OBEY | A LIFE OF FAITH

We're coming to the end of these "OBEY" posts. What we've discovered in Exodus 19:4-6 that God moves his people from a "rescued people" to a people called to be the "people of God". In the middle of this statement is the call to obey the commandments of God.

And yet this requires a great deal of faith.

You may think you have faith? You may be short on faith? But everyone of us will at some point will make the decision of whether or not we will take the leap, test the waters, and follow God to where he's called us.

Let me give you three reasons to enter a life of faith:

1. Doubt is not always a sign of unbelief.

Many believe; many doubt. Many doubt while believing. If we were required to access God's presence only by prefect belief we'd all be in a whole lot of trouble. Just the human condition alone (which has a hard time remembering our own cell phone number and internet pass codes) is enough to show that perfect belief is not possible.

OBEY | LIFE AND SEX

So now we come to the sex part. You've clicked the link. You're intrigued by the word sex. Aren't we all? You probably, like many others, have views on sex. These views are most deeply entrenched in who you are. They make up how you think? What you do? How you live? Where your heart goes on a rainy day?

Here's what I'm going to do; and what I'm not going to do. First, not. I'm not going to give you a lecture on sex - what's right, what's wrong, and tell you seven steps on how to move from what's wrong to what's right. I take a pretty conservative view of sex, but I also know there are millions of blogs, books, and podcasts ready and willing to give you a punch to the gut when it comes to sex. I don't feel the need to add to the stack.

Second, am. I am going to tell you how your life will change when you give your sexuality to God. This is the whole point of the Exodus passage we've been looking at. God tells us that we move from a 'rescued people' to a 'people of God' when we obey his commandments. The reason sex is a part of this process is because it's deeply embedded in who we are; in fact, as identities go, it's one of the strongest I've ever come across. If your human, you probably agree with me. 

OBEY | LIFE AND SUFFERING

"Only God knows my heart on the inside." 

These are the opening lyrics to my friend Aaron's new album
Dreaming of Eternity by Rend the Heavens. Here's my thought: if God knows my heart, then he knows I don't understand suffering.

C.S. Lewis calls this the impossibility. As humans we find it impossible to understand how a good God could allow suffering. "If God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished." The Problem of Pain

Suffering is one of the greatest painful elements of life, and hence one of the greatest tests we will go through as human beings. It's within these moments we often decide whether to stay as a people of God, or move to create our own identity.

Suffering comes in many forms: personal pain, gossip from a friend, physical discomfort, relational brokenness, loss of a loved one, financial disaster, incurable sickness, lack of something we need, painful self-inflicted choices, and ultimately death. There are many more. These are just a few. I want to explore suffering as an act of obedience in three categories:

OBEY | LIFE AS PRODUCERS

"Ah...the art of productivity."

I love this part of these blog posts. I love the word productivity. I love calling myself a producer. It implies as sense of activity that I seek with every breath. It's part of my being. I breath productivity; not because I'm amazing at it, but because I want to be.

And yet, let me be vulnerable. While I love the idea of being a producer, it's something I severely struggle with. There's a sense of striving, fighting for worth, acceptance, and longing in what I produce that's always been with me. I sleep very little, I work very hard, and it's a fight to put work down and play with my kids. On father's day Nancy ask the kids what dad's favorite thing to do was. Their response in unison: "work on the computer!" Ouch, I thought, is it that true? Out of the mouth of babes come my failure at productivity as much as my desire for success. 

My point is this: When we, as producers, place our skills before God he does two things: first, he grows our productivity; second, he grows us in how we handle our productivity. 

OBEY | LIFE ON MISSION

the city cat family

Abigail's our resident family artist. She draws; she paints; she makes things, craft things. It's part of who God's made her to be. 

One Christmas, a couple years ago, she made the family a gift. It's pretty common for her to make gifts, but this one took a while. For days she was in her craft area making this gift for the whole family. She was drawing, using paper, paying attention to detail. Finally, on Christmas Day she unveiled her gift. Now, I gotta admit: it was pretty darn good! 

She created a story of the "City Cat Family". She made a book, written and drawn over about 8-10 pages. It was incredibly elaborate, extremely detailed. The story walked the city cat family through their house where they lived and all the things they did around the city. We spent a long time that morning looking at it, reading it, and asking questions.

A PRAYER OF JUSTICE

And what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?  Micah 6:8

Tim Keller says of this passage: "The word for 'justice' is the Hebrew term mishpat. In Micah 6:8, 'mishpat' puts the emphasis on the action, chesedh puts it on the attitude [or motive] behind the action." To walk with God, then, we must do justice, out of merciful love.

Our actions of justice come from a heart of justice, formed by God. He cares for justice. As we are made more like his image, we too begin to care for those who are oppressed. This begins by having our hearts formed to a heart of justice through prayer.

