Rooted in Faith

Back in 1983, we got our first Home Computer… the Apple iie. It had 64 KB RAM and 6KB ROM with a 6-color display.

In those days off the shelf software was not so common, and pretty much the only functional thing you could do with a computer is write programs. “if/then” statements became part of my life, “if I do this, then that happens”.  Simple logical statements defining cause and effect, I suppose that’s why they called the programming language BASIC. it makes sense to almost anyone, yet that is not the way people typically approach life. Most people expect to get different results than their own ‘basic commands’ will create..

• “If I hurt people, then, they will respect me”
• ”If I lie, then, the truth will not affect me” 
• “If I do a good thing, then, it erases a bad thing I have done”

Computers today perform “intelligent” operations and users can adjust settings and parameters easily to customize those operations, BUT that basic element of a fundamental defined response has remained at it’s core… we call that the “default setting”

Default Settings are the basic operating behaviors of a program or programmed device. It is the fundamental state which additional enhancements or modifications can be made from. And when all the tweaking, personalizing, and adjustments begin to confuse the system or the user, or when the device stops working altogether because of an overload, everything can be returned to the “default setting” and all will again operate as it is supposed to, as it was designed to.

People have default settings too… a state of belief, attitude and response that we return to when times are difficult, confusing, or frustrating. When we don’t know what the problem or the solution is, we revert to our “default settings”

Usually, our default “if then” statements are often illogical or incomplete. they usually don’t produce the results or the solution we need, rather they just stop us from continuing into or through the challenges of life.

• Eg. You have a conflict with your boss it work…. Logic says address it, discover a solution and continue work…. The common default response is avoid it, and hope it goes away, if it doesn’t go away then you go away…
• Or You disagree with someone, you tell them that you disagree and they don’t immediately change or comply to your perspective, Logic says it is possible you do not have a fully correct perspective, it is possible they may take time to consider and process your evaluation, or it is possible that the point of your disagreement is an irrelevant conflict and continuing with the relationship with no direct resolution will not affect anything … the common default response is to abandon the relationship because they don’t see things like you do

With computers, the problems are seldom hardware related; glitches, bugs and virus’ in the programming are usually the source of failures and crashes.

With people, the same is true; we are programmed by culture, traditions, parents, teachers, uncles, aunties and friends.

Then those settings or parameters are adjusted manipulated and altered by television, movies and Internet content. The resulting conflicting commands are accompanied by unseen, but very active malware and virus deposits. Our systems fail and cause us to “stop all processes”

Like our computers, people just freeze up. We become confused, tired, and depressed, angry, frustrated and bitter, we just stop, sometimes for years, Eventually we reboot and start again with simplified back to our default programming, in a different setting; with different people, at a different job, or a different church, or in a different marriage. trying to make it work again with the same faulty programming.

Most of us want to get better, we are alert to our circumstance, so we keep trying to adjust our parameters and we download “patches”. Self help books and seminars are popular, and people even try adding a little spirituality to their life, yoga, PMA, meditation, or even attending church once in a while.  We become essentially only more adjusted versions of ourselves, with the same default settings at our core.

There is a way of belief, of understanding and of function that can eliminate this dysfunctional programming and broken defaults that plague us…  but it requires re-programming…. new Operating System.

When Christ becomes our Savior and our Lord, we go from believing in Him into  downloading his ways, and imbedding them into our hearts and minds.

A new OS gets installed while the old one is removed… we are re-created, transformed, and redefined. Old Data is de-fragmented and begins to make sense and work together functionally under the operations of the new OS.  Corrupt files are restored, viruses are removed and new default settings are established.

• Romans 12: ² Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
• Ephesians 4:²³ Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. ²⁴ You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness – righteous, holy, & true.
• Colossians 3: ¹⁰In its place you have clothed yourselves with a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as you learn more and more about Christ, who created this new nature within you.

FAITH is the language of this OS…  Faith is how we gain access to Gods Mainframe, Faith is the Password, Faith is the encryption translator, and Faith is how God’s mainframe gains access to you…. Faith does it all

Remember: …that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again. Phillipians 1:6

Rooted in Righteousness

The philosopher Socrates observed: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” 

Though we contain a huge amount of information and processing power in our brains; compared to the sea of knowledge, information and experiences that we are floating in, we really don’t know much at all.

