W.W.J.D.

Scriptures: “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.” 1 John 2:15

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is –His good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2

When the WWJD movement caught on in the 1990s, I was pretty excited. Kids were wearing T-shirts and bracelets; there were bumper stickers on cars. Everywhere you looked, it seemed to pop up. It was a great learning and evangelizing tool at the time.

But as time has gone on, I have come to realize that WWJD doesn’t cover everything as I hoped it would. In fact, there are situations and circumstances I can’t imagine Jesus either being in or reacting to. But does that mean I avoid as many circumstances as possible that I can’t imagine Christ being in? That is an impossible task, but it gives me pause to wonder about some things.

If Jesus were walking on the earth today, I’m certain He would be on His Father’s business. He’d be preaching to the masses, healing the sick and mentally ill, bringing restoration to the wounded and disenfranchised and communing with His Father on a daily basis.

But would Jesus do anything entertaining? Would He attend concerts, Christian or not? Would He visit the internet, open a Facebook account, go to movies or listen to the radio – secular or not?

WWJD doesn’t cover these hard questions for me.

There are puritans among us who choose not to watch, listen or read anything unless it is labeled as “Christian”. But is that what we should do? Is that what Jesus would do? Maybe. I don’t know. The bible says nothing about Jesus “entertaining” Himself . We read about his work, how He went away to pray and commune with the Father alone, and how He dined with various people, both sinners and believers.

In today’s world with entertainment of all forms, movies, iPods, video games, internet, skateboarding, magazine subscriptions, DVDs coming out our ears, places to eat, sports to watch or join – what WOULD Jesus do? Would he avoid them all? Or would he find a fine balance in this world?

It’s a tightrope walk. If you choose NOT to live as a puritan – and choose to watch TV, flip through a fashion magazine, listen to hard rock music, our toughest job is to find the balance between what is and how much is ok.

I’m not a puritan in the very least. I enjoy TV, music, movies, playing Frisbee, riding my bike, watching various DVDs. However, I don’t have a great memory, so it is a lot of work for me to memorize scripture, the lyrics to music, even the fact that I have a dinner date with friends next week.

So I find myself at a crossroads when I want to learn the lyrics to a secular song. I have to take a lot of time to memorize an entire CD because I enjoy listening to it. But I always feel guilty, because I can’t help but think to myself, “So you are willing to spend hours learning lyrics to a secular hard rock CD, but you haven’t tried to memorize any new scriptures in a while.”

So I pause and wonder – Would Jesus spend ANY time with secular entertainment, such as music, movies or books?

Again – I have to answer that question with: “I don’t know.”

After all, Jesus rubbed elbows with the sinners in the world. He showed them love. He went into camps of lepers where no one dared to go, and He healed them. He found Himself in culturally undesirable places for the purpose of showing them who He was and introducing them to His Father.

The fine balance I find walking is being in this world, but NOT being “conformed by it”. It all comes back to relationship and priorities. I still don’t know if Jesus would be entertained by anything in this world. But as believers, I think it’s all about having a close relationship with Christ, moderation in all the things we do, and the discernment to stay out of trouble with the things we choose to “entertain” ourselves with.

Prayer request: For all of us to continue to draw closer to Christ.

Prayer: Father, we ask You to guide us closely in Your ways, and make Yourself known to us when we begin to stray from the path You have carved for us. Open our ears; fine tune our hearts, minds and souls to hear the Holy Spirit more clearly and more directly so that we may always remain close to You in all we do. Amen

Misinformation

Scriptures: You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.(Matthew 24:6)

At that time if anyone says to you, ’Look here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect – if that were possible.(Matthew 24:23)

No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” (Matthew 24:36)

With the age of the internet, as with all things, we must take the good and the bad with any new technologies that come out. We can glean from the internet information about virtually anything: news, entertainment, virus warnings, sports, famous individuals, the definition of words, the meaning of foreign words – it is all at our finger tips within seconds.

However, the danger of having everything instantly within reach is the lack of discernment involved. We read one or two articles on any topic, and suddenly we are the experts, and we share the information with a handful of friends and they tell a handful of friends.

