The REAL Question

The question is NOT – “What would Jesus do?”

The question IS – “What will YOU do with Jesus?”

On Power

Have you ever considered that we (mankind) have a problem with power?
In Tolkien’s fairy tales Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and The Lord of the Rings, the primary topic of each is the quest to defeat an evil would-be-lord’s attempt to own all power. In reflection it seems to me that the one ‘thing’ man strives for perhaps more than anything else is power. In some cases it is the quest for power, in others it’s the display of power that fuels our economy and our lives.

Power in all its forms is inextricably linked with pride. We take pride in ourselves when we can exhibit power over ourselves, others, and our possessions. In today’s society many consider power to be a positive thing, such as in being the ‘Master of Our Own Destiny.’

But we are only kidding ourselves if we think power and/or its pursuit is a good thing.

It is power that fueled Lucifer’s quest for God’s throne; power of knowledge that induced Eve to pick up the apple. Often, it’s the pursuit of power that drives men and women in the workforce to climb the corporate ladder, run for office, or own a business. Power is the reason people rape, murder, and abuse other people. It’s power that drives countries to depossess other people of their property and lands.

Look around our world today and one way or another most of us are trying to exhibit power in our individual lives. It is this real quest to own and/or utilize power and its resident co-evil pride that utterly destroys man. It abases us as we try to elevate ourselves to preeminence above God.

Even in our games it’s all about power. The Massively Multiplayer Online-Role Playing Game (MMORPG), The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar the players have characters that achieve “levels”. Each level exhibits its own “power”. When fighting a “bad guy” one looks at their own level and compares it to the “bad guy’s” level to see who has the most “power.” In the Lord of Rings Trivial Pursuit game power is exhibited by knowing more than the other players. These forms of power would seem innocuous at worst. After all, we all enjoy them.

Back to Tolkien’s heroes… they were humble, and this humility gives us (the reader) a sense that their attitude was just and right. In all my readings I’ve not found even one person who expressed that these heroes were stupid or foolish. I don’t think we could understand that it’s better to be humble than to pursue power in and of or for ourselves. We should consider where our sense of morality (right and wrong) comes from. This is an excellent example of myth containing truth.

I agree with Tolkien, that only Divinity has the right to own and exhibit power. Jesus said he is sitting at the right hand of Power. That tells us clearly that it is God who has the right to power. Jesus also said he has all authority… that IS power… real power.

We are creatures not The Creator. If we focus on God first and foremost as we ought and humble ourselves to Him and His guidance He will demonstrate power on our behalf. What a wonderful, peaceful position to be in…. That where The Creator takes care of us (of me)…

On humility… God tells us to, “… consider others as better than [ourselves]..” Christ said, “No greater love hath any man than that he lay down his life for a friend.” We’re also told that the second commandment is “… to love others as we love ourselves.” These actions keep us humble and defeat the quest for power… humility and power are mutually exclusive…

I need to learn to be more humble!

Fall from Perfection: Tolkien & Christianity

The more I study and learn about J. R. R. Tolkien, his contemporaries (i.e., C. S. Lewis) and their fairy stories / myths the more fascinated I become. It’s not just my love of the story. It’s the depth of their work and the realities behind it that are so… “rich” (for lack of a better word)… I can spend the foreseeable future researching, reading, thinking, and writing/blogging… about the authors and their efforts… and not grow tired of it.

It’s “rich” because it has a true foundation: God the Creator, the Word (Logos), the Spirit and their perfection and reality. If these weren’t real, what then? …. Nothing, it wouldn’t matter… there would be no resounding thrill in our hearts when the good guy (Frodo) destroys the ring, because there could be no morality… no good… no bad… without God.

Tolkien believed that there is only a story to be told when you have a “fall” from creation perfection.

Think about this for a moment…

If Eve hadn’t been deceived…. if Adam hadn’t willfully disobeyed… before that…. if Lucifer hadn’t coveted the Supreme Position… what would we have? A very boring, flat, dry… story… history… life…. what would we talk about? What would we appreciate?

More importantly… what would we “be” without “the choice”… between good and evil?