As far as managing information goes, the human brain quite impressive.

One of the worlds’ most “super” computers is IBM’s BlueGene, it can perform 92 trillion operations per second and has 8 terabytes of storage.
A computer comparable to the human brain would need to perform more than 38 thousand trillion operations per second with about 3,584 terabytes of memory.

But our awesome minds are still completely inadequate to contain hardly anything at all of “all there is to know”.

When you blow up a balloon, Is there more air inside the balloon or outside the balloon? From this perspective, balloons are not really containers of air as much as they are contained by the air around them…Transfer that same thought to our capacity to contain information, knowledge and understanding and the best we can do is to take residence in the limitless knowledge, information and understanding that is out there and connect to it rather than contain it.

Scale this concept to the very top, and we can see how we relate to God.

^{sIsaiah 55:9} For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We can never really comprehend God, Godliness or His Righteousness.
Righteousness is the state of doing and being right, correct and just. It is the “correctness” of thinking, feeling or acting. Something we are far removed from.

^{Romans 3:10} As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous–not even one.

^{Isaiah 64:6} We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.

Scripture says it and our hearts confirm it…  I think we all want to think and do what is good, right and just…Listen to Paul’s words in Romans 7… they might sound familiar…

¹⁵ I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.
¹⁶ I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience shows that I agree that the law is good.
¹⁷ But I can’t help myself, because it is sin inside me that makes me do these evil things.
¹⁸ I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t.
¹⁹ When I want to do good, I don’t. And when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway.

From the moment Adam and Eve ate from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil… they had knowledge that they were out of relationship with God and they also knew they were out of relationship with everything else too… one more thing they had knowledge of, they could not rescue themselves from their own error.

Because we are part of a created universe with everything in its place and a place for everything, the hearts of mankind has always been aware that there is a place for us and that we are out of place.

Romans 1:¹⁹ For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. ²⁰ From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature…

Everyone seems to acknowledge that there is a “higher law” that governs everything. We know that there is a way that is right; and we know we are not there.

We hope to discover it, learn about it and contain it… we want ourselves and everyone else to be filled with right thinking and right actions… We know that then the whole world would be what it is supposed to be.

Paul continues the Romans 7 statement like this:
²¹ It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.
²² I love God’s law with all my heart.
²³ But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
²⁴ Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin?
²⁵Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

And that is it…. The answer is Jesus…

Remember how the balloon is contained by the air more so than containing it?

God and His ways, His Righteousness (the pure and perfect right thinking and right actions that would establish this life as it is supposed to be), will not reside in is as much as we should reside in it.

Our desire to be filled with right thinking and right actions is a skewed perspective. We need accept and learn to live from the fact that God contains, holds, surrounds, submerges & immerses us.

When we accept Christ, we are entering into Him more so than He entering into us.

^{2 Corinthians 5:21} For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

 ^{1Corinthians 1:30} And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Jesus is the right-ness, the righteousness that will satisfy everything and make it all right.

 So what are we to do? –

^{Colossians 2:7} Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he has done.

^{Psalm 140:13} The righteous will praise you indeed; they will live in your presence.

 

 

Rooted in Love

As Bible believing people, we are very familiar with the idea that our life has an impact in the world we live in, and on the people we live around.  We are inspired towards living what the Bible calls fruitful lives. We know that our fruitfulness is measurable based on the quality and quantity of the fruit we produce..

Matthew 7: ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.  

Galatians 5:22-23 shows us the “fruits of the spirit”, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and self control

And aren’t we are all just a little concerned by the account in Mark 11 where Jesus Curses a fig tree for not bearing fruit (Even though it was out of season for figs)… and the tree withers up and dies…

I want to have a fruitful life…. to grow good fruit, you need the right soil conditions… the kind that allow your roots to stretch into and provides the right kind of nourishment for your life. 

Love is what most of us seek out to nourish our lives, for some it may seem a myth or fairytale, for others it may seem out of reach… for most people the big love crisis is the fact that it is so poorly defined by our cultures and societies.

1 John 4:10 “This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us… …Consider if your roots are soaking in any “other” loves the Bible warns us about.

