Who Is He Today?

What I'm about to share is somewhat personal because it includes a correction of myself by the Lord in the past. One made necessary because of my own attitudes and the lesson He made clear to me through it. In no way am I making a political reference or comment on worldly government. Instead I'm speaking about something much higher. Before I am a member of any political party, I am an American. But before that, I am a Christian subject to the much higher government of the omnipotent and Holy God - the authority, reign, declarations and judgments of whom no man ,woman or child will escape. My comments are regarding that government and the truth of duty to which we are all subject regardless of our color, sex or political inclinations ...

It's election time in the United States. A time that unfortunately generates many spurious assertions and accusations and can create strong discord over a variety of candidates and issues. Emotions are high among many as the character, past performance and personal agendas of each of the candidates are weighed and compared. Projections of the possible actions and the livability under each are heavily debated and considered. This is particularly true of our presidential candidates. There's one particular part of the presidential election conversation that provides concern for many ... one that provokes a certain sadness and guilt in my own heart as a Christian. It lives in the background of political conversation right now, but I know in my heart that the primary responsibility doesn't belong to any political party - it belongs to those who follow the words and heart of Christ. The subject that has continually asserted itself into my own thoughts over the years without the occurrence of elections. It's one of the many issues worthy of concern on the political table right now: Which candidate will care for the homeless, the poor, the sick and the elderly over the next four years if elected? But it doesn't belong there. In some respects, that question stated differently might be: who would better do our job for us?

I can truthfully say that I grew up with a servant's heart. One made tender to the plight of the underdogs in this life. So over the years of my life so far, I've made some sacrifices that I felt compelled to make along the way in order to bless people who were struggling or people that the Lord impressed me to help for one reason or another. They were efforts intended to bless the less fortunate, family, friends and even complete strangers because I felt in my heart that the Lord would honor this and be pleased - that these efforts were in keeping with what I understood of Christ's heart. These investments have always been fulfilling in ways that are indescribable. You might think that these things could help make me feel better about my performance in my own walk, but I'm always left knowing in my heart that I could have done more and that there's so much more to do as the Lord makes it possible. I also know that as I take Jesus' words in a particular passage of scripture literally, I run the risk of disrespecting Him mightily every day if I don't treat each person I encounter the same way that I would respond to Him personally.

There's a particular passage that provokes me and gives me cause to check myself. And despite my experience in my walk with Him and the efforts I have been blessed to make by His grace I'm always challenged by thoughts regarding this passage that keeps me searching the eyes of people around me. It keeps me wondering where I will encounter Jesus next ...

Matthew 25: 31-46

31"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. 32All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. 34Then the King will say to those on the right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. 36I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'37"Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? 39When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' 40And the King will tell them, 'I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'41"Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the Devil and his demons! 42For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me anything to drink. 43I was a stranger, and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me no clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'44"Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?' 45And he will answer, 'I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.' 46And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."

Here's the thought that visits my conscience on a regular basis these days: If we were to be judged solely by how we literally and lovingly served the Lord face to face wherever we found Him - would we succeed? Or would we be found failing miserably? Remember Jesus' words: "I assure you, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." So my concern is - where is He now? Is he behind the eyes of the man on the corner who's been forced to sacrifice any pride he had left to hold that sign pleading for a hand out? Is He behind the sad and care worn eyes of the woman who's dressed oddly because she can only afford the cast-offs of those more fortunate? Who is Jesus in need today? Is He that lonely child watching the others from a distance, the one who doesn't fit in? Or maybe He's represented by that constantly needy brother or sister who's struggling spiritually - the one who inspires a twinge of guilt in your heart at the same time that you see them coming because your first thought is that you "really don't want to deal with this".

Matthew 5:40 -47

40 "If you are ordered to court and your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. 41If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. 42Give to those who ask, and don't turn away from those who want to borrow.43"You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. 44But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! 45In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. 46If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. 47If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that."