This works great if all the information is accurate.

What if it isn’t?

The bible gives us clear warnings about jumping to conclusions. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars …” “… if anyone says to you, ’Look here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.”

This should be a lesson regarding not only the scriptures, but discernment in our own lives. What does the bible say? If a group of people are running up a hill because a “prophet” has told them Christ is coming back on a certain day at a certain time – should you not open your own bible to see what it says for ourselves? When we listen to our pastors and priests in church, is it not responsible to test what he says against scripture? We live in a dangerous times, where we can be easily led astray. When Michael Jackson died, within minutes, rumors were rampant. Some broadcasters said he was in a coma, others, he had died, and still others that he was conscious and talking.

As Christians, we must be prudent and deliberate about the messages we receive and send, both religious in nature and not.

I value information. I also enjoy research. When I sort through information, I look at several different sites and try to learn as much about not only the topic, but sometimes surrounding information.

We are so quick to take forwards as truth. Often it is harmless. But I have a few nervous friends who don’t like to read that there have been attacks on women from people putting notes on the back of their car windows or claiming they dropped $5 at a gas station. We send them on because we care about our loved ones. But the truth is, they aren’t true, and my nervous friends are now acting paranoid, looking at their car windows for notes, not wanting to make eye contact with anyone at the gas station.

There are posts made about baby carrots cleaned with chlorine, the ACLU fighting to have crosses removed from Arlington cemetery, Target not supporting veterans .. the list goes on. We read these items and pass them on as truth, when in reality, there is no truth to them, and we have unwittingly become part of the rumor mill.

How about the forwards that claim “if you send this to 10 people, God will answer your prayer” or “Your phone will ring in 15 minutes”. I have a friend who sends these on with the fear of, “Ok, what if I DON’T and something bad DOES happen to me?” This friend is not a believer, by the way. I understand why she would be fearful. If I was without God, I certainly would be.

But my point is we need to be diligent with all information we send, receive, read and pass on. The scriptures are there for us to learn from, test things against, and to draw a more clear perspective of what Christ wants from us, lest we be led away by false claims preached from the pulpit, circulated via email or friends who think they have found a man or woman with all the answers and choose to follow them closely.

Discernment is key in our lives. By our actions, others will follow us. As believers, we want to be sure to lead others to Christ. But we need to share the right information with them! Show them the scriptures. Allow them to research for themselves. As it is with forwards, there are websites to check forwards against to see if they are true or not.

The bible is the final say against what others have to say about how we are to live our lives. It is a wise investment to learn it, memorize it, become knowledgeable and most of all, share it!

Prayer request: For discernment and wisdom as we follow Christ, learn more about Him from others and share Him with those around us.

Prayer: Lord, we humbly ask You to help us to know You better, hear You more, follow You more closely. Give us the wisdom to share the gospel and point others towards You.

Lost with Guidance

Scriptures: “How precious to me are Your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you….Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:17-18, 23-24)

A few weeks ago, we were in northern California for a family trip. Part of the trip was to visit Sausalito, a beautiful town along the San Francisco Bay. After the sight-seeing, shopping and a dinner, it was time to go. Knowing the traffic in San Francisco, I decided to take a different route, to go around the San Francisco Bay. And, since that was not an area that we were familiar with, we turned on our GPS (Global Position System).

Well, it really wasn’t a bad plan. That is, until I saw on I-580 East a sign indicating a connection to I-80. This sign came out not long after we crossed the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. When I saw it, I thought to myself, “Wow, we are at I-80 already? We can’t be too far from home now.” So, I exited out of I-580 and followed the sign.

The off-ramp took us to a local street which winded through an industrial area and went on for about 8 miles before it connected to I-80. All along, I thought I was taking a short-cut. I forgot that there was something missing on that sign, the direction. It only said I-80. There was no indication of whether it’s going North or South, East or West. So, when we went back on I-80 Freeway, we were actually going north and going farther away from our destination.

