Right way or Best way?

Does it make a difference? You bet it does.

What am I talking about? The Christian life(style). Righteous living (to sound more religious about it.)

If we think of living a holy, righteous, godly life as the 'right' way to live, we see it as something less than desireable (at least to us.) It becomes something we 'have to do' to get to heaven, to get God to accept us, or to keep from getting 'disciplined.' It becomes like Buckley's cough syrup - good for us, cures the 'sin' problem, but is rather unpleasant.

If we see living a holy, righteous, godly life as the 'best' way to really live, we see it as something desirable, like ice cream. We want more of it. We can't get enough of it!

Seeing a righteous lifestyle as the 'right' way becomes a means to an end - living a less than desirable lifestyle so we can eventually get to heaven (which by all accounts is more of the same!).

Seeing it as the 'best' way is the end - life now is joyful, blessed, delightful, free, victorious, meaningful and to be desired. Heaven then is just a bonus! More of the same joy, delight, significance, etc.

So? How do you see living a Christian lifestle? Do you view living righteously (following Jesus example of what words to speak, what ways to walk, and what work to do.) as a means to and end (heaven) or an end in itself (a great life here and now)?

Don't Worry - Be Happy!

Catchy song. But Jesus thought of it first. Over and over he keeps saying, "Don't worry about your life." "Don't be anxious." "Don't keep striving..." (Luke 10:38-42, 12:22-32)

It is easy to become so focused on obtaining the daily necessities of living that we don't enjoy the life we are working so hard to sustain. What an irony. What a great scheme of the enemy - part of the curse! Like hampsters on a wheel - working so hard to get somewhere that they never get anywhere - until they drop dead and someone carries them out of the cage!

Therefore Jesus news is REALLY good news. We don't have to wear ourselves out over unrelenting cares of life. We really can relax and not worry. We really can be happy. We really can be 'care free.' He has it covered. When I learn to trust God to provide what I need to sustain my life, I am free to pursue and enjoy the things that will make life really worth living.

What will it take for us to get hold of this truth - and stop our striving and renounce our drivenness and trust him to care for us and learn to relax?

Yes the photo is two of my grandkids ... but don't they look like they got the message of this blog?

Bronze is a poor substitute for Gold!

King Solomon made a set of 200 brilliant gold shields that adorned his house. Each time he went to God's house he had them carried there. When Shishak the Egyptian king (2 Chronicles 12) came from Egypt he took them back with him as plunder. Later King Reheboam made bronze shields to replace them. The people probably rejoiced to see the new shiny shields, for on the surface they look very similar to gold - they probably fooled the people who didn't look too closely, or the people who hadn't seen the real gold shields. However there is a major problem with bronze - it tarnishes easily. Therefore it takes a lot of energy and attention to keep it resembling gold. And if it is examined closely by anyone who has seen real gold, it soon becomes apparent that it is only a poor substitute for the real thing.

Here's my analogy. God's manifest presence and activity among us is the 'gold' that adorns our lives and our gatherings. It's what causes 'visitors' to exclaim 'ahh ... ooooh wow that's awesome' and brings great joy to us as His house guests. When we lose the 'gold' of his presence (anointing, manifestation of his power and gifts), we often replace it with the 'bronze' of human programs and activities. On the surface the worship or speaking or ministry still looks like gold - but it takes a great deal of energy and attention to keep it from tarnishing (and revealing to people that it was only human, not really God's presence and activity.) Down deep inside we know it's really bronze, but we still don't go for the gold - maybe because we don't know where to look for it, maybe because it costs too much (prayer and fasting and seeking), maybe because we have come to love and value the bronze shields we have made, or ......

What do you think? Are we experiencing the gold of God's presence and activities among us, or are we working very hard on human programs we have substituted to look like he is present?