Haritha

Our Way To God

We need always balance the exhilarating good news of Christianity with the harsh realities of its strict limits and urgent responsibilities.

Jesus came to earth to free us from the bondage of sin, but he also commanded us to “go and sin no more.”

Salvation introduces us to a new life in Christ, but this life also requires that we pick up our cross and follow Christ in a life of service.

Likewise, this passage from John is a good news/bad news proposition. The good news is that Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life.”

As a result, humanity’s long and often fruitless search for fulfillment and meaning finds its answer in Christ, who shows us in his life and his words all the incredible riches that God has for us.

On the other hand, if Christ is the way, those who decide to go another way lose out. “No one comes to the Father except through me,” he said, indicating that all other religious traditions and spiritual paths are dead ends.

How could the God who loves the world not save all the people of the world? Theologians have wrestled with this question for centuries.

Some have described salvation as a big party. The party is open to anyone who cares to come, and colorful invitations have been sent personally to everyone on earth.

When it comes time for the party to be held, millions upon millions of people will turn out and have a wonderful time.

But not everyone will show up that day. Some people will get the invitation but throw it on a stack of mail and never get around to responding.

Others intend to come to the party, but various problems will prevent them. In one case, someone’s car might break down along the way.

In another case, a family illness or emergency might take attention away from the party In more than a few cases, people will simply oversleep or forget all about it.

If you’ve ever thrown a party, you’ve probably heard your share of reasons why someone didn’t show up. But you didn’t hassle those who had other things to do.

It’s a free world, and unless they had promised to bring the sodas or chips, they were free to stay home if they wanted.

The same goes for the big, glorious party God has planned for us in heaven. He’s been spending an eternity getting things ready. He even sent his only Son to deliver the invitations.

Who knows who will be at God’s grand party when that day arrives? At least we know he tried to invite us all. It’s up to us to exchange bad news for good.

Father, I thank you that I have been able to hear and respond to your words of life. Help me invite others to your heavenly party.

Pain That Heals

Just about everyone who has ever used a hammer has mistakenly hit his own thumb.

For most of us, doing this once or twice is enough, and we take better care the next time. But pity the poor person who repeatedly hits himself with a hammer.

Paul’s wise words have much to say about the emotional and spiritual pain so many of us seem to inflict on ourselves.

As he saw it, there are two kinds of inner pain: the pain that leads to life and the pain that leads to death.

We all cause pain to ourselves and others. Some of us do it fairly regularly, and some of us don’t even know when we’re hurting someone. But regardless, there’s more than enough pain to go around.

What Paul was trying to tell us is that godly sorrow is the kind of pain that causes us to take stock of our lives and change course so we don’t experience it again.

This kind of sorrow leads to repentance, a word that appears throughout the Bible and means “to turn back.”

The person who hits his thumb with a hammer and says, “Ouch, that hurts,” then decides to find a more productive way of driving nails has repented.

He has turned back from his old practices and decided to try things a new way.

But the person who doesn’t mend his ways, and instead keeps hammering away while his thumb turns into a throbbing mess, is following a course that Paul said will lead to death.

Unless you’re a professional carpenter or builder, your main problem in life probably doesn’t have anything to do with a hammer.

Maybe it’s your ego that you swing around like a blunt instrument, hitting everyone around you and causing pain.

Or it may be that your weaknesses and desires are what get you in trouble.

You want to do the right thing, but you succumb to temptation, breaking the bonds of trust and love that are so important in human relationships.

Regardless of what your particular vulnerability is, Paul’s words teach us an important lesson.

Pain isn’t the main problem we face in life, but rather it’s how we’re going to react to life’s plentiful sorrow and suffering.

If pain and sorrow are simply small roadblocks in our path, and we decide to speed over these bumps on the way to our destination, it’s likely that pain will be our constant companion in life and we won’t learn its valuable lessons.

But if we receive pain as an important message from God and re¬pent, our sorrow and frustrations can lead us to life.

Father, thank you for the powerful way pain can bring us to our senses. Use the pain I experience to lead me to life.

Faith Takes Practice

This verse is a familiar one for me. I have often read it while in the midst of a trial and tried to claim it as my own.

Unfortunately, there have been many times when contentment has eluded me and worry has resided in its place.

There are two words that stand out when I try to unravel how to experience this kind of contentment: secret and learned.

I know Jesus, have accepted him, and seek to follow him in my daily life. So why does contentment sometimes seem so difficult to grasp? I think that I rely on myself more than on God.

When I try to make life work well and don’t succeed, I continue to wrestle with solving my dilemma on my own.

Oh, I pray and read my Bible. I say that I believe God is in control of everything, but I live as if I am in control.

Instead of doing what I can and leaving the rest to God, I worry and manipulate to change circumstances. I miss the secret of contentment by being busy fixing instead of abiding and resting in my relationship with Jesus.

