mutable minds

Every time I hear the positive thinking idea–think of good things and you’ll feel better about life and yourself–I want to lash out, shake the person and say, ‘Life is really hard! Wake up!’ I don’t and probably won’t ever actually do that. But I am a realist (back off on calling me a pessimist, you always-hopefulls), and I work in possibilities, not probabilities: so if it is not outside the realm of happening–though perhaps unlikely–it is a legitimate concern, idea, potential, etc.

Now as a result of having this mind of mine which entertains every option, I see the world as a flaming mess with little hope for saving. This is sad. There is a great deal of truth in my conclusion but there is equal folly, for God is able to literally do anything within his power–which is limitless–and that includes remaking and redeeming all things... which he actually is planning on doing.

This is where something the Apostle Paul said is interesting, namely, we can change the way our minds think. In his long letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul said that our minds could be ‘renewed.’ Obviously this does not mean that we get our old brain taken out and a new one put inside. But it DOES mean that we can change the paths our thoughts usually tread, the ways and perspectives we think through life.

Oh my, you’ll be ‘fixed’ in a jiffy. Not even close! This does not mean you must hit your spirituality in to hyper-mode, be a monk and sing in solitude while you eat Haggis around honey bees and brew beer. It does mean that as we further realize who God is, what he has always been doing and understanding what we and this whole world were made for, the more that stuff ‘clicks’ and sinks in, the more we think in a way that says, ‘God is my reality and his words are the supreme truth.’

The mind is renewable for everyone. You do not have to remain in the old and poor patterns you always used; you don’t have to use the same bad logical of your past; you don’t need to be who you were–which is not how God made you to eternally be.

Jesus not only died for our sins, but he died for our minds as well.

God owes us . . . nothing

I'm recently discovering (or rediscovering) the fact that God owes us, needs to give us, is obligated to provide . . . well nothing.

What do I mean when I say nothing?

God does not owe us:

1. Life: Here is the reality: we are not promised one more breath, one more heartbeat, one more blink of the eye. We are not promised that our cancer will miraculously (or by science) go away, that we will be saved from car wrecks, that we won't be the one who has that 'freak' accident in the safety of our own home. Just because you believe in God and follow Jesus--or not--does not make you invincible nor exempt from the reality of life, which is that people die a lot.

2. Laughter: No one is promised a 'good life.' It is hard for me, as an American, to get my head around this because I've assumed I am somehow due a good life, but find that in the Bible for me then I'll change my mind. What does this mean for day-to-day life? It means no one is promised good feelings . . . ever. No one is promised that we will laugh when something funny happens, that we will cry for joy, that we will get that job (let alone any job), that we can sing songs, that we will have a spouse and kids, that we will enjoy fine meals, that we can be wowed and refreshed by being outdoors, that anything will go 'right' or the way we wanted and planned, that praying will accomplish anything, that following the rules will get you anywhere, that breaking rules will summon excitement, that following your heart will work out, that following whatever 10-steps will accomplish their aim, that doing what people say will have its hoped for affect, that doing anything will illicit any kind of reaction in your soul. No one is promised anything of the sort.

So now that you're all glum and sporting a frowny-face, what does this mean? It means that when God--yes it is HIM--provides us the capacity and gift of pleasant things and the ability to feel rightly about these gifts.... enjoy the heck out of them. Cry when your baby is born. Laugh when your friend does something stupid. Eat that delicious dessert with happiness. Go celebrate when you get your job. It is SO good to have gifts and we should take them and embrace them . . . as gifts.

And whether we get this or that is not based on our good or bad behavior.

We are promised God. For those who follow him, we are told that we will always have God. We should not say, 'in his presence is fullness of joy so that means we should be happy all the time.' No, joy is not happiness. Joy is not feelings. Joy is a faith-based sense and belief and understanding that though we may never smile one more time, and we may spend the rest of our days in tears of sorrow God is still real, we are still his children, and Heaven will be full of the most explosive happiness and joy and good times we literally cannot fathom it.

Life is hard. Life is unbearable sometimes. Life can be too much. But often it is when we have everything but don't have the feeling we hoped for, it is then that we finally see we need God. Thankfully, for most, God is very kind in his provision and gift giving and occurrences in our life and we should thank him so much! But our belief in God and HIS GOODNESS should not be dependent upon what he provides day in and day out but on what he said and the now-unseen-reality he says is true.

The book of Job points this out and Job got it right when he said that God is truly good when he provides all kinds of great things or provides all of life to cease and die and be ripped away. Naomi was right she told her friends to stop calling her 'pleasant' but to call her 'bitter' because God killed her husband and two sons; she was a broken mess who still had a glimmer of hope in God.

It is crazy to understand that goodness is known in the darkest hour of your soul. That pain can walk beside God's favor. Joy accompanies stomach wrenching agony and confusion and frustration. The reality is that though he seems to not care one bit about you, God is not far off ever and he is always loving his children when it seems like he is ruining them. Love is peculiar and when we figure out what Paul proclaims in Romans 9-11--God does whatever he wants and he is always good in whatever he does because he IS wise and IS loving more than we can understand--we believe a scary and hard truth. Love is different than we think.