This is a spirit and attitude that the world really doesn't understand the value of. It's a spirit that recognizes the value of generosity and giving in a worldly atmosphere of selfishness and faithlessness. It's our Lord's heart toward us and it's of His spirit that lives within us. The examples of the world's selfishness should be obvious, but the examples of selfishness and faithlessness can also exist even among Christians. I know because I've made my own errors. I've heard it said that 80% of the population of America professes to be a Christian of one kind or another. If this is true, then the needs of the poor and hurting should be being met without anyone else's prodding - because in Christ, by His Spirit and His teaching this is OUR job and OUR responsibility. This is how we minister Christ's heart to a world that's so desperately in need of the Savior. It's how we show them that we don't belong to the world's selfish spirit and mentality. It's also how we demonstrate that we're not of this world - that we belong to Christ and how we allow His spirit to be revealed to them through our obedience and our reflection of His Spirit of compassion and selflessness. Why would we rely on the government or someone else to do what Christ has charged us with? Is the personal cost of truly serving Christ obediently in this way too high in this economy? Did Christ deem His sacrifice too high of a price to pay for your eternal life?

I mentioned faithlessness earlier and not without reason. There are some who might ask "If I give away what I have, then how will I satisfy my own needs?" The answer: as a Christian you won't - but then you never have. There's nothing that we have ever had that He didn't either allow or make provision for in one way or another. And if He gave it to you in the first place, is He not able to give it to you again?

It took some serious divine intervention in my own life for me to come to the realization that the proud self-reliant spirit that I held for so many years working hard to provide for our family with seven children was not only misguided, but was a slap to the face of the one who made possible anything I ever claimed to have achieved by physical strength, endurance, intelligence, wisdom etc.

I did not create myself, the earth or any of the things that I have ever claimed to be mine. There's not a single thing in this earth that our God didn't create or create the raw materials for - including me. So whatever I have claimed that I have accomplished, acquired or received ... it all still belongs to Him. He gave me the life, body, physical strength, endurance, intelligence, wisdom etc. to do any of the things that I once took credit for. The truth is that we are all wholly, totally and completely reliant and dependent on the generosity and provision of God regardless of what we may say or think. So with that in mind, I wonder how many stop to consider how our generous God feels about those who hoard what belongs to Him and act as a barrier to the blessings He intended to be passed on to someone else. I think I can give you a clue.

I'm not new to walking the Christian journey. I began my journey with the Lord about 43 years ago. By His revelation, looking back through the years now it's not hard for me to see His hand on my life from that moment on even when my walk lacked clear depth of understanding or discipline. But through more than 4 decades of my life, I attempted to walk with a certain dedication to principals and core Christian beliefs ... most of the time. But there were periods of vacillation - up and down moments in my commitment to truly live out what I believed. Thankfully, during these periods I never escaped the notice or wore out the patience of my Lord God. But if I had been allowed to follow the inclinations and will of my flesh during those times I assure you that without question I could be eternally lost.

It's only been through the Lord's corrections - the trips to life's woodshed for a well deserved attitude adjustment and the lessons in this life that the Lord has shown this man that have revealed that self reliance and the self made man are nothing more than an illusion and an insolent fantasy. Of all the years of my life so far, the last few have been the richest and I credit the change to the fact that the Lord tirelessly persevered to get my attention. I made it so difficult for Him to get my attention once and for all, that in my mind I left Him no alternative but to hold me down and sit on me to get me to listen. I once told a very dear friend in a similar situation as He turned to me at a moment of crisis "You have the Lord's attention right now. It's your turn in the spotlight - and it's all about surrender ... yours. You'll determine how hard or how easy this is going to be. You have to understand that He loves you dearly, enough that He's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that He doesn't lose you. So He's trying to get your attention and bring you to a point of surrender. You can choose to surrender now ... or you can fight it. But in the end ... how much you have to suffer depends on how far He has to bring you down to make you surrender. It's up to you ... but in the end you will give in to Him." I could only say these things to him because the Lord gave me the wisdom to recognize what He was doing in this brothers life ... and because the experience during my own struggle at the same point in my own life cost me so much. Although the pain of the spanking that my lack of discipline required was extremely painful at the time, my gratitude for His efforts to bring me to another level of discipline and obedience in my walk with Him will last as long as the life that He died to give me...