We certainly couldn’t be “redeemed” if we weren’t “fallen”… while on the one hand, Christ would not have needed to lay down His life for us, He wouldn’t have had to be brutally beaten and that would have been a good thing…. then again, we wouldn’t really know just how bad we really are… how much He loves each one of us… the lengths to which He’d go… We wouldn’t know what grace is… nor know humility in the presence of God… we’d have knowledge of His Superiority, but not of His grace and love…

Scripture points out that there’s a very real battle going on between principalities… God and His followers versus Lucifer and the other fallen angels…. Do you see it? Do you want to?

Will we deny ourselves and follow God or will we try to agrandize ourselves and follow Lucifer? Is our choice humility or pride?

God Still Talks!

I have to tell y’all what happened….. I’m living in a hotel… in the middle of relocating…. I’ve been incredibly busy… learning a new job… driving back home to be with my family most weekends… and until we sell the old house it’ll stay this way… I’ve known all along that God has a purpose in this delay… after all He’s big enough to even control the housing market… and what had been booming, now seemed to be busting… but I knew… thanks to God’s Word… that this was one of the things in His “all” in Romans 8:28 that is working for my good… (to make me more like Christ)…. so I’ve maintained my patience…. until yesterday….

My company has a very nice relocation package, but the temporary housing (paying for my hotel) is coming to a close… it’s only initially good for 60 days, which is up next week…. so two weeks ago I started the ball rolling in my company trying to get an extension…. then last night I got an email from my boss saying I had to submit the request through the relocation company, which would then send it back through my company… now I’m faced with not having any where to live (one of my personal “fear generating” events)… Last night I started to get very upset about it…. If I’d only known… I could have submitted it to the relocation company 2 weeks ago….

This morning I awoke prayerfully asking God to lead me in this… I know that part of this experience, like many others, is all about me trusting Him…. but I felt this morning it’s also about me learning to control my temper… self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and I recall a couple of months ago praying for this specific gift… self control…

I should tell you also that one of my biggest fears is that I go out into the world making my own choices as opposed to following my Lord. You know if Jesus is Lord of my life, then I’m supposed to follow Him. Point of fact, is that one significant way I’ve always messed up in my life is when I do not follow, rather I try to lead… so I frequently pray for His guidance… it’s the only place to be… in the center of His will… looking / listening and following His guidance!

As I was saying.. This morning I felt the Holy Spirit telling me this was about me learning about self control… I was not to get angry OR fearful… as I sat down preparing for my quiet daily Bible study… I prayed… Lord, please, if I’m where I’m supposed to be… please let me know… Give me a special message just for “THIS DAY.”… Then I actually apologized to God for the short notice… after all how could He answer that kind of question immediately… as I opened the book I’ve been reading from, a daily devotional… “Thoughts for the Quiet Hour” by D. L. Moody… written some time ago…. today’s verse was part of Joshua 24:15….

Choose THIS DAY whom you will serve…

Wow!!!!

It’s the ONLY question, that matters… everything else fell away… I burst into tears… so humbled that my Lord loves me enough to speak to me… and that he planted his answer through Mr. Moody long ago… knew exactly when I’d read it, what I’d ask before hand… who am I but dust?… and disobedient dust at that… that almight God would take the time and effort to speak directly to me? … No one… I’m no one… not worthy… not good… but LOVED and REDEEMED…

I choose… yes, I do… I choose… GOD… can you hear my joy? My Almighty… All Knowing… All Loving… All Providing.. GOD… YES! Him will I serve… with every fiber of my being… for eternity… He and He alone… knit me so skillfully together in my mother’s womb… knows how many hairs are on my head… loves me… answers me… MY GOD is indeed the ONLY AWESOME GOD!
I bend my knee… I bow my head… I sing… songs of great joy…. THIS IS MY STORY… THIS IS MY SONG… PRAISING MY SAVIOR ALL THE DAY LONG!!!
ps… I didn’t get angry or upset… my house isn’t sold… my temporary housing is closing down on me… I don’t have an extension… BUT My God has it in control…. I can wait on Him!

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