Now With the Ability to Finally Live: Mark 5.1-20

You now understand that through Jesus' death and resurrection all the sins you ever did are eternally forgiven; not only forgiven, but forgiven by God, whom we all have offended and sinned against. Amazingly our sins are forgiven but also our guilt. In American culture we are very good at second chances, forgiving people, however we always want the offender to readily know that what he did was wrong and that every knows this about the individual; God is not like us in that regard. How wonderful! How mind blowing and illogically delightful! God does NOT say, 'I forgive you but I still remember what you did.' The Bible says that God purposefully and intentionally FORGETS our sins once we have come to him for forgiveness. As one song states clearly, 'No guilt in life, no fear in death.' We have no need as the minister in the book The Scarlet Letter thinks to literally or emotionally or mentally beat ourselves for our sins that have been brought to Jesus. No more guilt! Rarely is it the actual crime that leads people to a suicidal state, rather the guilt of the crime and this God, in his great kindness towards us, says is gone too.

There was a man possessed by demons. It was not some illness or mental dysfunction but actual, real demons which were making the man something unhuman, undignified. First he was in the city he grew up in and the people, due to his state, chained him up for fear of what he might inflict on others; he broke out of these chains and fled to caves, fled to a place where he was alone. In this solitude he discarded his clothing and cut himself: he was tormented by the demons. People, no doubt, could hear his screams of torment at night, people who he was childhood friends with, his own parents.

Jesus came to this man and set him free from the demons, the evil spirits which tormented him. The man who was minutes ago in torment was instantly freed from those who brought him the pain and suffering, the solitude and scorn. The man immediately wanted to follow Jesus, be where this powerful man was, to walk with him, to learn from him; this was not uncommon, for Jesus had the Twelve whom he especially taught but there was almost always a large crowd of others learning from Jesus as well. Oddly though Jesus tells him no: 'Jesus did not permit him but said, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."'

What is Jesus doing?! Clearly this man wants more, he wants to be taught, he was to be trained, he wants to be discipled? Is this one of Jesus' rare ministry mistakes? How could Jesus be so cruel; didn't he know that this man might have a hard time coming back to society? The people of the city, it is said in the passage, were freaked out by what transpired. I thought Jesus was compassionate, let alone wise!

In our eager and earnest desire to do we often forget to live. When one comes to God for forgiveness, for healing that person is free from guilt and shame. Jesus conveys the idea that for many, we have already experienced the living and one true God, now go and live the life you were made to live. Go back to your job as a forgiven person; go back to your friends as a healed individual; go back to your old shoes with new feet. The heart of the Gospel is and has never been some gnostic journey or a search for experiences. The Gospel is forgiveness which Jesus says is freedom. You can live now because you are forgiven. You can love now because YOU are loved.

Sometimes it is easier to go evangelize or read your bible or go to Church or seminary or whatever thing it is you feel you should be doing than it is to live and live simply the way God wired your redeemed soul to do. Let's not make the Gospel less by trying to make it about doing more.

A Great Assumption

You know what God is ‘doing’ in your life, don’t you? What lessons He is teaching; what models He is proposing you follow? My hardship must mean He is teaching me patience; my struggle must mean I am learning to be content; my success, that I am His child and He loves me. After all, you are an astute learner, you have observed that God is one whose lessons are ‘between the lines.’ Maybe other people come to you to help them see what the Almighty is up to in their lives; you’re one who gets it.

Life is hard. Live long enough and you’ll get burned by someone or something. Some hope will be ruthlessly dashed in an unforeseen nightmarish fashion; some damsel will douse your desires while laughing; some strapping cologne-wearing man will find it foolish that you ever thought you had a chance with him; you’ll get cancer; your child may be not what you had hoped; your lone does not go through; the job you excelled in and worked honestly for is taken from you and given to some brown-nosed punk; friends say goodbye; other friends refuse to forgive or are the reason you have knives in your back; your car is smoking from the engine; your baby is crying and you have zero energy already . . . and this is God’s method for teaching?

Friends, there is little doubt that we can wonder why and come to some reasonable conclusion. But does He love you with such enthusiasm that he breaks your bones? For what? To tell you what you already know, that you need help; that you’re not perfect; that you have moral and character flaws?

Something more is afoot. God’s word, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, already show us our needs. God’s words also show us who He is. But life shows us that God exists.

We assume God is revealing to us and prodding us by life’s events. The book of Job corrects our thoughts: God is not a hyper-spiritualist having us look at the grass and wonder why it is folded the way it lies; God is real and the thunder and fireworks of life boisterously announce, ‘Look at me!’ God is saying, ‘Look at me!’ Our troubles and tears are echoes of His voice, ‘Look at me; look at me; I am life itself. More real than your broken wrist; more real than your chaos and hurt.’

We must not think God full of remedies for life’s problems. Nor that He is ambiguously teaching us lessons if we only look for them. We must know that He exists and that He is good and what He has taught us we find in His word. We can complicate—and frustrate—our relationship with God by thinking He, as our Father, must order the confusion of life: peace does not always mean tranquility. I know that God loves His children and I know that He, more than any other, cares for His children deeply. God is unconstrained, like His methods.

[02-07-2011]

The way I reckon it:
grab you a plan
then run somewhere in the land.