Shutting the Door

“Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 KJV

Have you ever thought about the first thing you do when you get into your car? Turn on the ignition? Strap in the seatbelt? Put your iPhone on the seat next to you? How about dialing in your favorite radio station? Yes, those are definitely up there in priority, but before anything happens, you and I do something each and every time out of sheer habit. After we sit in the seat we close the door. Bet you didn’t think of that, did you? On a daily basis it’s not something any of us really contemplate. It just naturally happens.

This came to my attention the other day while picking up my 7 year old son from school. Now, if you live in Phoenix, Arizona in the summer time there is one thing you can’t get enough of and that is air conditioning. The heat here is stifling, like take-your-breath-away-I-want-the-rapture-to-happen-now hot. So when I was awaiting my son to be released from class I sat calm and collected, enjoying the icy cold air coming out in full blast on my face and body. There I was in my cocoon of coolness ,quietly chuckling at the helpless crossing guard melting away in the heat as she tried to corral rambunctious kids from the left and right. So sad, so, so sad, I thought. I am not called to that, Lord. My moment was quickly and rudely broken up as my son opened the door and a wave of unwelcome fire air entered my car. But then it went next level as Calvin, my uber social son, decided to say goodbye to every child in his class. These weren’t the normal goodbyes either, these are the kind that are littered with jokes and phrases that a father can’t understand, much less a frustrated and increasingly warm father can tolerate.

“Calvin, shut the door!!” I said, panicked.

SLAM!

“Hey dad, how was your day?” He smiled.

Innocently oblivious. What’s a dad to do? We proceeded to go get ice cream.

It’s interesting though, isn’t it, that none of us ever think about closing the car door? In fact I don’t think anyone of us was ever taught to do it but imagine what would happen if we didn’t! Doors are created for a purpose. To let things in and keep unwanted things out. Talk with someone who lives in Northeastern Ohio in January and they will tell you the value of a closed and sealed door. The act of shutting is unequivocally unintentional, yet ever so valuable. When James wrote his epistle to the Jewish Christians he understood that there was an unwanted thing (guest? trying to keep it consistent with phrase above) that would constantly want to work its (his? trying to keep it consistent with phrase above) way into daily life, relationships and decision making. Things are no different today. Unfortunately, that thing is the devil and he is very real is real, yet his power is limited unlike the God you and I serve. That is why we are encouraged to first submit to God and utilize his power to resist. Think of that word “resist” for a moment. It’s intentional. It’s determined. It’s aggressive. To resist something takes concentrated effort and action. A friend told me once that he daily makes a choice to resist the devil, to push against him. At the time I thought it was silly. I mean, why engage someone and awaken their anger? But I realized quickly that our adversary has been trying to work his way into lives from the very beginning. He does this with various tricks custom made to each individual. But think, what would the world be like had Adam and Eve aggressively resisted?

My challenge in all of this is us to daily open the door of our hearts in submission for God’s spirit to lead, and successively slam the door on the enemy and his deception. Yet the key in all of this is to make this submitting and resisting an intentional activity. Within in each of us resides the ample strength needed to resist temptation and sin. Power - it’s been given to us. The apostle Paul makes mention of this in 2 Corinthians 6:6-7 NLT.

“We prove ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, by the Holy Spirit within us, and by our sincere love. We faithfully preach the truth. God’s power is working in us. We use the weapons of righteousness in the right hand for attack and the left hand for defense.”

It’s pretty clear in that short verse that Paul understood the concept of actively resisting. He understood that shutting the door on Satan and his schemes is vital to a person’s health. He most definitely came to realize that submitting and resisting go hand in hand.

Make today a day where you consciously keep out the unwelcome guest. Shut the door on the enemy’s advances. It’s hot out there.

Insulated

I want to personally thank the man who came up with the idea of wearing neoprene waders. Each year I go with my father and some friends to northern New Mexico and fly fish the San Juan River, which is famous for a high concentration of extremely intelligent and large trophy trout. The setting is beautiful. The river careens peacefully through a small canyon with towering walls naturally creating a cool breeze that refreshes the soul of even the weariest man. There is time for reflection, for quiet, but chiefly the time is for fishing. Serious fishing. This river, however, can not be properly fished from the bank. To catch these incredibly seasoned and fearless fish, one must go out into the river, navigate over and around slippery moss covered rock and wade in waist-deep water.

This is why I love neoprene. For it seems every year there comes a point in the trip where one of us will accidently slip while wading and fall into the water. Last year on the last day of the trip was my turn.. Nothing can prepare you for the shock that comes as 40 degree temps flood your body and cause you to glaciate from the inside out. Thankfully, in ten years, this has only happened to me twice. Usually, I can stand warm and comfortable in this water for hours and not feel a thing. This comes from the technology of the waders. They are designed to allow you to be in the water yet not feel the effects of it. They are made to keep you warm on the inside even though it is freezing on the outside.

One Sunday morning when I was 16, my mentor was preaching a sermon out of Romans Chapter 12. It’s a slam dunk chapter of the bible for preachers, with almost all of the twenty one verses having a nugget of truth that can be excavated, studied and elaborated on. On this particular Sunday he was exploring the most famous of verses in this passage.

“Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 NIV

After reading the text he shut his bible and said, “This is what I want you to remember today if nothing else. That as disciples of Christ in this world we are called to be insulated, not isolated.”

Insulated, not isolated. Although those two words have a similar cadence to them, they are quite different. Both are recognizing the pressure and pull of the culture around them, but their response to these elements are contrasting.