Before I go on, let me say without any hesitation that any young couple considering a large family needs to fully and honestly consider the implications that the seemingly exponential responsibilities will present. My wife and I have been married for almost 34 years and have been blessed with the care of seven lives that our God created and that ultimately belong to Him, along with many precious grand children. But I can tell you that if you don't understand your total dependence on God's provision and grace, you're going to have a very difficult road ahead of you ... and yes, I'm speaking from experience.

From the beginning of my walk with our Lord I've always known and accepted that if the Bible was true (and I've always known that it is), then the things that I had read in it, and heard from its many pages had to be true and possible also. The question was then and continues to be at times "what do I have to do to make them happen in my life?" I say that it continues to be because at every moment in my walk the Lord continues to present new levels of faith, dedication, and maturity to achieve through His Word that present continuing challenges and opportunities to grow. The key to realizing these new levels of spiritual growth always revolve around our active response to His Word. The Living Word continually presents life keys that the Lord gives the ability to understand through revelation by His Holy Spirit when He determines we're ready for the next step. Our dedication and obedience to follow the Lord's wisdom and direction are the key that opens the door. A lack of discipline and obedience on our part ties His hands and prevents Him from being allowed by His own character and what He's already declared from blessing us in the ways that His loving heart desperately desires to.

Although in the earlier years of my walk my heart was sincere in my love for God, I lacked the discipline to walk steadily and firmly on a consistent basis. Enough so that later on if it weren't for the fact that God in His mercy knowingly sent this formerly yo yo Christian a very strong lady gifted in endurance as a wife, our life together would have no doubt ended in disaster. Periodically I would allow myself to drift into the areas that as a Christian I didn't belong until I would become overcome by guilt and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. I would then go on a frantic mission to correct course ... until the next time I drifted off.

As we struggled to raise our large family, the Lord blessed those times that I made use of the opportunities He presented to bless others. He had gifted me in the use of my hands and mind obviously knowing the challenges that the course of our lives would bring. But over time, I began to take pride in those hands and the mind that the Lord gave me and I developed an eye for what they could bring by their use. As Christians, we're meant to be vessels through which the Lord provides blessings to others. When we're obedient to be the vessels we were intended to be, our own blessings multiply by His grace in response to our obedience (This is something He's even challenged us to test Him on). But there came a time when by my attitude and by eyes tempted by the glittering entrapments of the world ... that I corked the vessel in a quest to accumulate. Accumulation is the promise of America right? - the American way? Make no mistake, that's a worldly perspective - not a Godly one! But it's the mistaken and broken perspective that over time a life of struggle and hardship eventually began to call me to ... and in one of the biggest errors of my life ... it became one that I began to listen to...

Before the moment of severe correction motivated by the endlessly deep pure love and affection of my God, ... before the ultimate surrender event that my own attitude and actions came to require, the blessings did indeed begin to accumulate behind the cork. We began to accumulate shiny but eternally useless things. And the more we accumulated, the more that our lust for even more of them grew. Our hunger for them grew beyond the pace of the blessings so we began to finance debt in order to bring them even faster ...

