a work in progress.

I woke up early one morning in January with this statement on my heart:

“Do not fear what God will do to you if you don’t follow His will.  Instead, eagerly desire the fullness of life He has planned for you by stepping into His story.”

Up until a few years ago my view of following Jesus and His Will was more about punishment and consequences than experiencing fullness and life.  The fear of what God would do to me if I didn’t do His “thing” was always prevalent in the way I lived my life and the choices I made.  When I would “hear” from God, my obedient response would be that of timidity like, “walking on egg shells”.  I was always afraid that if I took one wrong step–Hell would break loose and I’d be forever condemned.

More recently, my Theology on obedience and God’s sovereignty has expanded from fear and punishment to freedom and fullness of life.  Sure, there are consequences for the wrong decisions I make but there are also consequences for the right decisions I make.

Think back to the Garden of Eden for a second.  When God created Adam and Eve, He told them, “You are FREE to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”  Originally, they could live life to the fullness, abundantly, with only one “do not”.  God gave them freedom, power and rulership to rule over creation by taking care of it and even naming the animals.  Pretty crazy that God would trust a human being with such a big task!

Then there’s the only rule, boundary and “do not”.  And the consequence?

Death.

Eventually, they gave into the temptation.  They ate from the tree and the rest is history.

If they thought that one rule was bad to stay in “right” standing with God–613 more rules came down the pipe from what they can and cannot eat to how to groom their beard.

Talk about micromanagement.

And those rules didn’t even bring life…If I felt like I was “walking on eggshells,” I can’t imagine life in their shoes.

So, that’s just the background of where I’m going.

When we make it to the New Testament and Jesus comes, dies and comes back to life it puts to death the old law (all 613).

There are a lot of things that were accomplished in the Easter event.  One of the bi-products is life.

Jesus died to bring us life.

For me, this means I can enjoy life.  I used to focus so much on the consequences that I forgot to enjoy the journey.  When God calls and I listen I can run and jump into His story.  I can look forward to the life His story brings.  I can enjoy the fulfillment I experience in serving His cause.

There are so many places in Scripture where this is talked about but apparently, for the first 25 years or so of my life I missed them or perhaps was not taught about this kind of freedom in life.

I want to live life to its fullest by eagerly desiring the enjoyment and fulfillment He has planned.

I’m no longer dead but have been brought back to life…and to enjoy it.

I’m looking for people to join me.

You in?

It’s funny how God speaks.  Sometimes it’s loud and clear, other times it’s in a whisper but it’s always in His timing.  Sometimes He speaks through Scripture, other people, nature, prayer–there are so many different ways.  However, I’d have to say He’s never spoken to me quite like this before.  He spoke to me through a sign…yes, a literal sign (Pictured on the right).

There’s a nature reserve within walking distance of where we live.  We often walk, play or I ride my bike through it.  I’ve taken this same path and passed this same sign numerous times while riding my bike.  But the other morning it was different.  I don’t know what it was about this time–maybe it was the quiet morning or the coffee I drank.  While those could have been factors, I have no doubt it was also God’s timing.

The part of the sign that caught my attention was the title that read, Restoration in Progress.

Last fall, I remember walking to this park with my daughter and finding it to be irritatingly closed.  There was another sign at the park’s entrance that stated, “Controlled Burn.” As I read further, I found out that they do controlled burns in forests to extract and kill off the unnatural, imposturous bush allowing the forest to replenish or restore itself with organic, natural plantation.

See where I’m going with this?

I wish it were not so but often times I notice the characteristics that are not of the original God-like image I’m created in slowly creep into my being.  If my being is the “forest,” then these ungodly traits are the unnatural things that slowly grow into existence.  Unnoticed at first, but as they grow one by one, they begin to takeover, strangle and dim the natural, radiant beauty that God has created in me that reflect who He is.

During these times, I become increasingly aware of how I’ve made myself the center of attention, the star of the movie or the king of my own life.  It’s also during these times that I’m left unsatisfied, ungrateful, and discontent.

Here’s the stark contrast I find in Scripture between these two realities of the unnatural (flesh) exchanged for the natural (Spirit):

Galatians 5:19-26
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

I find restoration to be a process, a journey and a progression that are cyclical.  Like a controlled burn in a forest, the results are temporary.  The burn has to take place again and again.  In our own lives, when we allow God to burn the unnatural and restore the natural, the weeds and imposturous bush of our soul creep back in until we find ourselves reliving the devastation we were in once before.  It may not be the same foreign species that has overgrown the soul previously, but it results in the same central pride that suffocates the intended God-like qualities.

There are two basic schools of thought regarding this overgrowth and restoration of the soul.  One side says that it’s possible to reach holiness or perfection in this lifetime.  The other says it’s impossible to become completely blameless and this cycle will occur over and over until the next lifetime.  I’m not sure what I believe when it comes to theological debates such as these.  I don’t know if either of these views are really the point anyways.

What I do know is that I want to allow God to search, restore and refine me as often as needed.  I know when I’m in that depressing self-centered state that I’m a terrible husband, father, son, friend and agent of the Gospel.  I will continue to strive toward what is right and good and who knows what will happen…maybe someday in a surrendered state of being I’ll be made whole in Christ Jesus.

Until then, I have this promise to hold onto:

Revelation 21:5
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

It’s been a busy but refreshing last couple of weeks.  Last weekend, I had the opportunity to lead worship at our church.  This weekend, I had the opportunity to preach…to adults.  If you would have asked me a year ago if I’d be preaching to adults…I would have said, “I don’t even know if I want to go back into ministry.”

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been out of “professional” ministry for close to a year to the date.  I find myself questioning a lot of things.  Is it ironic that after six years going full-throttle in ministry that I’ve spent this last year (my seventh year) unemployed and finding rest and recovery in acts of pure service to different churches?  Maybe it’s a sabbatical or jubilee that God has provided?  I understand that it’s possible I’m reading into everything.  But it’s also possible that God, in His sovereignty, could be preparing me for something.  I’m not sure what God has in store.  Only time will tell.  I trust that God will continue providing clarity.

Below is my message from the weekend.  It was for a series called, “Life Happens.”  We’re going through the book of Philippians.  My main text was Philippians 4:4-7.  Also, I heavily used the movie, Stranger Than Fiction as an illustration.