Thursday Devotional - Chasing After the Wind of Perfection

I am naturally a perfectionist. Because of that, I tend to wait for the perfect day or time or environment to do certain big projects. I don’t want to start something until I know I have all the time and resources to complete it and complete it perfectly.

Solomon saw a problem with this. If we always wait for that perfect day or time, certain things may never get done.

Ecclesiastes 11:4-6     

⁴ Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
    whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.

⁵ As you do not know the path of the wind,
    or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
    the Maker of all things.

⁶ Sow your seed in the morning,
    and at evening let your hands not be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
    whether this or that,
    or whether both will do equally well.

It’s better to do what we can today with what we have (of course, while seeking and following God’s wisdom and direction). 

One of my desired home projects for the summer was to go through all the kids’ toys, throw out broken ones, donate no longer used ones, and reorganize everything. Well, it’s the end of the summer and I never had that “perfect” day to tackle it all! This past weekend, though, I started tackling the books and then Joe had an idea for the toys. It seemed overwhelming and I didn’t think we had time to finish (at least not to my standards). However, with all four of us working together, we made huge headway! It isn’t totally complete or up to my standard of perfection, but it’s way more organized than it was. We can now easily chip away at the rest.

Where else do you and I need to forgo waiting for that perfect day or time and get started on something God’s laid on our heart? We can break it down into smaller chunks, and tackle them one day or week at a time, the agile way. 😊 

Alice

Perfect Peace

Open the gates to all who are righteous;
    allow the faithful to enter.
You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Trust in the Lord always,
    for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.  Isaiah 26:2-4

I would like to share something that many of you might be startled by, and I rarely share these stories because it’s hard for me.  Hard because I typically prefer not to touch topics based on race.  Someone decided they would, and would attempt to use God to point this out.  A gentleman told me that I should be thankful that (please forgive the language) white people gave me the gospel, and I should be thankful ‘his’ people had shown my people who God was.  I had a choice right then and there.  I could lash out in bitter anger.  Or, I could choose to respond with God’s heart and wisdom.  I chose the latter responding that even if his claim were true, God is big enough that I am pretty sure He would have gotten the word of Christ to me.  After that response, he said that I clearly have a hatred for white people because I would not acknowledge that fact.  I simply smiled ending the conversation saying, “That’s interesting.  I will make sure to tell my white pastor that.”  You see, it does not bother me that there are people who would hate me just simply because I am a black man.  As long as I find peace with God, I can respond with His love in my heart and wisdom in my mind.

Finding peace with God can lift you up beyond your situation or circumstance.  There are many who say God sees us all the same.  I agree with that idea with the understanding that while He sees us all the same, He made us different so that we would not see Him the same.  I’m sure there is that ‘What’s Kent talking about now’ thought in your mind.  Here’s the thing.  There are differences in races.  In fact, I would say that God intended us to be different culturally because He is too big to see from just one perspective.  He is peace to two people but for two different reasons.  One may be because He provides peace from an unjust world.  Another may be because He provides peace when the world doesn’t make sense.  Two different views, but yet, the same awesome and amazing God.  Remember our stories of how we came close to God are rarely the same, but yet, we all ended up under the same umbrella.  Perfect peace does not explain our journey.  It is our destination.

God is our perfect peace.  Whether it is due to our falling short in one area or suffering duress in another, God is always there to pick up, comfort, strengthen, and reinforce us.  Our difference does not make one more or less perfect than the other.  It makes us all perfect under Christ for He is the perfecter of our faith.  Let us all choose to embrace each other’s difference realizing this is what God truly intended.  How can one’s different story of faith be of encouragement to you?  How can you be more embracing culturally of another’s view of the same loving God?  My prayer is that no matter who we are, we embrace God’s perfect peace.  Amen. 

Washed Away

“Then he told me, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and hear him speak.  For you are to be his witness, telling everyone what you have seen and heard. What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’  Acts 22:14-16 

The new year is filled with resolutions that we plan to do differently.  The sermon I heard this weekend talked about such things as well as preparing for your future.  Reflecting on this, I heard my inner voice saying, “What about your past?”  There was a lot of good in my past, but there was also the times where I was most distant from God.  These were when I felt unworthy and ashamed of myself.  That was where I was when I came to God; hopeless and humbled hoping to do some good.  Then, I remembered getting in the water to be baptized.  Apparently, the water was cold enough that I was vocalizing it, and my pastor at the time looked at me and jokingly said, “Man up.”  As I rose up from the waters, my mother, who watching in the audience, said I raised my arms in victory.  The moment signified my decision to follow Christ and that I was clean from sin.  Forever.  This is what I carry with me into the new year. 