In a worldly perspective, thirty years of construction and construction management had begun to pay off. I was now running my own business and it was growing and as productive and fulfilling as I had hoped that it would be. My pride in my efforts and ability were continuing to grow and I began to feel unstoppable. We had finally arrived! Everything that we had watched others accumulate and enjoy over the years was now coming into view on our own horizon. I had earned a reputation for integrity, endurance and hard work among clients and the crews that I had run over the years. I was respectfully called "the machine" and "the energizer bunny" among other titles. I could outwork just about anybody. I had put younger men to shame on a regular basis with an incredibly strong work ethic and an uncanny endurance that was built up over decades of hard physical work. I had had the respect of the crews and the people I worked with for for many years ... and having drifted once again I was drawing it all in and enjoying it all.

In a spiritual perspective, what I had done was to let my eyes and my goals fall to worldly pursuits and I was personally taking credit for everything that was in reality a God given blessing on my life. I was also accumulating blessings that were meant to be passed on to other people and I was taking credit that didn't belong to me. I was now extended financially to the level of the blessings that were coming in ... and then ... the blessings suddenly dried up.

... There comes a point known only to our God, when He will determine that for our own sake as well as His own because of His love for us, that He will correct us. Proverbs 3:12 "For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights." It might be His preference that we instead simply respond to the sound of His voice warning us against whatever we might be doing. But if we fail to respond, He will act in His mercy to save eternally the children that He cherishes. The history of the Children of Israel is a prime scriptural example of His interventions.

In a worldly perspective, I could blame it on the sharp economic decline. But in spiritual truth I know that God is not subject to economies, markets, disasters or anything known to man and that everything pertaining to my life is governed by my God. I know that if our God chooses to bless someone, no one and no thing can stop Him. Because I believe everything my God has spoken, I don't accept the worldly perspective. If I did, it could be held up as proof that I don't believe my God. The divine and marvelous interventions of my God in my life at many intervals previously left me with no question that He was directly involved in my travels. So when the bottom fell out I had no reason to wonder why. I knew I was in trouble. I instantly knew why and I fell to pleading with Him sincerely - just like a child who's receiving punishment might cry out for mercy. But I didn't surrender to His correction, not completely. I still had time to save the business and straighten it all out. There was still time to save all of the things we'd come to cherish.

So I put all of my expertise into managing my business affairs even more strictly and began working seven days a week from sunup to sundown. I poured everything I had into making it go. It had worked before. Every time I was faced with a hardship before, I mustered even more determination, sucked it up and overcame the odds. But with God's favor and blessing gone, everything I did, every move I made and every extra molecule of effort I put out ... worked against me. It was defying my understanding. The business was failing no matter what I did. Now, we were starting to lose all of those precious things we had accumulated. So I cried out louder to my God and with much more sincerity. I began to read the Word again and even started attending fellowship with other believers again. But I didn't surrender to His correction even now, not completely. I still had my legendary physical abilities and skills. If we were going to lose some possessions, I could at still least save the business.

My stubborn refusal to accept my punishment would now cost me something in a way that finally got my attention. This new example of the truth of my condition before Him would humble me in a way that was so stark and so real that there was no way around my complete surrender in order to save the very life that He gave me. And in His mercy to me, in order to save eternally the life that He so desired to share with me, ... He broke me ... because I gave Him no other choice.

It happened one day completely out of the blue without any warning of any kind. I had managed to secure a lucrative subcontract to build an indoor horse arena with other barns and out buildings. My contract was with a much larger general contractor. Both of the owners of this construction firm were architects who liked my high work standard and strong integrity and with whom I'd done business before. They were well known to me and they were contractual sticklers which was fine. I knew where I stood with them and their strict business legal sense actually provided me with a certain feeling of security. I had worked with my crew on this project for a couple of weeks and everything seemed to be going according to plan. This job would set us straight financially enough to make saving at least the business a real possibility and seemed like it could be an answer from the Lord to my pleas for His mercy and intervention. Indeed, it was His intervention and it was going according to plan ... but not mine ... His!