Isolation is a death blow for the church. To operate in away that fully acknowledges the world, but completely removes oneself from it defeats the entire purpose of the gospel. So many look at the call of James to be unspotted from the world and confuse it with being invisible. The logic behind it is to stay so far away from others who have different morals, lifestyles and beliefs that there is no penetration of worldly temptation into good, Godly values. On paper it sounds like a good plan, but is this any different than living on a private island with only those who share your views of faith? Not only does this create an inability for the message of the cross to be shared, but it inadvertently cultivates a soft underbelly of one’s faith that is never challenged, tested or proved. An isolated mindset for the Christian breeds arrogance and it feeds the mentality of self serving preservation. Imagine if the apostles thought this way after Jesus had left? The gospel would have come to a crashing halt in a Jerusalem upper room. Instead, as Christ implored, the message was to be shared with all of the earth.

Insulation looks quite different. To be insulated means to stand right in the midst of adversity and be unmoved. It means to be able to make an impact where you are no matter what is around you. The purpose of the waders is for me to be able to go into the water and not be overcome by the frigid temperatures. As I stand in the midst of the river, unaffected by the cold, the water’s flow and trajectory is changed by my ability to stand firm. The believer that imparts the concept of insulation doesn’t look down on others, they don’t force their will and beliefs in a manipulative way. Instead, they stand firm and make an impact in the midst of others. An insulated person relishes the potential of a day where they can be a bright light, an agent of joy and love. Integrity is the key to an insulated believer, one who is the same day in and day out, no matter the circumstances. Being insulated in today’s world requires a relationship with God’s word in order to prevent private islander’s small mindset of quarantine.

As you ponder this I’d like to leave you with Romans 12:2 MSG.

“Don’t become so well adjusted to your culture, that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.”

Let this be our prayer today. Stay insulated, my friends.

Undivided

It annoys me and it happens almost every day. It’s not right. It’s certainly not human. And in no way is it sustainable as one ages. Before I say one more word (for my own safety) I want you to know that, “it” annoys me, not that “she” annoys me. The “she” is my wife. The “it” is her uncanny ability to multitask efficiently and consistently at home and work.

Just the other night we were sitting on the couch watching an episode of Dancing with the Stars (don’t knock it – happy wife, happy life) and I glanced over at her. There she was with one headphone in her ear, listening to her latest book on Audible and looking at a media list for one her new clients on her laptop, all while busying her hands with a crafting project.

This is real.

How could this be? How could she be engaged in the show that we were watching? How could she know what’s going on or feel the contestant’s angst and process tomorrow’s press release at the same time? This has been going on for the past 13 years that we’ve been together. There have been times where I have tried to entrap her to see if she’s really paying attention to what we are watching. I’ve asked questions about events in the show that didn’t happen, obscure details that require laser-like focus, and even her opinion on the last commercial. Each time, I marvel at her comprehension and ability to completely be engaged in all things at once while her attention is divided. And when I say I marvel, I mean I marvel at how truly bothered I am. She is unlike anyone I know.

For the record, I’m not annoyed by her actions. I’m annoyed because I can’t multi task. I can’t even listen to music and type this sentence. I’m a one-thing-at-a-time-so-I-can-focus kind of guy.

The other day I was in the movie theater and was so engaged in the film that there were times I held popcorn in my hand close to my mouth, but not in my mouth, until the scene changed. I can’t hold my two-year old and talk on the phone at the same time and I can’t wash the dishes while listening to someone speak. It’s bad, I admit, but as I was reading in Psalms late last week, something jumped off the page that made me feel that in some ways it might be a good thing.

Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalm 86:11 NIV

Being the king of Israel, ruler of God’s chosen people, came with immense pressure and duty. From his obligations as king, to his ever growing family, to his many military campaigns, it is uncontested that King David had responsibilities that would keep him occupied and diversified in time, energy, and emotion.

Yet, what we read in this prayer is something that would be valuable to take and apply to ourselves. He mentions two words that stand out to me. The first is the word heart. Notice that he used this word rather than the word mind. The mind of a person can be in multiple places at one time. To operate successfully in our current culture we all need to have the ability to think on different avenues at various times throughout the day. I personally see this proven by my wife every night. However, for the heart to function properly, it needs to be undivided. It needs to beat for one thing, one purpose, and remain free of distractions and enemies to it’s singular focus. When the heart of person becomes overloaded in its direction and desire, confusion and weariness tend to follow. It isn’t long until that type of heart will reach out to unhealthy outlets to relieve pressure that the division has caused.

The second word in this verse that spoke to me is the word give. This word cannot be overlooked as David was asking God to GIVE him something that he himself could not provide. As I read the book of Psalms, I am of the opinion that David was very much in tune with the frailty of his heart. I feel he was simply submitting to the understanding that at any moment he could be drawn away and enticed by temptations, power and success. What a pure and pleasing request this must have been to God! David was someone of supreme power in his own country, one who was victorious in battle from a young age, one who had the favor of the people he led. Yet all he asks of God is to impart into him a heart that would revere and honor the Lord.

Today, we are as a culture, more driven, scheduled and diversified than we were ten years ago. There are more appointments, events and obligations to invest our heart into than ever before. Without warning we can unintentionally slip into committing ourselves to things that offer nothing beneficial to our inner man at all. Has this simple request of an undivided heart ever left your lips? Perhaps it is time for us to pause and to ask God for this singularity of purpose and vision. I fully believe that God will not only honor our petition, but also empower us to maintain a laser focus. It is the perfect starting point for our day, a request that will set the tone for us investing in what matters, what benefits others, and what is eternal. Let us be undivided.