We should remember that through all our moments both good and bad, we are all made clean through Jesus Christ.  I love this testimony by Paul speaking of his experience coming to follow Christ.  We read in the early part of Acts when on the road to Damascus, Jesus spoke to Paul asking why was he persecuting Him, and how Paul met Ananias, who helped Paul regain his sight.  Now, Paul gives his testimony detailing how Ananias told how his sins would be washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.  We thus learn that no matter what we have done or where we have come from, we are free from sin's bondage through Jesus Christ.  Like the calendar points out the change to a new year, we too are changed, and our sins are washed away if we call out to Him.  This makes us new, and we must both put those things that drag us down away and move toward the future with our eyes fixed on the one who is pure, blameless, and the perfecter of our faith. 

Through Christ, we have endless possibilities.  We have been blessed by God's gift of grace.  Our goal thus is to seek Him at all times humbly asking Him, “Oh Lord.  Open my eyes to those things you want me to see, and let my heart ache for those things that break your heart.  Help me to do your will and find joy in each and every moment I am with you.”  As we start a new year, let us remember the new beginning we have been given.  What do you need God to release you from today?  What will you do with your new found freedom through Jesus Christ?  My prayer is that we remember that our past sins have through Jesus Christ been washed away.  Amen. 

Perfect Clarity

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.  1 Corinthians 13:12 NLT

The other day, I was struggling to figure out how to respond to a situation.  My thought was I needed to encompass what God would want me to do.  Do I respond with God’s love and compassion, which was what I typically had done?  Or do I focus on sharing God’s word that might ruffle feathers but held true to God’s law?  Was there an answer that blends both God’s love and discipline that fits an equal balance?  I kept throwing thoughts and scriptures up in the air like a juggler with three balls on a tight rope.  Then, I paused and stopped.  Perhaps, it was not the time for me to answer at all.  I have this urge to respond immediately when presented with a situation.  The thought is the information and wisdom to decide is there, but sometimes, it is best to let God weigh in at the right time before responding.  That way, I would have the assurance that I am doing what God wants.  Not my own selfish thoughts.

It is ok to wait for clarity from God to ensure we are taking a righteous path.  When reading the verse above, it seems confusing.  However, it makes perfect sense to someone who is struggling with clarity as we all have those moments in our lives where we are unsure about what is happening around us.  Sometimes, it is emotion that is getting the best of us, and other times we simply procrastinate.  Our goal as Christ followers is not to make rash decisions.  It is to wait on God’s instruction, and when clarity is provided, act without hesitation.  Our goal is to trust in God for the path He lays in front of us never leads us wrong.  There we will eventually find clarity.

Only God is all-knowing.  One of the best lines I’ve heard about surety in God comes from a movie where a priest, answering a young student says, “Son, in thirty-five years of religious study, I've come up with only two hard, incontrovertible facts; there is a God, and, I'm not Him.”  God does not expect us to always have the answer.  But as my dad taught me, He expects us to figure it out.  It is the journey that matters more than the actual answer for in the journey we will find clarity of God’s will for our life.  That is what Paul is getting at in this verse of 1 Corinthians.  So let us not be either too quick to react or lazy to respond.  Trust enough to wait for God to provide clarity in your situation, and act decisively when clarity is given.  What decision should you wait for God to provide His wisdom on?  What reservations do you have when God wants you to act?  My prayer is that we have sound judgment to trust God to give us perfect clarity.  Amen.

Imperfect Perfect You

If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. 

Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away.  Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.  That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:6-10 

I spent some time reflecting on the idea of perfection under God.  Looking at myself, I am far from perfect, and yet, God loves me for who I am.  My life is flawed with various failures not only with my family and friends but also with God Himself.  Yet, those who know still view me as someone who loves God and they aspire to model their life after.  I’ve prayed asking God why should I carry a flag that I feel ill equipped to carry.  Why should I be worthy of praise?  Then I was reminded of the many stories of Paul.  One sermon reminded me that Paul was the symbol of how not to be a Christian, and he often boasted of his failures.  Yet, Paul was bold in his faith, and God undoubtedly used him to advance the Gospel to what it is today.  Furthermore, He used Paul’s imperfections and made him seem ‘perfect.’  Now I fall well short of Paul, but in striving to be more like Christ, I find myself inspired by those stories.  While I may have a way to go in my journey, the distance traveled has brought me closer to Jesus than I could have possibly hoped for. 