Maybe its money… Love of money is the root of all evil - 1 Tim 6:10 2 Tim 3:2

Jealousy / pride might cause you to feel your status has been disrespected, dishonored or unrecognized  Do not love the world or the things in the world. 1 John 2:15

Maybe you didn’t get your way… scripture warns us “For people will be lovers of self”, – ^{2 Tim 3:2} 

Maybe you have a secret lifestyle  ^{2 Tim 3:4} exposes that we could be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

Maybe your traditions or culture or your “way” has been confronted:  don’t Love your Simple Ways – ^{Proverbs 1:22}

consider these verses:

 ^{Colossians 2:6,7} Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him

^{John 3:6} Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life

If you want to produce good fruits… put your roots into the Christ… 

Each week at Word of Life services around the world, we are discovering and doing the things that make life better… for us and for those around us.

Rooted – the story of the Chinese Bamboo

I’d like to thank the authors and producers of the Chinese Bamboo clip I used, originally  found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nFDmrLGgYM&feature=related  – probably worth watching as part of this Blog experience

Matthew 13 Jesus tells this story…:“A farmer went out to plant some seed.

⁴ As he scattered it across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, & the birds came & ate them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The plants sprang up quickly, ⁶ but they soon wilted in the hot sun & died because the roots had no nourishment in the shallow soil. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns that shot up & choked out the tender blades. ⁸ But some seeds fell on fertile soil & produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, & even a hundred times as much as had been planted.

A few Verses later Jesus explains this story to make sure we understand it.

²³ The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message & produce a huge harvest — thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted.”

To grow in Life, We need roots; to keep us nourished, to keep us stable.

Ephesians 3:17 May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

Colossians 2: 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him, so you will grow in faith, strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught… 8 Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.

One way we are led astray is the deception that chasing God means losing your dreams in life… we are led to believe that the things we love and are drawn to, music, business, fame or success are not Godly… but God created you… he placed those dreams into, and your future with God will fulfill those dreams in ways you couldn’t even imagine.

Deep roots in good soil are what will make your life flourish and your dreams come to pass.

A seed contains everything required to become great, but unless it is planted, it can’t become anything.

John 12:24-25 “Listen carefully: Unless a grain of wheat is buried in the ground, dead to the world, it is never any more than a grain of wheat. But if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over.

25In the same way, anyone who holds on to life just as it is destroys that life. But if you let it go, reckless in your love, you’ll have it forever, real and eternal.

If you want your life to grow into something great, it begins by letting go and trusting in the soil of “God’s marvelous love.”

You may have tried to plant your life in something else: education, fame, sports, wealth, or religion. But burying your life in something is altogether different than planting   Planting requires good soil

Matthew 13:23 The good soil represents the hearts of those who truly accept God’s message

Ephesians 3:17 May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

Colossians 2: 7 Let your roots grow down into him and draw up nourishment from him…

Psalm 92:13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.

BUT “What if you are planted in the house”, and you wonder when things are going to change. When things might open up for you?

Consider the things the farmer in the bamboo story learned…

He learned to do the daily things it would take to make it a reality – nourishing the seeds

Acts 2:42They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

Isaiah 58:11 The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.

John 6:35 Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty

He learned to ignore those who said it couldn’t happen

2 peter 3:3 First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at the truth and do every evil thing they desire.

Colossians 2:8 Don’t let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ.

James 4:7  Resist the devil, & he will flee…

He learned to push past his own fear and doubt and keep taking action

2 Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

He learned to have faith when there was no reason to have faith.

Hebrews 10:39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

In preparing this message, I learned a couple of things about Bamboo too:

Bamboo is a member of the grass family. That means It is a colony plant, – it’s roots are so intertwined with one another that it is impossible to separate them…From the same root system, it continually is increasing the size of the colony.

Sounds a lot like Acts 2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

I read this POST, I thought you might enjoy it -  it seems Bamboo is unstoppable..

“MY NEIGHBOURS GARDEN HAS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF VERY TALL BAMBOO GROWING IN IT. NOTHING IS BEING DONE TO CONTROL ITS GROWTH AND, AS A CONSEQUENCE, IT HAS NOW SPREAD INTO OUR GARDEN FLOWER BEDS AND EVEN THE LAWN. IT IS NIGH ON IMPOSSIBLE TO DIG UP SO AT PRESENT ALL WE ARE DOING IS BREAKING THE SHOOTS AS THEY SHOW. DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS AS TO HOW WE CAN STOP THIS HAPPENING?”

