Seeking God is a journey for the wise

                Psalm 53 reads almost identical to Psalm 14 so I went back to look at what I wrote about Psalm 14 on May 30, 2015.  I said there that nothing major really grabbed me in those verses except that the overall theme of God being on the side of the oppressed was present there.  It is present in these verses as well as the Psalmist talks about evil, non believers who devouring the people.  The Psalm starts off Saying that it is fools who say there is no God.  Our world is crawling with fools today.  People who can’t see and experience God in the midst of their pain, trauma and struggles.  One thing that grabs me is that “God looks down from heaven on humans to see if anyone is wise, to see if anyone seeks God.  The contrast here is between the fool who doesn’t believe and the wise who seek God. 

                As I reflect on belief and unbelief I am drawn to the sermon preparation I have done this week in John 6:24-35.  Jesus addresses some of the differences between belief and unbelief there as well.  In this passage Jesus has just completed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000.  That wasn’t enough for the crowd to believe though.  They come to him right on the heels of that asking what other signs he was going to perform.  They wanted more. 

                Rob Fuquay in his book, The God We Can Know, Exploring the “I Am” Sayings of Jesus, talks about this notion of wanting more in a chapter entitled “I Am the Bread of Life”:  “Knowing God’s Satisfaction.”  In this chapter he talks about the difference between being full and being satisfied.  He says that we live in a culture that is always seeking fullness.  Our world is full of noise, communication, and stuff.  It is never enough.  He quotes J.D. Rockefeller who when asked “how much money was enough, responded just a little bit more.”[1]  How true that is.  We spend our days saying if only rather than seeing them as a day full of gifts.  We put our belief and our happiness into the “if only” rather then in our God who satisfies our every need.  Rob wonders what it would be like if we approached every day like we approached Christmas morning as kids.  What if we woke up every day expecting and looking for gifts rather than missing what we think we don’t have? What if rather than chasing fullness we seek God.  That is the difference between the fool and the wise.  What will you seek today?  Will you seek the fullness that tells you that there is never enough or will seek God who fully satisfies? 

---

[1] Rob Fuquay, The God We Can Know, Exploring the “I Am” sayings of Jesus.  (Nashville, Upper Room Books, 2014) Pp. 25-38

Refuge in the Community of God-Psalm 52

                Psalm 52 again addresses the evil of the love of money.  Too often people in positions of wealth and power use that wealth and power to oppress the weaker.  The Psalmist here calls that evil.  He says that those boast of their wealth and power are boasting of evil.  He says that this evil leads people to be deceitful and to lie.  These things are not pleasing to God.  When we make other things our refuge rather than God, the path leads to destruction.  It is easy though to try to escape into other things as our refuge.  Money, material possessions, Facebook, video games, shopping, alcohol, drugs are among those things where we find ourselves seeking refuge.  Many of those things by themselves are not evil, in fact they can be used for good.  However, when we escape into them, seeking refuge in them, we have put ourselves on a path of destruction. 

                The Psalmist is clear that the righteous person finds their refuge in God.  When we need to escape from the troubles of this world, we need to find our refuge with God.  We can find that refuge in many forms.  We find in in the written word.  We find it in music.  We find it in prayer.  We find it in friends. 

                In the final verses the psalmist compares himself to “a green olive tree” in God’s house.  An olive tree is an evergreen.  Its leaves do not die and fall off.  It is green year round.  The psalmist is saying that he is a permanent fixture in God’s house.  It is in God’s house with his community of believers that he finds hope and refuge. 

                We live in an age where people have become mistrustful of the church and unfortunately that comes sometimes with good reason.  The church is made up of flawed human beings and like any family, it can become messy.  We have to continually work at making the church, God’s House, a place of safety and refuge.  We must be a community where people can come and find hope, love and a safe place to call home. 

                Where are you finding God in Community?  Search for that today.  Do not delay.  Find refuge there.    

Create in me a Clean Heart-A Reflection on Psalm 51-Tales of a journey to health and wholeness

                When Jesus taught us to pray he taught us to ask that God forgive our trespasses.  The Psalmist of Psalm 51 shows us what it looks like to examine yourself and realize that you have fallen short and then to cry out for forgiveness.  With that forgiveness comes action on our part. 

June 11^th I had a moment where I took a hard look at myself and said Whoa what is going on here?  My house looked like a tornado had run through it.  My weight was out of control. I was putting stuff into my body that wasn’t good for it.  I was reminded that my body is God’s temple and that if I was not healthy I could not fully live into God’s call on my life.  If my body was not healthy I couldn’t fully fulfill my other roles.  My role as parent.  My role as friend. My role as Pastor.  My surroundings reflected the condition of my body and I wasn’t taking care of either.    I reached out to the health and fitness coach I had been talking to for the last two years.  She had been so patient with me.  For two years I would jump on the bandwagon for a week or two and then I would disappear for a while.  This cycle would repeat.  She recommended a book to me by Joyce Myers:  Making Good Habits:  Breaking Bad Habits.  In this book Joyce Myers states that our bad habits are a result of some emotional trauma we have suffered.  We tend to stuff those emotions with bad habits.  It may be food.  It may be compulsive shopping.  It may be cigarettes, alcohol or drugs.[1]  It may be sitting mindlessly in front of the television or in front of Facebook.  Insert your habit and it is likely that there is some emotion you are stuffing with that habit.  She then goes on to name 14 good habits to develop.  When we spend time developing good habits it takes away from the time to indulge in the bad ones.  Rather than focusing on quitting the bad, we cultivate the good.  I finished reading the book around June 20^th and I decided on 4 habits that I wanted to institute immediately.  They didn’t necessarily fall into the 14 she mentioned but there ones I knew I need to develop and develop now.  First, I needed to cultivate my relationship with God.  I had found that as a pastor most of my time spent in the word and with God had become sermon preparation.  While that feeds me tremendously, it wasn’t time I was intentionally spending with God for the sole purpose of spending time with God.  Secondly, I wanted to get my body healthy and I made a decision to immediately change my eating habits, to create a different eating lifestyle.   Thirdly, I wanted to develop the habit of blessing my home every week at the same time through the normal routine of changing sheets, sweeping, dusting, mopping and gathering the trash.  As I go throughout the home I pray for who and what is represented by each room.  Lastly I wanted to give more attention to my appearance and how I was carrying myself and caring for the body that I currently have. 

                It has been 6 weeks since this began.  I am happy to report that I have only missed one day of devotional time, I have lost 22 pounds, I have been successful with my weekly home blessings, and the affirmation I have received from paying more attention to how I present myself has been incredible.  What is even bigger is that those things I stuff my emotions with have diminished tremendously.  This week I am adding new habits to develop.  Myers says it takes about 30 days to develop a new habit and for it to stick.  I made it past the 30 days and am ready to add a new one.  It feels wonderful.  It is nice to celebrate some wins in the midst of chaos and confusion.  The only way I could accomplish any of it though is through the fact that God is present with me daily!  Thanks be to God!

                What emotions are you stuffing?  What are you stuffing them with?  How is that effecting your quality of life and the quality of life of those around you? 

                Pray the prayer of Psalm 51 and then get to work!  You won’t regret it! 

---

[1] Myers, Joyce Making Good Habits: Breaking Bad Habits (Faith Words, New York, 2013)