We must always trust in God that even in failure He will find perfection in us.  In Paul’s dare I say ‘rant’ to the Corinthians, he speaks of his weakness even as God had shown him revelations of Heaven.  Paul focuses not on his vision but instead on his imperfection that is a subtle reminder of how weak he is without Christ.  His words are reminders to even the best of us.  None of us have this perfect life.  We do not always do those things as we should as Paul points in Romans 7:15 (I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.).  But in Paul’s flaws, he reveals that we have already achieved something more special than anything; God’s grace.  From that, we grow strong.  It is through that grace that our tragedies become our triumph, and as one preacher said, we move from victims to victors. 

God wants you.  Not the pristine perfect you.  The messy, ugly, never felt good enough you.  We do not gain strength through always being the perfect follower.  We gain God’s grace and strength in facing our imperfections and fighting through them to be better than we were the day before.  Furthermore if we look at others as Jesus looks at us, we will not see people’s flaws.  We will see the future brothers and sisters in 

Christ that with His love can indeed be conquerors in His kingdom.  Let us commit to dusting ourselves off from our past failures, and focus on Jesus to indeed find new strength to overcome.  What is the thorn holding you back from embracing God’s true strength?  How will you trust God more instead of trying to be perfect for Him?  My prayer is that we indeed embrace and dare I say celebrate the imperfect perfect you.  Amen.

The Case for Vulnerability - Pt. 2 (Vulnerable As A Child)

About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”

Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them.  Then he said,“I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.”  Matthew 18:1-3

My pastor talked about some of the ugliness in our lives that we would not want others to see.  God sees all this, and yet, we will still play naïve thinking we can somehow justify this to Him.  For me, I know that I should be honest with God and look to Him saying, “Lord, I am so weak.  I do not know why you love me, but help me in my weakness.”  That is the epitome of being vulnerable; being at the point where you are so desolate and helpless that you can only go to Him and admit your faults.  It sounds sad, but here is the most amazing thing about this point.  That is exactly where God wants us!  He wants us to acknowledge our dependency on Him, and in spite of our flaws, we are perfected through Jesus Christ.  We are wonderful, amazing, and beautiful both through Him and to Him.

If we are to realize that being vulnerable to God is a good thing, then we must also acknowledge that we are both weak to the world and cannot survive without Him.  Jesus clearly spells out where our dependency on God should be at the beginning of Matthew 18.  I often asked myself, “Why would Jesus want us to be like little children?  Doesn’t He want us to grow spiritually to become mature?”  The answer to this is of course yes, but the point Jesus is trying to make is not for us to act like little children that are naïve to the ways of the world and indulgent to it like not knowing when to stop eating cookies from the cookie jar.  It is to understand that little children are both incredibly vulnerable and dependent.  They need nurturing and love from their parents to be taught right from wrong.  Similar to this, we are susceptible to the ways of the world, and thus incredibly vulnerable.  However, we have an all knowing Heavenly Father who we can depend on, and He provides us with both love and protection should we reach out to Him.  Furthermore, His word teaches us how to live a fulfilling and righteous life.

Surrendering all to God is our goal as Christians, and we simply cannot do so without admitting to our own vulnerability and weakness.  Paul took pleasure in His vulnerability in last week’s verse, and this week, Jesus says we all must acknowledge that without Him, we are spiritually weak and vulnerable to attack from the world.  It is only through this admission that we gain access to God’s Kingdom.

Over the next few weeks, I will cover a lot of ground on how God uses our vulnerability to make us strong.  In the meantime, ask yourself these questions.  How can you like Paul find God’s strength in your vulnerabilities?  What parts of your life can you display a child-like dependency on God more?  My prayer is that we spiritually mature into vulnerable children serving an awesome loving and forgiving God.  Amen.

Who We Are

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”  Daniel 3:16-18

Lately I feel convicted to talk about something that very few of us our comfortable with.  As a follower of Christ, I found that we struggle to fit into a politically correct society.  We feel like it is taboo to mention that we are Christian while other groups are able to speak openly and freely about their lifestyle and promote their agenda.  Now before there is a debate on morality, I am a firm believer in both the diversity and inclusion of all people regardless of their sex, color, religion, or creed. Whatever you might feel, that is what I believe.  My point however focuses on what it should have always been; us as Christians.

