite moments in all of scripture. Immediately before this Jesus had just fed the five thousand and had walked on water. Two events that would seem to indicate that He was indeed God! However, He had also just spoke about being the bread of life and this confused and angered most everyone (including some disciples) who was listening. So, they said forget it and left.

Jesus then turns to the twelve remaining disciples and asks, ""You do not want to leave too, do you?" As you would expect, it is Peter who replies, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

What a great question. If not Christ, then who? If not Him, then what? If He did not love us, where would we be? If not the Cross, then how? If not His blood, how do we ever repay? If not His grace, where would we find freedoom? If not His mercy, how could we move forward? If not His word, what direction do we have?

May we be a grateful people, we have much to thank Him for. May we be a worshipful people, He is so deserving. I pray that all things detracting from Him will be subtracted from our lives and that He will increase greatly in all things.

Laughing until it hurts......

I love to laugh. There is nothing like it. There are things and times in life that are truly hilarious and it is a gift from the Lord to get to enjoy such funny times. One of those times was Saturday night at Brian Regan. Brian is an incredibly talented comedian who takes the day to day parts of our lives and shows us how funny they really are. I am pretty certain that we laughed uninterrupted for a bit over an hour.

Interestingly, Scripture has quite a bit to say about laughter. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac she said that God had brought her laughter and that everyone who hears about this will laugh with me. The Lord spoke through Job saying, "He will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy." Apparently, laughter and Biblical joy are connected and the Lord desires that we have both. Finally, the Psalmist reiterates this truth by saying, "Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, "The LORD has done great things for them." Again, laughter and Biblical joy inexorably linked.

I pray that God brings you laughter and that He also brings you those who will share in the fun. I am forever grateful to be a part of a family (and extended family) that loves to laugh and can do so in good taste. May the Lord find us with a cheerful heart and mouths full of praise......