Matthew 16:18 Jesus said…I will build My church; and the gates of Hell will not overpower it.

Ephesians 2:20 We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.

²¹ We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.

This gallery contains 2 photos.

 All around us, and even in our own lives there is evidence of great things happening…. That doesn’t mean everything is suddenly perfect, but I think it is VERY important to think about the things that changing, the moments where life is better and the successes that we are experiencing…

This is what the Bible says in Philippians 4:4-9 in the Message Bible

4-5 Celebrate God all day, every day. I mean, revel in him! Make it as clear as you can to all you meet that you’re on their side, working with them and not against them. Help them see that the Master is about to arrive. He could show up any minute!

6-7Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

8-9Summing it all up, friends, I’d say you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious—the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

Do a YouTube search for “Social Media 2012″ and you will be amazed with the statistics, numbers and facts surrounding the social networking phenomena. Social Networking is now the single largest “use” on the internet (overtaking pornography) which proves that human beings long for engaging relationships more than private pleasures.

I don’t think the internet or social networking sites created a relationship hungry society; rather, I think they exposed the truth of this most basic human need. Until the tracking prowess of web-based utilities measured how people intentionally connect with each other, we probably didn’t realize that this was a fundamental need of all people from every culture and nation.

I think life is the model for social networking sites. If you think about your life, you have all kinds of groups of  relationships; with friends, associates and acquaintances, colleagues, family and even strangers (authority figures for example). At different times we have a different emphasis on which relationships capture our attention, sometimes its social other times professional, but it is always something.

All the relationships in your life affect one another; they impact what you believe about yourself and the world around you, which impacts how you respond to all the other relationships in your life.  In that same way, you impact the world around you; affecting the beliefs, attitudes and actions of the people around you.  the question is what message are you sending out?

What Really Matters?

At the end of our lives when we are laid to rest, the stone at the head of our grave gives brief summary to the entirety of our days on this earth.

Serious, comical, poetic or simple styles all reflect one and only one element of life.

Regardless of our success, accomplishments and notable achievements, the only thing that seems to matter enough to be engraved in epitaph are the relationships of our life.

Loving Father, Mother, Brother, Sister, Son, Daughter, Wife or Husband and Compassionate Friend are the kind of words most often inscribed. The final twitter post of our life seldom includes anything more than a simple summary of the relationships we had.

It seems clear that our relationships define us, so the question arises, are we putting the emphasis on them that they deserve?

How do you choose to relate?

I remember when I was in the Boy-Scouts, we were taught a simple principal when we went into the wilderness for camping expeditions. “Leave it better than you found it”, meaning if someone else had left some trash behind, clean it up though it’s not yours, respecting nature and the people who may come afterward. I think that is a great principle for relationships. Taking the time to clean someone else’s garbage and help the people we relate with in life become better and better, not just so you can enjoy their company, but so others can too.

There are a few skills we need to be able to do that, one is letting someone else help you get better at life, another, and probably the most important, is learning about life, it’s purpose and design, when we understand that, we can guide people towards it, and we are less likely to resist those guiding us.

I believe the Bible offers more than clues and hints to this stuff.. Why not read some if it today?

 

Could you imagine if every driver in Chennai followed the Road Rules

A friend of mine was visiting Chennai for the first time, as we drove through the city he was amazed at the careless aggression of all vehicles. Cars, Bikes, Auto’s, Lorries, Bus’ and even pedestrians use the road as though they are the only ones who need to get any where. My friend said ” I think I know why this Kolaveri Di”

Could you imagine if every driver in Chennai followed the road rules. I am convinced that if we all followed speed limits (minimum and maximum), as well as lane discipline and obeyed the traffic signals (red means stop, green means go), traffic would flow smoothly and we would all get where we wanted to go faster and with less frustration.

All of us drivers know the rules of the road, we expect others to follow them but we often make exceptions for ourselves; “I know its a one way, but I just need to go a little way to connect to my street”. The problem arises when everyone allows themselves these same exceptions and if you can do it, why not everyone else too.

For the most part, rules are established to create order. Laws and systems are not so much to take away freedom, but rather to offer a better freedom for everyone.

Galatians 5 offers this opinion.
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom.

If you bite and ravage each other, watch out – in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then? My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day.

Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on. This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard – things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.