Two Christmas "Compilations" . . .

I have taken the liberty to “translate” a couple of Bible verses (no I am not a Greek scholar, and I don’t claim that these are “accurate” in that sense). I hope that they bless you as they have me as I have reflected on Christmas this season. Please don’t get offended that I have taken this liberty—nothing blasphemous is meant by it, and I am not trying to say it is a true “translation” or to add to or take away from His Word which is perfect and true. These are more accurately compilations of multiple verses put together into a way that helps me, by putting different thoughts in one place, grasp just what it is I believe.

May this Christmas be filled with joy, awe, and worship for all of you as you reflect on the wonder and the awe of God loving us as much as He does, and being so near to us. Thanks for reading my blog, sharing your thoughts, and being a part of my life. I value you. To paraphrase Paul Ellis in his “Escape to Reality” blog, through God’s eyes Jesus came to earth because God loves us, so through God’s eyes, “You are the reason for the season.”

God bless you all, and Merry Christmas!  —Erick

"Translation" of Luke 2, verse 5: “to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child” becomes:

to be registered with Mary, [a young, poor virgin from a no account city], his betrothed [(because he was told in a dream that her story that an angel had come to her and that it was God who had put the child in her was true)], who [had inside her frail and very human womb the One who breathes out stars, the Creator of all the universe, the One who all things find in Him their beginning and their end, the One in whom all things are held together and around Whose throne the multitude of angels and hosts of heaven hover and bow and cry “holy, holy, holy]”.

"Translation" of John 1:14a, drawing heavily on Revelation 19:11–16: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us . . .” becomes:

And the [One called “The Word of God” and “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” who will return on a white horse with eyes like a flame of fire and wearing a robe dipped in blood with all the armies of Heaven behind Him also arrayed on white horses when He returns to strike down the nations and rule them with a rod of iron as He treads out the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty] became [a baby, laid in an animal feed trough, surrounded by coarse straw and wrapped in rough cloths, totally helpless and dependent on a poor couple, hounded and chased from His own country] and [lived among us, getting tired, hungry, weeping, being single and homeless, rejected, spit on, mocked, beaten, and ultimately killed] . . .

For Me, Alone . . .

(Note: Please don’t forget about my Saturday, November 28, 2009 post, “So, You've Been Given the Pulpit . . . Christmas.” I truly would value your answers to it, and I think you would be blessed in the time spent with God seeking your answer to it, and others would be blessed by what you share.)

I heard an interview on K-Love radio yesterday with, I believe, Jeremy Camp. In it he said something that spoke to my heart. I will paraphrase it since I was driving and couldn’t write it down.

Basically, he was talking about the songs he writes and he shared how he had set out to write songs that connected with and touched the people and ministered to them. During the process God told him, simply, “You write songs that touch Me, and let Me worry about ministering to the people.” Jeremy said it was so freeing because he realized he only needed to write songs for God and God would do the rest.

As a pastor I found that speaking to my heart. There is such a temptation to preach to, or at, people, and to weigh their possible reactions to things in your mind as you write them. You have to battle all of those things aggressively or they will start to be the driving force. Each week I have to bring myself back, out of that place, and simply ask, “Father, what do You have for this Sunday?”

I don’t think that the struggle is simply for those in ministry, either. I believe that we all struggle with focus and where we put our eyes. Some struggle with wanting the glory of men more than the glory of God, so they live in fear of the cost of open worship or testimony. Others struggle with ministering for God, hoping it will bring intimacy with God, instead of ministering FROM a place of intimacy with God. Many of us carry burdens that the Lord never put on us, because His yoke is easy and His burdens are light. The struggles, the pain, the doubt, the fear, the longings, the needs—the all can weigh so heavily that we sometimes forget the model of Mary, to simply take the time to sit at His feet.

So, maybe the lesson in this busy season from the Jeremy interview is this—before we wear ourselves out trying to do good all around us let’s first simply worship and adore Him, and see what comes out of that. It is truly amazing what He can and does do through a surrendered heart and life that is fixed on worshiping Him! When we let go and let His Holy Spirit lead, the world is turned upside down. It is not about not doing anything—our faith is called to be an active faith expressed in works—but it is works that come from the place of our faith, works that are led by the Spirit who inhabits our praise and worship, works that spring from a place of love for Him and others.