"Over and over again, mishpat describes taking up the care and cause of widows, orphans, immigrants, and the poor - those who have been called 'the quartet of the vulnerable'…Today this quartet would be expanded to include the refugee, the migrant worker, the homeless, and many single parents and elderly people." Tim Keller, Generous Justice

OBEY | LIFE WITH GOD

"I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Exodus 19:4-6

quiet time vs. everyday time

I remember when I was younger my youth leader explained what a quiet time was. "It's a time set aside for you and God to connect. No distractions," he said, "You can read your Bible. You can pray. The point is that it's quiet." So I became a quiet time guy. I used to sit on the front porch of our house. We had seven kids in a three bedroom house. My twin brother and I shared a closet for a bedroom. The porch was my early morning escape. I still remember reading through I Corinthians on that porch.

Some time later, I think in the middle of college, another leader explained that life was more about constantly talking to God, not just having a quiet time. This made a lot of sense to me, since I was incredibly busy. So, I chucked my quiet times and started talking to God throughout the busyness of the day.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS | SUNDAY MORNING MEDITATION

As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.

                                                  Psalm 103:13

You are not a little snowflake. You are not a precious flower. You are not an amazing person just waiting to blossom. You can't do anything in life you want, no matter how hard you try. Your not limitless in your power like you thought when you were young.

You are a child of God, a Son or Daughter. You've been carried here by your Father to live in this place. You've been given this time. You are nearer now to where you are called to be than you know. In everything you do, may you strive to become more His own child and less your own amazing person.

To find yourself, you must loose yourself. Loose yourself in being His Son or Daughter. Loose yourself in the mystery that he would call you His own. Find the weight of your existence in His perfect loving hands, which long to draw you close.

     My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him,

          and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

     I will set his hand on the sea

          and his right hand on the rivers.

     He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father,

          my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’

                                               Psalm 89:24-26

AB.

*written by Abraham Bates - Photography by Abraham Bates - Copyright AbrahamBates.com

REDEEMED AND RENOWNED

A couple of months back we went through the book of Ruth at River West. It's a beautiful story of redemption. One of the things pastor Guy mentioned as he wrapped up the book is that there were two words used about Naomi's life. At the end of the book of Ruth the women of the village use both redeemed and renowned to talk about her story.

Redeemed: God is a God of redemption and has redeemed her life.

Renowned: the story she now tells is now well-known, famous; beca-use God has moved in her life.

Ezekiel 34:29 says: "I will provide for them renowned plantations so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer reproach."

Zephaniah 3:20 says: "I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth."

The question is: how has God given you both redemption and renowned so that you have a different story to tell?

A COVENANT OF PEACE

“I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
Ezekiel 37:26-28

photo by Abraham Bates

In this passage we read that God is bringing his sanctuary to us. Sanctuary means "sacred space". Ezekiel tells us that God is bringing His presence to be in the midst of us and our world. The result is peace. Martin Luther said, "When God purifies the heart by faith, the market is sacred as well as the sanctuary." Lately, when I run through the golf course and streets of my neighborhood I pray: Okay God, if this is your sanctuary then let me see where you are moving. Show me your hand. Let me see the peace you are bringing. 

YOU NEED A FRIEND TO TELL YOU THE TRUTH

“Write a shorter blog. Make them less serious. And, just so you know I only read your blog because you’re my friend. You should write them so that lots of people will want to read your posts, not just the people who like you.”

feedback I need to hear 

This is the kind of feedback you want to hear on a good day, anything less could be devastating. I’d asked my friend, as we sat in the window of a local coffeehouse, what he thought of my blog. His statement above is just snip of the advice that came out of our highly caffeinated conversation.

He’s right, I thought, maybe not about all of it, but of most of it. He’s telling me information I need to hear.

A PRAYER OF GRATITUDE

"When you open your hand, they are filled with good things." Psalm 104:28

photo by Nancy Bates

A Prayer of Gratitude

Thank you for the way you move in the world,

to make the world your own,

to shape and call creation to you,

to align all that is lost.

HOW TO FLOURISH IN ALL THINGS | pt.2

photo by Abraham Bates

Weekend Wedding

I wrote a blog post on Sunday about to to flourish in justice, peace, and relationship. This had been mulling over in my head. I intended to post the following on Monday morning. Unfortunately, my wife Nancy went into preterm labor at 30 weeks. We (including our three kids) spent a sleepless night in the hospital. She is doing well. The labor has subsided. And now I am able to write.

This weekend I stood before two people, one friend, the other his life-time-chosen covenant marriage partner. They repeated prenuptial vows, kissed the marriage kiss, and agreed to be in a bonded relationship for the rest of their lives, “...or as long as they both shall live.” 

