God Hates

People who send death threats to a 5 year old. No He doesn’t! God doesn’t hate anyone in fact quite the opposite is true; He loves us all more than we can possibly imagine. It’s because of this immense love that He hates the things that harm us or keep us apart from Him. This is where some get confused thinking hating is okay. Hating a person or people is never right. Hating something hurtful for them can be if and only if it’s deeply rooted in love. This hate, Godly hate for lack of a better way to put it, should never become further evidence one is unloved or unlovable.

And

The theology of blessings diminishes God. It puts man in charge. If I do this, think that or adhere to this set of rules and behaviors God will be obligated to bless me. Intimacy with God and those He’s placed around us suffers immensely when we allow this principle in our lives. Keeping up the facade of God’s special blessing will wear you out. We are not in control!

Because

The theology of blessings alienates people that are struggling. Whether it is health, financial, emotional, relational or any other difficulty beyond our control, this belief excludes us when times are tough. The wake of damage this idea leaves behind is staggering.

The Problem with the Theology of Blessings

Is that it couldn’t be more wrong.

I read the news today…

-and sobbed over the state of the world. Young people with seemingly everything going their way committing suicide, a jogger randomly shot because some young men were bored, a man freakishly dying while on vacation with his family and an 88 year old veteran beaten to death. And that’s not even a drop in the bucket. There is so much tragedy and so much pain, it’s overwhelming.

What can we possibly do? Is there an answer? I know there is and I know it isn’t christianity. The answer is Jesus pure and simple. Not the jesus you believe in, not the jesus you control by doing this or that according to the rules. The answer is the Jesus that you know for real, personally, intimately, the Jesus that lives in you, The Jesus that the hurting world is desperate to know, The One that truly is the only answer for their/our pain.

How do you Respond?

You’re sitting with some friends and one of them tells you that his neck really hurts; do you:

Tell him how much your leg has been bothering you?

Sympathize and ask how he hurt his neck?

Tell him that you’ll pray for him?

Get up and give him a neck rub and quietly pray?

How often do we make the conversation about us?

How often do we offer a hollow “I’ll pray for you” when we’re right there with the ability to be the answered prayer?

Offense / Defense

I hope you don’t mind if I get a bit sporty. There’s an adage that says, sometimes the best defense is a strong offense. This can be true in well defined games.

Regrettably this saying is frequently how we conduct our interactions with each other. We’re far too often quick to pick up an offense which causes us to get defensive and many times even offensive. To stave off getting wounded we wound, to avoid a no, we manipulate and to keep people from getting to close, we pretend.

What if we could love our offenders so much they couldn’t hurt us? What if we knew for certain how special we are to God that we never had to be on the defensive? What if we were so honest about our flaws to people that their love for us grew deep? I know this is possible for us, it sounds very much like Jesus. It also sounds a whole lot like the people I know that spend a bunch of time with Him.

Persevere

: to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counterinfluences, opposition, or discouragement. I like knuckle down.

This is worth the fight, if it wasn’t it wouldn’t hurt so much.

You’ve Got a Friend

When you’re down and troubled and you need a helping hand and nothing, nothing is going right.
You’ve got a friend.
When the sky above you turns dark and full of clouds and that old North wind begins to howl.
You’ve got a friend.
Ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend when people can be so cold, they’ll hurt you and desert you, they’ll take your soul if you let them, but don’t you let them. – Carol King

Jesus is the name to call on when you’re feeling lonely, hurt and unloved as so many are today. And while His love for you is enough, it won’t be the only love you’ll find. He’ll bring special friends around to love and encourage you. Call His name out loud, let people know you are hurting if they’re cold they weren’t friends if they come running, let them in.

Assured

CSN sang of helplessly hoping from the empty place inside, but there’s an assured hope guaranteed by the One that can fill the empty place and it’s more than available to everyone. If you feel empty, unloved or rejected there is an answer and if you’ll put the tiniest bit of trust in Jesus he’ll rush to that emptiness and love you like no one else can. He’ll begin to heal your pain and walk through everything with you; you’ll never have to be alone again.