Turn

"And the hand (the power and presence) of the Lord was with them, and a great number who believed turned to the Lord [for salvation, accepting and drawing near to Jesus as Messiah and Savior]."
Acts 11:21

So in this part of Acts we're in the midst of discussions over who all gets salvation- is it for God's historically chosen people only or has that net widened outside the Jews? But we're not here to discuss that right now- mainly because the answer is obvious (or this non-Jew is cooked).

I wanted to talk about something I noticed in this single verse of Acts 11:21: "...a great number who believed turned to the Lord..."  The way this sentence is structured is super interesting.- because it says a there's a group of people who believe and a great number of them turned to the Lord. So that means that while a great number of them turned, not all of them turned. For that matter, why does "who believed" have to be in the passage at all?

But don't miss that it is because it gives us this simple, yet necessary prescription to salvation that we get wrong a lot. (1) Believe (2) Turn.

Believing is fairly easy upfront. Even Satan believes. And frankly, isn't it easier to believe in someone that could protect and love us forever than the alternative of what, chaos? But often when we talk to people about Jesus the conversion, the believing, is the discussion. And it is a huge part. But the thing is, if people can believe and not be Christians, then the turning is equally important. And important to note that without the turn, you're likely not a Christian. And what is the turn? Turn from who you are and be like Jesus. Let him mold you. Study scripture and learn. Pray and listen. Turn.

And I don't know about you, perhaps you're a better follower than I am, but for me, the main believing happened at first but the reminder happens daily. And the turning happens all the time. And the good Lord who bled to take away my sin defeated death so that I might have a chance to believe and turn and for that to matter enough for me to spend eternity with Him instead of what I deserve.

Believe. Turn. Believe. Turn. Turn. Believe. And keep going.

Love One Another

I get mad at other drivers, especially the bad ones.  Drive slow in the left lane. Pass me, then get in front of me, then start going slower. Are you kidding? I get impatient when meetings run over. I get frustrated at slow walkers. Actually, you do you- be a slow walker. But it's much like slow drivers, get over so other people can pass.

I can go on but I believe you get the idea but probably not my point. You see, I spend an absurd amount of my day having opinions about various things, feeling irritated at someone doing something. Feeling accomplished at what I get done. Feeling dissatisfied for the things left unchecked. I'm up, I'm down, I'm all around.

Frustrated. Frustrating. This hard thing called life. These crazy people of earth.

But with all my opinions and frustrations, I find my vision to be small. It's like I'm hiking focused on my feet instead of enjoying the view.

"By this everyone will know that you are my  disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35.

It's simple. Despite my good and/or bad motives, despite my emotions, my intolerance, and all other various behaviors, it's simple. Love others.

And sometimes my decent motive is real. I do think there's not enough honesty in our world and the people that really love us should help us be better people. And that's true. But am I pointing something out because I'm irritated or because I love you? Does love take priority?

If the people around me could describe me would the first thing they say be that I love them? Or I even care about them? Or would it be something more about me like my accomplishments, my intelligence, etc.?

There's nothing wrong with doing well in a career. Or having a lot of money. Or passing someone on the highway. But first, love. Care about people and things outside yourself. It's the only way to really live. Or so I'm working toward everyday.

Answered Prayer

I've been thinking a lot about prayer. Having been a Christian for about 30 years you'd think I'd be better at it. That's the thought, right? Or more predominantly in my case, I throw a little prayer up and instantly want to take it back, of sorts. Something more important may come along that I'd rather have.

Silly- right?

As though God's some genie? Like you only get a certain number of "yes" prayers and as the day goes on you've used up your allotment. Or he's irritated, like I would be, for your wishes and is now teaching you a lesson to ask better or for better things. Stop bothering him, he's saving people from real things.

Super silly.

"But Gideon said to him, 'Please my lord, if the LORD is for us, then why has all this happened to us? And where are all His wondrous works which our fathers told us about when they said, "Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?" But now the LORD has abandoned us...'" 

I believe in God. I believe He can do mighty things and is all-powerful. I believe He did everything the Scriptures say and I believe He's so big our imaginations can't contain all His ability. But when you're reading scripture and you're exploring the hundred or so years of slavery, the decades of servitude between judges, and the pretty silent period between the Testaments, it can feel like God does abandon His people, or those are the clips of life I feel like I live in.

Because life is about me, right? How I got along today. How people treated me. Depending on my mood the slightest thing can stress, a glance, a tone -especially a tone- or a perceived slight. And it's not because of self-grandeur but selfishness. It's a coping mechanism, a defense system.

But it doesn't work, really. I can assure you of that. It's a stopgap that won't last and won't work.

We need only seek Him until we're confident we've found Him. He's always there. A-L-W-A-Y-S. But since we're mostly about ourselves we have to wade through all the false emotions, pressing on toward Him. If you fail to reach Him each day, and I mean each day, you've missed out on what He was offering you that day- peace. joy. calm. truth. love.

And He'll help you wade through and He'll fight the battle for you- you need only be still, ask or really, simply accept it.

Grandfather

I often think, as much as I hate to admit it, that I have a very wrong picture of God. You see, one of the ways I let the world in is letting parts of its definition of God creep into mine. He's this grandfatherly, Santa Claus-like figure sitting high up in heaven waiting on me to do things and then blessing or cursing them, not always for a good reason- not to mention the world is so big he's often doing other things and not even helping out with the chaos.

And while the world says this (although it's increasingly less shameful about not acknowledging a god at all), it seems pathetic.

God either exists or He doesn't. And if He exists where do we get His definition or parameters? Society and life have rules necessary to its existence (hello, constitution) so it's reasonable to conclude God-following must too.

But a big wonder of mine about the world is whether the few remaining people that even occasionally acknowledge there's a god believe in a little-g one that's really a figment of the imagination to keep the boogeyman away, to feel more confident, to get what we want, to push away the horror.

And about half the time these fleeting pleas of breath work (law of averages and all) and we've gotten so used to the feeling of chaos that while it's sucking away our lives it's an inevitability so c'est la vie. After all, god might make our lives harder if we don't throw up a prayer, right?

Wrong. He loves us more than we can possibly imagine. And He forgives us. He loves in spite of who we are and what we do. He created a world knowing He would have to slaughter His own child to save us, how far do you think He's willing to go to save you?

"Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them...They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which He commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses."  Judges 3: 1a,4

This is not cruelty or trickery on the Lord's part. This is cleansing. And it's tough stuff. It's gut-wrenching and life-taking. It's the refining process where the Potter (God) shapes the clay (us, His children) in order for something better to emerge. 

He's not sitting atop the chaos wondering whether the Israelites will or won't obey. He's the author of life, in every detail but loving us enough to grow us to obey His commandments so that our lives may be fuller. The Israelites chose wrong most of the time, as they did just 2 verses later. But we don't have to find ourselves in slavery, we need only ask Him to be free and our powerful God will rescue us.