This is such a difficult thing to do because it seems passive, even irresponsible.

I know intellectually that I experience his power when I am weak (2 Cor. 12:9-10), but I often short-circuit that power with my own efforts.

Paul’s secret was to let God be God in his life. It was to trust in Christ to the extent that he fretted not when he was in jail or shipwrecked.

The other word that stands out to me is learned. So often when reading Scripture, I expect to be able to immediately apply what I have read. The word learned tells me that Paul didn’t experience this contentment right away either.

In Romans 7:21-25 Paul confessed,

So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.

For in my inner being, I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

We, like Paul, persevere in our learning to be content. The secret is in relationship with Jesus, the learning comes with practice.

Father, thank you that you are a patient God.

Walking The Ancient Path

Many people act as if their favorite two words were new and improved.

We seem to believe that newer is always better than older, that the way we do things today is superior to the way we did them in the past, and the way we do them tomorrow will be even better still.

It is true that some things work more efficiently now than they did before.

The world’s first multipurpose electronic computer was a thirty-ton monstrosity called ENIAC that consisted of some eighteen thousand vacuum tubes and miles of copper wiring.

ENIAC was created in a Pennsylvania lab in 1946, and when it was turned on, the lights of Philadelphia dimmed.

By 1971, all of ENIAC’s computing power could be squeezed onto a tiny silicon wafer the size of a postage stamp.

The ways we record and play music have changed, too. Few people today play 78-rpm records, 45-rpm singles, or 12-inch vinyl albums.

Even cassette players using magnetic tapes are on their way out, having been replaced by digital compact discs, which can cram more than an hour’s worth of music onto a platter that’s less than five inches in diameter.

Granted, our technology has improved over the years. But has human life made corresponding progress?

People still suffer illness and die. Medical science has prolonged our lives and devised new treatments for many common ailments, but life still has an ending and a beginning.

And no science known to humanity has been able to decrease the amount of greed, anger, jealousy, or cruelty in the world.

When it comes to Christianity, churches have been evolving ever since the time that Jesus’ first disciples gathered together to remember his death and resurrection.

In the twentieth century, the Pente¬costal Revival, the Charismatic Movement, the Jesus Movement, and the Seeker-Sensitive Megachurch Movement have reinvented the way people do church.

But behind all our efforts at improvement, God is an eternal, unchanging force who hasn’t changed the basics of what it means to worship him.

Older isn’t always better, but newer isn’t always better either. Before you jump on the latest religion bandwagon, stop and think.

Find out what has gone before and compare the new approach to the old. And if new proposals seem like shallow attempts to be hip or relevant, stay with the ancient paths that believers have walked for millennia.

God, you’ve been around forever. Help me to cling to the things that are truly good in your sight, and not just the things that are new.

He Walked In Our Shoes

Before I was widowed I would look at some widows and evaluate how they grieved. Maybe one cried all the time in public and another forever talked about her loss.

While feeling sympathetic, I also made judgments about issues unknown to me.

Then my own husband was killed. I was thirty-four years old with two young daughters. It was a shocking reality I cried every day and many nights for months. But I seldom cried in public.

One Sunday morning as I was walking into church, a woman came up to me and grabbed me by the shoulders. “You must grieve!” she shouted as she shook me with an angry force.

I had no time to respond as she walked off in a huff. As I steadied myself I went on into the sanctuary and sat down, still shaking from the encounter. What in the world made her so angry at me? I wondered.

Several weeks later a friend of that woman’s told me that my lack of public crying had some people thinking that I wasn’t grieving. Some people even wondered if I felt bad at all.

I thought of all the tears I’d shed and was astounded that anyone could think I didn’t grieve. But the people who were judging me were doing the same thing I had done myself before being widowed.

There is a saying that warns us not to judge others until we have walked a mile in their shoes.

In fact, some of the greatest comfort I received in those early days of widowhood came from women who had been widowed themselves. They could identify with me. They understood, firsthand, how I felt.

Over the years I have been asked to meet with widows for that same reason: they want to talk to someone who has been in the same place they are. We share a pain and therefore, a deep understanding.

Jesus, the very incarnation of God, shares that same identification with all of us.

The difference between his temptation and our own is that he is without sin.

He doesn’t look at our weaknesses the way I used to look at grieving people. He understands and sympathizes.

He comes alongside us and gives us an example of how to be tempted but not sin: feel the pain of life that can tempt us to sin in order to find relief, but choose obedience and turn from the temptation.

Father, we thank you that you sent us a Sympathizer in the Person of Jesus.

A Healing Touch

In the crowd was a woman who had been bleeding for twelve years.

In the culture of Israel, a woman who was ceremonially unclean had to live separately from other people and was considered a social outcast. No one was supposed to touch her or anything that she touched.