All throughout this journey, our GPS has been prompting us to turn around. “Make a U-Turn at the next legally allowed turning point,” it kept saying. It was doing that since the very beginning when I decided to go north on State Highway 101. The calculated route of the GPS was to go south through San Francisco downtown which was what I wanted to avoid. So I kept ignoring the prompts of GPS. This went on for a long time. But I was so sure that we were going for the right direction that not only did I ignore its prompting, I turned it off because it was getting to the point of annoying me.

Then we saw the sign to connect I-780. That was a freeway that I had no idea of and that alarmed us. Plus, it was already late and dark. It should not be that far. So, we decided to stop and check the map. As we stopped in a residential area, someone there was very kind to offer her help. She told us that we were actually in the city of Vallejo, a city in the opposite direction of where we wanted to go, and gave us pointers to get back to the way we should have been on.

As we drove back, we turned on the GPS again and, this time, GPS was actually agreeing with us. Following the directions from GPS, we were able to get to our destination in about 1 hour and concluded our 3 hour drive all over Bay area.

This morning, as I was reading Psalm 139, I couldn’t help drawing the parallel between this trip and what the psalmist asked of our Lord, “lead me in the way everlasting.” (Psalm 139:24) I have to confess that I often thought I have everything figured out. I know where I am going and I know how to get there. So, I kept charging forward without checking with our Lord. Worse yet, especially during times when I thought I have everything in place, I may have consciously or unconsciously turned off the prompting of the Holy Spirit and went on my way.

In every single instance when I did that, they all resulted in the same situation, chaos and confusions. But, unfortunately, I often found out only afterwards. Bible tells us to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Proverb 3:5-6)

If you ask me, “How could someone get lost with guidance?” The answer is simple. Though the guidance is available, this person must have ignored the guidance. That was my case. Luckily, we only lost a couple of hours this time. But the lesson learned was precious.

Someone used to say that “Life is an adventure.” It is in the sense that there’s so much we don’t know about it. Moving forward in life is like stepping into unchartered territories. For us, it is an adventure and every decisions and choices made has an impact down the road, some desirable and others not.

But our God is good. He does not leave us alone in this world, facing all uncertainties with our own strengths. He provides us with His guidance through His Word, living and written, and with His presence through the Holy Spirit. When we heed His guidance, unknown territory becomes promise land and aimless journey becomes goal-driven mission. He alone is the Creator and the Definer of our lives!

Are you still searching for the direction and meaning of your life? Search no more. Go to Him for He has all the answers!

Prayer Requests:
For all those lost in the highways and byways of life

Prayer:
Father God, as life throws many curves and signs that derails our focus on You, grant us the wisdom and obedience to trust in You and Your guidance through Your Word and Spirit in all our ways for we pray in the wonderful name of our Lord Jesus, Amen!

The Gift of Giving

Scripture: “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” (Matthew 6:3-4)

I started my rough draft of this blog by writing about widows and orphans, but then my writing (or more likely, the LORD) took me in an entirely different direction. So I will write about widows and orphans in my next blog, if the Lord leads me to do so. But in so writing about giving to widows and orphans, came out the topic of giving – in general.

Aside from giving to widows and orphans, one thing I enjoy most in life is what I call “covert giving”. In the past, there have been people in my life that I have anonymously dropped off a bag of groceries at their doorstep or written them letters of encouragement. Sometimes I will include a small inspirational token, like a bookmark, key chain, or scripture card. Just to bless them.

Why? I believe I have the gift of encouragement, a spiritual gift given to me by the Holy Spirit. I don’t want recognition, as I am merely on my Father’s business. Being extremely shy, I also have a lot of practice in moving “under the radar” of any kind of recognition. I'm a leader in my church, but I would much rather set up and break down events than actually introduce myself to strangers.

I reveal this about myself only because I want to share with you the following: if you have never tried it before, I recommend it. There is something extremely satisfying about giving without expecting anything in return, especially if you are anonymous. For a moment, put yourself in the recipients shoes: There you are, going along your daily business, a day like any other, and someone has mailed you a card, letting you know you are being thought of, you are appreciated, and God loves you. Imagine having a terrible day at work, you get home, and there is a potted plant on your doorstep – and the card basically says, “Just because I was thinking of you. God bless” – Anonymous.