HOW TO FLOURISH IN ALL THINGS | pt.1

photo by Abraham Bates

I'm guessing you are a person similar to me. You have ups and down, joys and pains, good days and bad ones, similar to everyone else on the planet. You strive for meaning and purpose; you bend your schedule, your time, your endeavors to live the kind of life you want to live?  It may not be easy; but this is what we strive for. And in the middle of all this the Psalmist David says: "For you have maintained my just cause (Psalm 9:4)." 

The question is: how is God maintaining your just cause?  And what does that look like in everyday life?

BREAD AND ROCK | APPENDIX

photo by David Dean

Another friend and I were discussing the problem of knowing our identity as men, as guys often do. Many guys I know, myself included, struggle with identity issues. I'm convinced it's one of the major issues we deal with, not just as men, but as people - men and women. Here's how our conversation went:

conversation

me: "So you struggle with identity?"

friend: "Yeah."

me: "How often do you read your Bible?"

friend: "Not very often."

me: "Wait..wait, back up. You struggle with identity, but you don't read your Bible?"

friend: "Right."

(pause in the conversation...)

me: "Dude...I think I found your problem."

the recovery

As my friend Joel says: All of life is a recovery of what we've lost.  

the mission

This kind of life begins as the Word of God sustains us, our relationship with Him quenches our thirst, and our journey with him leads us on a mission we never expected.

AB.

*written by Abraham Bates - Photo by David Dean Photography - Copyright AbrahamBates.com

BREAD AND ROCK | p.2

photo by David Dean

What does God bring to us when our lives are hardened like a rock?

relationship

He brings his relationship with us. He showers us with love like a father for his sons and daughters. What happens when we accept this relationship is that God turns our hearts into a fresh spring water: our emotions are calmed, our identities are found him, we know who we are. Our narcissistic pretense is traded and we are given a picture of the world to love and serve. We are given a heart for the poorest of the poor. We read his bread, eat his word; we're filled with his relationship and we become like lights in the world contrasting the darkness.

BREAD AND ROCK | pt.1

photo by David Dean

"What do you mean she needs a new kidney?" I said to my friend when he told me about his mother, "How'd this happen?"

"Life on the mission field," he said, "it's the kind of life that takes it's toll on a family of missionaries. It's how my father died: working on his feet; dying on this feet. It's how my mother will sacrifice the rest of her life."

what kind of life is this?

My friend Joel and I talk about his parent's mission in the Philippines, his fathers passing, his mother's newly needed kidney. She needs a surgery that is too costly for their situation. We are talking about what to do? 

THE DISPOSSESSED

photo by Abraham Bates

There's this light that flashes in the next door neighbor's window. I can see it at night as I'm at our kitchen window when the lights are out and the houses are still.

our clocks had to be reset

I've come to realize it's the light on their mirowave. I haven't noticed the light until now. That's because the electricity went out for the whole block this week. All our clocks had to be reset, including our microwave clock. This happens so often we rarely reset our microwave clock. It's at least six hours ahead for the day. When I go to heat up a piece of muffin at 8am in the morning it tells me I'm actually having a mid day snack. When I defrost chicken for dinner it tells me it's to late in the day to be eating such a heavy meal.

The clock on our neighbor's house flickers and comes to life. I can see it from where I stand. It's repeating words like the auto mechanics shop that tells me it's time to change my radiator fluid. The problem with my neighbor's clock is that no one lives in the home. The house went into foreclosure almost a year ago. It's been empty since then. No one is home to reset the microwave clock.  

WHAT DOES GOD WANT? | Colossians 1:9-10

photo by Nancy Bates

"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God."   
Colossians 1:9-10

What does God want?

a serious list of things

Paul is praying for a very serious list of things. He's praying for a list to show up and be evident in your Christian life. He says that you are to:

• walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,
• fully please him,
• bear fruit in every good work,
• increase in the knowledge of God.

That's quite a the list of what it means to live the Christian life. If we only did that, we'd be set, right?

DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

Nancy Bates Photography

"Do you not understand?" Jesus said to his disciples.

This passage is on the cusp of revealing who Jesus is. As we read the gospel of Mark we follow a narrative that takes us on a journey from the veiled messiah to the revealed messiah. We are told Jesus is the messiah. However, for most of the book even his disciples do not understand who this man is as he leads them on a journey to Jerusalem, and ultimately his death and resurrection. Amazingly, demons recognize Jesus, but it's not until Peter says, "You are the Christ!" that we see his followers begin to have faith in him.

Jesus is talking to his disciples. Before he asked them this question he performed two provision miracles. Jesus asks them about both: "How many loaves did we gather from the first miracle?" Their response, "5000." He comes back with a second question, "And how many from the second miracle?" Again they respond, "4000." Like a poker player laying down a royal flush Jesus relies simply, yet with solidarity: "(then) Do you not yet understand?"