How lonely and desperate she must have been. Somehow she had concluded if she could just touch the edge of his “cloak” she would be healed. As soon as she tapped his garment her bleeding stopped.

The disciples began to talk about the crowd pushing in on Jesus, but he distinguished that closeness from the touch of the woman because he felt his power go out to her.

The woman came fearfully to Jesus and said that she had brushed against his cloak and was instantly healed.

Can we even imagine how this woman felt? She had been an “outsider” through no fault of her own, suffering not only physically but also emotionally.

Then she was instantly healed and the object of her faith was asking for her. She must have been overwhelmed.

Jesus then addressed her with the endearment “daughter.” No¬where else in Jesus’ recorded words does this address appear. He told her and the crowd that her faith had healed her.

This story intrigues me. I wonder what I would have done had I been that woman. Would I have had enough faith in this Jesus to believe that merely touching the edge of his garment would heal me?

Even more, do I have enough faith today to believe that my relationship with Jesus is such that I can “touch” him and experience the fruit of faith?

I have, of course, heard stories of people being scolded for too little faith that results in ills going uncured. And we all know godly saints of the Lord who have died in the throes of disease.

Where is the power of this verse for us?

I think it is in the woman’s faith in her particular circumstance. She was healed and perhaps even more importantly, she went away in peace. The power of faith results in peace, even when circumstances don’t change.

When we approach Jesus in the midst of our crowded worlds and reach out to him, confident that he will respond, we experience his peace. Our faith heals our souls, if not our circumstances.

Father, we are slow to trust you wholeheartedly. Enlarge our belief. Heal our souls. Help us to trust you and reach out to you.

What God Requires

Over the centuries, people have developed an amazing variety of ways of worshiping God.

In Eastern Orthodox churches, incense, and icons help believers make contact with the mysteries of God.

In Catholic churches, the celebration of the Mass helps believers experience the sacramental presence of Christ in their midst.

Protestants worship God with an astounding variety of methods and styles. In many Baptist churches, the emphasis is on sermons that illustrate lessons from the Word of God.

In Pentecostal and charismatic congregations, the congregation gives the Holy Spirit room to work.

In many newer churches, people in blue jeans sing contemporary praise choruses that include elements of pop and rock music.

In Micah, one of the final books of the Old Testament, the people wondered what kinds of observance God required when they gathered for worship.

Foremost in their minds was their concern about how to show proper repentance for their many sins.

Micah spoke for the people, asking what God demanded:

With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?

But God wasn’t concerned primarily with external demonstrations of reverence. Burnt offerings and ritual sacrifices weren’t the things he wanted to see.

Rather, God demanded a deeper commitment.

He wanted people to worship him from the depths of their hearts and live their lives in such a way that their daily actions revealed their love for God: “And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy / and to walk humbly with your God.”

God commanded his people to act justly: Don’t cheat your neighbor and then come to my altar to make a sacrifice. Don’t exploit your workers and then come make some kind of superficial religious show.

God also commanded his people to love mercy: When you see someone in need, reach out in love and compassion. When someone is hopeless or weary, provide strength and courage.

Finally, God commanded his people to worship him with humility: Crucify your pride. Lay your ego on the altar. Come before me recognizing that I am God and that you are not

People can worship God in all kinds of ways, but the principles of worship never change. God wants us to live lives of justice, mercy, and humility.

If these virtues take root in your life, God will graciously accept your worship, no matter what outward form it takes.

God, help me be the just and merciful servant you want me to be.

A Focused Life

Paul wrote this letter to the believers in Corinth after hearing of problems within their community. The church was gifted (1:4-7) but immature and unspiritual (3:1-4).

They suffered from divisiveness in the body, immorality, legal dealings in the pagan courts, and disrespect in participating in the Lord’s Supper.

Given the environment of Corinth, Paul might have been tempted to resort to worldly arguments.

It was a major city of its day. Its location on the narrow isthmus connecting the Greek mainland with the Peloponnese, the southernmost part of Greece, afforded it a dominant place in world trade.

It had two harbors and was the crossroads for travelers and traders.

Corinth was also a cosmopolitan place. Its people placed a high value on wisdom and were interested in the philosophies of Greek scholars.

Corinth was also a religious center with at least twelve temples. One of the most famous was the temple dedicated to Aphrodite, the goddess of love.

Corinth was so widely known for its practice of sexual immorality in the name of religion (related to the worship of Aphrodite) that the practice of sexual immorality was known as “Corinthianizing.”

Paul understood the power of knowing Jesus to turn people from their sin, even in a city so filled with ungodliness.

In 1 Corinthians 1, Paul presented his argument for this power by speaking out against the “wisdom” of men, including the Greek philosophers.

Then in the opening of 1 Corinthians 2, he gave a disclaimer so that no one would think he was trying to persuade them in the same way the Greek philosophers were.