There is something that wells up within both the giver and the recipient when this happens. I can’t explain it, but I think the Holy Spirit glows within each of us.

And as I write this blog – I just now realized something: Lately I have felt discouraged because I don’t feel I share Christ with people as I should. I cannot describe to you how shy I am. I can’t strike up a conversation with a stranger, much less share the gospel with anyone. But in my writing, I have found the freedom to reach out and touch people. It’s not due to anything I say, rather, I follow the direction God leads me. Notice how He took over my blog. I had one thing in mind - but He led me in this direction! So my evangelism, I guess, is through my writing. And whether the recipient is Christian or not, I find satisfaction in letting them know Christ loves them. Perhaps I can develop a building block within them for faith to be built on down the road. You never know when you are "planting a seed" (of faith) within someone. And sometimes someone else will come along and water that seed, and someone else will bring Sonlight to the seed, and as a result the seed (of faith) starts to grow. That is my own testimony. In college, several people in my life passed on through, some watered, some shared Christ, others gave me Christian books to read, and as my curiosity grew and my spirit thirsted for more, I was ready for the invitation to join the church I have belonged to now for close to 20 years.

Fifteen years ago, I felt prompted to put a stack of 5 or so blank greeting cards in front of me, and I opened the phone book randomly, 5 times, and addressed each card to the person’s name I had laid my finger on. Of course I didn’t sign the cards or write a return address. I just sent out a gentle word of encouragement from the Lord. I did this for a series of weeks – and then I guess it was time to stop or life stepped in. But it felt very good to drop those cards off in the mail.

Crazy, huh? But sometimes the Lord has us do crazy things! I could never be a preacher – but I can reach others for the Kingdom in other, “covert” ways.

My challenge to you is this: if this appeals to you – give it a try! You may discover a hidden “gift” inside of you. And one of the most fun things about it is – you can be creative while blessing others through the Lord!

I thank God for this blog, because while I was despairing, inwardly, over the fact that I don’t seem to be doing anything for Him, in the way of sharing Him with the world – He has revealed to me that I can and do by being a secret giver for Him! (Thanks, Lord!!)

Prayer request: Help me and others with the gift of giving to increase our efforts to reach the world by blessing others anonymously. Pray that shy people like myself can become more bold and increase our efforts to share Christ with others in our special "quiet" way.

Prayer: Father, thank You for those who can boldly preach Your word to others wherever they are, in grocery stores, elevators, or waiting for a bus. Thank You, Lord, for calling those extroverts out into the world. Please help the shy quiet ones like myself to reach out just as boldly in our own special way in which You made us to make just as big an impact for Your Kingdom as our more outgoing brethren. Increase our gifting, Lord, increase our boldness and determination to spread Light into the darkness. Amen

God's Timing

Scripture:
Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured. Jesus sent him away at once with a strong warning: 'See that you don't tell this to anyone'" (Mark 1:42-45).

Have you ever had a problem keeping a secret? Especially if that secret involves good news.

There is a timing that is ideal for releasing information or moving forward with a project. Jesus understood the importance of timing. When He performed His first healing miracle He instructed the man he healed with leprosy to not tell anyone. Now that would be difficult - not to share being healed from leprosy with your friends who have known you and your condition. He could not keep the secret.

As a result, Jesus could no longer enter a town openly but stayed outside in lonely places. Yet the people still came to him from everywhere. Jesus desired to do more things in that city, but because the man could not keep quiet, He could not do so.

How often has Jesus not been able to move in your situation because you have failed to honor the right timing of the situation? Perhaps you have moved ahead when you were not supposed to move. In the Old Testament, David was fighting the Philistines. He won the first battle, but they were coming against him again. He inquired of God and God said, "Go to battle, but not until you hear the marching in the balsam trees" (2 Sam. 5:23). There was a strategic timing associated with his actions.

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven?" ( Eccl 3:1). Ask God for His timing in your projects to be released.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, in times like these we seek you to know your will. You know all things and desire only the best for us. Lead us dear Lord to know and to move in your Will as you have ordained it and as you have timed. it. Amen

(TGIF Today God Is First Volume 2, by Os Hillman - 08-10-2009)