Our mission as Christians is to represent the light of God in a way that honors Him. We are often characterized by the things we oppose.  However, we as a people do not oppose anyone’s choice.  As today’s verses point out, what we will say is we serve our God first and foremost.  No other.  Will there be causes that we passionately dispute?  Of course!  Yet all because my wife and I don’t always agree with how best to discipline our child does not mean we love each other or our daughter any less.  We are a people filled with hope, compassion, and love willing to give to all whether they believe or not.  We are not perfect, but we strive tirelessly to be better representatives of Jesus Christ, who indeed was perfect.  That is who we are, and it’s time we let the world know as much.

Over the next few weeks, my devotions will be centered on the idea of how we as followers of Christ can turn the tide against a world that sees us only for what we do not represent.  So let’s speak openly and honest.  We can be at times some combination of judgmental, hypocritical, exclusive, and devoid of love.  But this does not define us.  These are, like all sin, flaws that display our imperfections just like anyone else.  However, we strive to do better, and we have hope that we will continually grow and be better representatives of God.  It does not make us better than anyone else, but it states like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego unequivocally who we serve.  How will you respond when others question what you are for?  What will you do to better represent God in the discussion?  My prayer is when world begins to tear you down, we stand and say who we really are.  Amen.

Perfect Balance

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.  Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.  Ephesians 5:22-27

My wife and I are a team.  We love each other, and I have to say that it is the closest relationship we have to ours with God.  We fight and argue.  She says I complain too much, and she’s probably right.  I will tell her to take more time out for herself, and she will try to remember that.  At the end of the day, we are a perfect balance for each other.  The reason is we do not focus on who is in control.  We focus on fulfilling our role as husband and wife.  The better we do so, the more love we feel for each other.

God’s word gives a perfect outline for how a healthy relationship should work.  Many couples struggle with the concept of who should be in charge.  For example, there is a saying that behind every good man is a good woman.  With the woman’s rights movement, the saying seemed to change to beside every good man is a good woman.  We hear conversations of guys being ‘whipped’ and women being abused.  It can be both depressing and frustrating.  Today’s verses are direct reminders that each role must fulfill their obligation to the relationship as Jesus Christ did on earth.  A godly woman would gladly submit to their husband who is loving of them as Jesus loved the church.  A godly man would gladly love their wife who gives into them first.  The verses in the proper context are about balance and not control.  You cannot have a great relationship without both submitting to and love for each other.

Our relationship with Jesus Christ gives us the best example of how to have long lasting and loving relationships.  Jesus was both submitting to God’s will and loving of all God’s people.  While society focuses on who is in control, we must look to love God as He loves us; unconditionally.  It is only then our relationships can be both fulfilling and satisfying for as Jesus said to Samaritan woman, “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.” (John 4:13a)  Is your relationship balanced?  How can you focus more on your commitment to the relationship?  My prayer is that we are willing to both love and submit in order for our relationships to have the perfect balance.  Amen.

So Special

For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.  Psalm 139:13-14

This week, I have been going through ‘Strengths’ training.  This is not in the sense of bar bells and weightlifting sense.  It is along the lines of understanding my own abilities that are unique from others, and where others’ abilities are more readily visible to me as well.  It has been incredibly eye opening because in as much as I gain clarity on my own uniqueness, I begin to marvel at the amazing abilities of others not only at work but also at church and even home.  It gives me more assurance of God’s infinite wisdom of why He made us this way.

We were made special by God intentionally.  Last week, I spoke about God being quite simply enough.  This week, I am compelled to focus on why you are special.  It is not special in the sense that society has brought out the need to be above all in a promoted ‘look at me’ self.  More so, it is in the sense that God gifted us with special abilities to share with the world.  We are uniquely and perfectly made by God in His image.  Now the obvious question most would ask is if we are perfectly made, why are we not perfect?  Some would say sin, but I believe it goes further than that.  If we were perfect, who would we need?  No one.  Not just God.  We would not need each other, and if we did not have people around us who have perfect gifts that complement those things we do well, how incomplete would our lives be?

God makes us perfect.  Not in the sense of we are perfect.  Instead through Jesus Christ, we are perfected.  A devotional I read last week encouraged me to act on the grace God gave us and do something.  Let me add to that asking that we do something with the gifts God gave us to further His Kingdom.  What are your spiritual gifts?  How can you better channel them to do His will?  My prayer is that we are humbled knowing to God we are so special.  Amen.