“My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

The truth of the crucifixion and the resurrection confounded the worldly wisdom of the age. The same is true today.

We live in an advanced society that greatly values intellect and wealth.

We are inundated with persuasions to buy more, to be better than the next guy in just about anything, to discover self and indulge it.

It’s tempting to talk about our faith in ways that promise the same kind of presumed satisfaction that the world offers.

But Paul told us that focusing on Jesus and what he did for us is the way to penetrate minds filled with lies.

Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians lifted Christ up high and taught that his wisdom had the power of the Holy Spirit behind it.

Father, we live in a world full of temptations, not unlike those in Corinth. Help us to guard our hearts and focus on Jesus.

A New Command

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, which would be the Law for thousands of years.

These commandments were simple and direct. Among other things, the people of Israel were to have no other gods; they were to avoid robbery, murder, and adultery, and they were to honor their mothers and fathers.

Even though there were only ten commandments, they were difficult to follow. Throughout the Old Testament, God’s people repeatedly broke his laws and experienced the consequences of their actions.

Jesus came to earth to renew God’s covenant, but this time with the entire earth. And Jesus came teaching a new commandment: “Love one another.”

Although this may sound simple, it’s the hardest thing to do, particularly when we understand the commitment needed to follow the second part: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

How did Jesus love us? By coming from heaven to save us, and dying for us on the cross. Following Jesus’ new commandment to love means that we must be willing to lay down our lives for others.

So how have we done in the nearly two thousand years since Christ taught this new commandment? Not very well.

People still fight, rob, and steal, and nations still engage in wars against other nations.

Even in churches, the places where one might expect that Jesus’ love would remain supreme, there are political fights and turf battles that seem more petty than some of the struggles outside the church.

In some churches, division over styles of music can lead to all-out “worship wars,” with those who prefer traditional hymns attacking those who prefer more contemporary worship choruses.

In others, disagreements about how money is raised and spent can weaken the bonds of love.

Jesus said, “By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” If that’s the case, people looking at the church may be justified in wondering if those who call themselves Christians are truly his disciples.

So what can we do now to make Christ’s new command a reality in our lives? We can’t erase two millennia of religious infighting and hatred overnight.

But with each new day, we can begin living our lives as if love mattered.

That could involve big things. One powerful example of love was apparent when relatives of victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center forgave the terrorists who were responsible for killing nearly three thousand people.

It could involve small things, too. When you’re driving your car down a busy freeway and someone pulls in front of you, can you forgive him for his rudeness and even better yet, pray for him?

At church, living as if love mattered means practicing charity toward those who have different views about music money, or other potentially divisive issues and remembering that God loves all his children equally.

Jesus never said his new command would be easy to follow. But he did teach us that life wouldn’t make any sense without love.

Father, help me love people as you have loved me. Let love overflow in me until it moves me to reach out to others.

We Don’t Look So Good Either

His name was Don and he was homeless. One of the families in our church had employed Don to do some odd jobs and asked Steve if we had any work for him.

We did have some yard and outside projects that Steve hadn’t gotten to, so we said yes.

I felt good about our decision, and probably a bit self-righteous.

I thought, Won’t he be grateful? At the same time, my heart did hurt whenever I drove past bedraggled men (and once in a while, women) on street corners holding signs asking for a meal or a job.

So it was with mixed feelings of pride at our “goodness” and sincere sorrow for his plight, that Steve went to pick up Don at the parking lot where he slept in a run-down van. He came into the garage with Steve, and I went out to greet him.

He was really dirty. His clothes were torn and smelled of sweat and cigarettes.

I shook his hand and saw the red-ringed needle marks. My smile masked my revulsion, but I went back into the house as quickly as I could.

Don worked for us on and off for several months, and I admit that I never felt comfortable around him.

Steve tried to help Don improve; he let him shower at our house, Donate with us, and hear about God’s love for him, Steve worked with him until Don ended up in jail and finally left town.

Don’s sins were so easy to see. He continued to make poor choices and turn down help. He was not easy to love, or even like. But God tells us in this verse that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Yes, I think to myself, but we—my family, friends, and I—are not like Don. We are not dirty and drug-ridden. Surely we are easier to love or even die for.

But just as I am puffing myself up by comparison to one less privileged than I am, another verse comes to mind:

All have sinned. All of us.

And the amazing truth of God’s love is that he poured it out on us while we were still sinners. Even after accepting his Son, we still make mistakes and commit sins. And he still loves us.

Jesus went willingly to the cross for the love of people like Don and you and me. What Don displayed outwardly, we carry in our hearts.

We are full of unlovely trappings, but God comes in and cleanses us. Every “Don” can be white as snow.

Father, thank you that our salvation is not based on how good we are but on your amazing grace.