Perspective Matters: Seeing from God’s Eyes . . . Part II

First: Thanks to Amy for her comment on my first “Perspective Matters” post (you can read her comment, and comment yourself if you want, by clicking on the comment link at the bottom of that post). I, too, rejoice in God’s mercy and gentleness with me!

I have found my mind drawn repeatedly back to my first post on perspective since I did it a few days back (can you tell whose eyes I used in that picture?). It seems like even in what I read since then I find things that make me think about it, or more examples of it. So, a few more comments about it and examples. As more come to me, maybe I’ll even do another post on it!

If you are reading this you likely are one who wants God to direct your paths. I believe I am. One of the keys that Proverbs 3:5-6 gives to God directing our paths is to lean not on our own understanding. Proverbs 13:15 says, depending on your translation, that good understanding brings favor. Clearly the proper understanding is critical to our Christian walk and growth and God’s favor on our life, and it can only begin with proper seeing, which begins with proper perspective.

So often, it seems, that we initially read a Bible story from our own perspective or framework of experience, emotion, background, etc. But then, if we can rotate 180 degrees around the event, and see it from God’s eyes we see it totally differently. As we see through His eyes we start to develop His mind and perspective, and we see the full and real picture of things. This allows us to operate from a true reality, and not an illusion. If we can practice this in Bible events, I believe we will become better at doing it in our daily events as well. I know this seems to help me, at least!

So, a few more examples of perspective:

1) The woman in Bethany pouring perfume worth a year’s wages over Jesus. Man’s perspective: a waste. Could have been used to feed the poor. Foolish. Unwise. God’s perspective: an act of worship without compare. Jesus said of her: “Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. . . . Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” Wow! What a difference! Foolishness to the world is beautiful worship and recorded eternally to God. If we want to bless the Father and do the things that are beautiful to Him we better think like Him and not the world!

2) Paul’s conversion. Man’s perspective: lost everything—reputation, wealth, status. God’s perspective: all that he lost is dung compared to the riches of the glory of what He gained—Jesus and eternal life! Wow! How do we rank the relative worth of things? I remember someone saying to a family member of ours, upon hearing what Mary Ann and I were now doing, “What a waste, with the education they have.” Wow! And we finally knew we were doing something of true meaning! What a different mindset and perspective. Only one is right.

3) Five thousand hungry men plus probably thousands of hungry women and children. Man’s (disciple’s) perspective: impossible. “Where are we to get enough bread in such a desolate place to feed so great a crowd?” God’s perspective: not a problem, not an impossibility, “Who is willing to make themselves and what they have available to Me and be the one I use to make the impossible a reality?” This carries to a much bigger theme—what we consider impossible is not impossible, but an opportunity to God. May we see those things that way as well, and live in faith and greater expectancy and availability! May WE be the ones available and willing for God to use to make the impossible a reality!

4) Mary getting the news she would bear Jesus. Man’s perspective: a stigma of unwed pregnancy for life, possible rejection by family and friends, disbelief by even her fiancé, possible stoning (I understand). God’s perspective: the privilege of carrying the Christ-child, Savior in to the world. Through one set of eyes it is a cost, and a great one. Through the other there is no cost that could remotely compare to the privilege it offered. This, also, ties in to a much bigger issue. The cost of truly following Jesus, and the effort required to truly seek greater and greater measure of His face and presence, is, in worldly standards, great (rejection, scorn, loneliness, earthly pleasures, etc.—even from other Christians if we love and seek and worship God in abandoned ways they aren’t comfortable with or that challenge their own walk and hunger). But, when we consider the gain—the face and presence of God—the cost is, truly, so, so small if we can maintain the proper perspective.

These are just a few more examples that have come to me of issues of perspective—the world’s possible view on something versus God’s view on something. Our battle is, truly, to see through God’s eyes and heart and not ours, because, usually, the two are radically different and one spawns from the father of lies, and the other the God of the cross—our Creator. It is time to start thinking like citizens of heaven, with a perspective from God, rather than like citizens of earth.