One of the owners of the general contractor I was working for showed up at the job site late in the morning one day. I had given out instructions with careful direction to observe the details necessary to accomplish our goal for the day. So I walked over toward this gentleman who also happened I discovered to be a brother in Christ. As I stood talking to him, a strange weakness began to come over me. I struggled to continue our conversation, but in just a few seconds my body collapsed completely and I found myself on the ground unable to move or gain control over any part of the left side of my body. I struggled to speak, but I could barely make my mouth work to get out anything discern-able. I remember hearing this brother praying over me as he dialed 911 and waited for an answer.

After several minutes that seemed like days, I could barely hear the ambulance at a distance coming from the freeway. I struggled to focus and stay conscious but everything was growing dim. I was Horror stricken. I was only 48 years old and in excellent strong health as far as I knew. "Lord, I have a wife and seven kids - some of them now with kids of their own. They need me. What about them? Is this it? Is this how it ends? Is this the price of my disobedience and rebellion?"

Over the next hours and days that followed my merciful and loving God showed me such undeserved favor. He slowly restored my body to a full recovery from a stroke caused by three separate blood clots that had lodged in my brain simultaneously. While I was still lying in the hospital bed connected to a myriad of wires and tubing, my contractor brother in Christ came to see me ... and reveal yet another blow. These usually very careful business men had lost the job. They had never secured a written contract and someone else came along and offered to the client that they would finish the job for less money. I remember asking more than once ... "God, why this too? On top of everything else, why this too? It's more than my heart can take ..." But there was no answer. He didn't have too. We both already knew that I understood why. "Lord, I'm done. I give up. I'm completely at your mercy - I surrender."

Two little words ... spoken with sincerity and true conviction to the omnipotent God, that from the moment He created me has always had the power force me to cry out at any time He wanted. But the lessons to be learned from His timing of this intervention to a man that He loved enough to strongly correct have left a personally irrefutable impression of what's real and has cured my drifting commitment once and for all ... He's got my attention forever. What I was blessed to learn about His love, mercy and power in the face of my selfishness, disobedience and stubbornness will never be forgotten. The reality of the truth of everything He's spoken has come home.

So, now when I read Christ's words in Matthew 25, I'm struck by their reality and I carry the knowledge that I not only could, but have offended Him. I realize by the preponderance of His teaching, that if we as a nation that professes to be made up of 80% Christians were to live by His Word, the poor, the sick and the elderly would not be a political election concern. They would be provided for as required by the greatest government of our God.

We lost the the business, the shiny new vehicles, the motor home, the house we lived in for nearly 30 years, etc ... and I don't think I could be more fulfilled or happier than I am right now living in the reality of my God's favor and blessing once again. Receiving His mercy and forgiveness doesn't always mean that we'll escape the price of our failures. But repentant hearts seeking His forgiveness will never walk those rough roads alone.

We don't find ourselves with the opportunity to bless others financially in the way that we would have been able to before, but He still makes opportunity. Serving Christ by serving His brothers and sisters isn't always about monetary things. It's often about lovingly supporting them with time and heart. It's about making investments in Christ's family wherever you find opportunity to lighten their load when you can. It could be something as simple as an occasional meal for someone or even a family in need or sickness. It could be caring for an elderly neighbors yard or performing maintenance on their home that they're no longer able to do. It could be anything Christ puts on your heart and is without limit. It might indeed cost you, but what would you deny Christ? At every interval, understand that as you look on the object of your loving investment - you're facing and investing in Christ by His own declaration. So whatever you do, do it as you would do it for Him personally, because you are.

If we Christians were truly and wholly obedient to the Word of our Lord, what impact do you think that would have on the world? Recognizing that these things are emanating from the heart of our God, how many do you think would be drawn to Him by our simply acting out the words and examples of our God's heart to each of us personally?

I find myself not only wanting, but desperately needing to keep my life in the shadow of His favor ... and I love it! I love Him and I thank Him so much for His patient investments in me ... including His correction. I find myself watching carefully these days to see where Jesus in need will show up next - not wanting to ever disappoint Him again.