The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV
Few things are more frustrating than trying to persuade another who will not see your point of view.
‘Will not’ is worse than ‘cannot’ because while they can still see clearly with their eyes, they choose to remain blind to thinking themselves toward a different conclusion.
20/20 vision doesn’t necessarily result in a 20/20 decision.
To be truly open minded happens only when we opt to continue to reason to the observable conclusions of our five senses and subject our findings to moral and ethical standards. And even then, understanding that our internalized morals and ethics are also largely learned early on from other people’s life and experiences and enlightenment to a spiritual dimension purely by being a creation of God.
It’s complicated for sure. But fortunately, we are only responsible for presenting truths, not for the changes and decisions which may result.
Therefore, becoming frustrated is the wrong response.
“and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.””
John 2:9-10 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.2.9-10.NIV
Jesus doesn’t just provide for what is needed, he provides the very best.
He meets our needs, then exceeds our expectations.
Another way of looking at this first recorded of his many miracles is that while life under the law produced good living, life in Jesus produces the best.
No matter how you view it, the miracle of turning water into wine wasn’t about the miracle itself but that life with belief in Christ produces the very best you can be.
Your body is up to 80% water until touched by the hand of Jesus, at which point you transform into the best version of yourself.
Thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. 2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV
When I worked retail, some guy in my vicinity was wearing the most attractive fragrance I’d never smelled before.
I sniffed him out to ask the brand name, entranced by the aroma and as it turns out, I wasn’t alone.
He’d already exited into the mall when I stopped him to ask.
He named the fragrance for me and laughed that I’d been the third person who’d asked that day.
For the life of me I don’t recall the brand some 40 years later but it was unique enough to follow and embolden my inquiry of a complete stranger.
I’d have bought the scent from his coat pocket right there at any price if he’d had a bottle on him.
Today, the memory of that encounter with a stranger still serves as a metaphor of how I hope my life as a follower of Christ might attract those who are seeking the life that I have found.
The latent effects of a decade on drugs seem to be synching with an otherwise age appropriate period of rapid cognitive decline.
Not sure which is the culprit anymore, but both appear to be working overtime to create this bumbling old fool from Saturday morning cartoons I once feared I might become.
Downhill more rapidly than I would like at this age, I’m on a fast track to Mr. Magoo and not enjoying the ride much at all.
Consequences aren’t entirely tragic though.
Mr. Magoo was an affable man with a huge and beautiful heart.
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them,
“Do you have anything here to eat?
Luke 24:40-41 NIV
He shows them the marks of his crucifixion to prove it is truly him, not a vision or spirit.
Yet, the disciples are caught somewhere between disbelief and overwhelming joy. They’re amazed. It feels almost too good to be true.
So Jesus then grounds the moment by eating in their presence, demonstrating that he is not a ghostly apparition but alive in a physical, resurrected body.
A deeply human detail.
He reassures them with something as simple and familiar as a shared meal—reminding them that faith is not only about extraordinary events but also found in ordinary acts of fellowship.
Sharing a meal was communion.
And then they knew it was him.
Today, most of us take communion with a dry wafer and a tiny juice cup.
Next time you take your little mass-produced communion lunchable, ask God to open your eyes to the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and in doing so may your faith be empowered.
[If there’s one thing addicts do well, it’s telling stories. But after 14 years clean, they’re usually not lies anymore. Last night after my Celebrate Recovery at The Crossing Church meeting, I shared the most important part of how I did it as I share with another addict each year on this day. This story works if you let it.]
Someone asked me recently how I did it. How I got off drugs, meth of all things. Undoubtedly tonight at my meeting I’ll be asked once again as is the tradition for anyone getting another annual chip.
I’ve given a lot of thought to the question.
Less to the mechanics of my leap into sobriety, but more about which of my words might just trigger another addict in attendance to turn on that light upstairs, illuminating them to the possibility that they, too, despite their past, deserve a future.
You see, it’s not so much the quitting of drugs that’s important.
Equally necessary is the installation of hope and belief that you are worth far more in this world than the lonely company of any drug or its cohorts.
It’s about having been utterly blinded by the stupor of a drug and its false promise of contentment that blocks out hope or vision there’s really anything more to life.
To that end, we are all addicts. We all have something we’ve allowed to remain which blocks our hope and blurs our vision. Something to which we remain bound.
“Clean and sober.”
It’s almost cliché these days.
The distinction between the two, however, is perhaps the most important thing I learned in my years of recovery so far.
I got clean once, but I get more sober with each passing day.
The truly recovered are not recovered at all.
They are recovering.
And the truly recovering can instinctively tell the difference.
A recovering person hasn’t simply stopped using, they have started living.
It’s evident that a clarity of mind, purpose and a place for God was birthed at some moment, and rarely is that moment a single epiphany, but the commencement of a lifelong string of epiphanies which, together, create the continuity of recovering.
It’s the high I get from my ongoing little epiphanies of life these days.
They continue to escort me down a much more beautiful path.
And when you find yourself in a much prettier place, hope is much easier to find. In fact, it seems to find you.
And isn’t that really the very definition of God?
So for the addicts in all of us, I say to you, we are here in this world for one reason only: Be that hope for someone today.
Be clean. Be sober. And most of all, live like you deserve to.
“But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.”
Luke 23:23-25 NIV
Imagine.
You spend every waking hour of your entire life in service to humanity and humanitarian needs only to be served up on a platter to an excruciating death by the very same people you served.
No other of the world’s gods have ever reached down to meet faithful and faithless in their unreconciled condition.
All others demand their reaching up to experience the holiness they offer.
The bridge from heaven to earth was only walked in one direction by only one who, despite his miracles, messages, and deity, was met with willful carnage and crucifixion.
I think on this daily and still have no deserving human analogy or example.
We all have our private and personal reasons for the formation of our faith in Jesus.
This is mine.
Never bet on people in a crowd to make fair and reasonable choices. That’s God’s domain because he chose to be human with you.
We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51-52 NIV
Sadly, for many it will be an instant too late.
We’re hearing more and more from high profile athletes, celebrities and others about their conversion to a faith in Christ lately.
Their decisions compel them to make public what began as a private search for something true and of eternal consequence.
When you make such discovery, it’s hard not to tell the world about it.
Famous people are finding their professional fame unfulfilling and replacing their own achievements with the lasting achievement of Christ’s death and resurrection and a promise of the same for those who will believe.
The trumpets will sound for all of us.
Be one of the genuinely famous who can and will answer that call.
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15:58 NIV
You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10:21 NIV
I’m always bothered when someone from church cites their horoscope to explain their circumstances.
For them, a plea of ignorance won’t be an acceptable excuse on judgement day.
Divided allegiances are on display everywhere, oftentimes even in my own life.
The difference lies in having received the Holy Spirit who keeps such things in check within our consciences to foster learning and spiritual growth along our pathway to salvation.
That’s His job.
Earnestly pray for wisdom and discernment, especially in these times when deception is the cultural name of the game to lead us down paths toward destruction.
