"He Made Virture Accessible"

For the past few weeks I've been reading Les Miserables (a fantastic book, by the way. If you're not up for the entire 1,500 page tome at least see the Liam Neeson adaptation). One of the parts that's stuck in my mind is from the beginning of the novel where Victor Hugo is describing the Bishop of Digne. He's talking about the Bishop's relationship with his people, his generosity and how he inspires others around him to good works. Hugo writes that the Bishop made "virtue accessible" to those around him.

That's exactly what Christ wants to do for us. A while back I wrote about holiness and how mistaken views of holiness lead us to lean either towards legalism or moral relativism. I think that we're in danger of both of those tendencies when we miss what God is doing here. When we see holiness as something far away and inaccessible we'll either tend towards legalism, believing holiness is attainable only for those with an extreme sense of discipline, or towards relativism, beliving holiness is so far away that it would be impossible to ever acheive and a waste of time to try.

I believe this is one of the reasons Jesus didn't discriminate over who He spent time with. He hung out with the rich and the poor. He gave some of His most profound teaching to a socially lofty man in Nicodemus and He chose lowly fishermen to be among His closest friends. He made His virtue accessible to anyone and everyone who was willing to receive it and called all of them into a richer and deeper life than they had ever imagined.

Jesus was able to do this because He saw who these people truly are. Beneath all of their sin and pain and woundedness He saw their true selves, their hearts, the people God had in mind before the foundations of the world. He saw it and He called it out. Virtue to Jesus was not something distant and inaccessible. It was and is Him calling His people back to Eden. It's His forgiveness and grace for sin. It's His healing and restoration for our wounds. It's His life that He always meant for us to live.

When we strip away the idea of God being an annoyed father who cannot stand to look at us until we shape up (legalism) or an easy going, distracted father who doesn't care what we do one way or the other (relativism) it's amazing what He can begin to accomplish in our lives. What takes those mistaken views of God is loving, available, passionate Father who is intimately involved in our restoring our lives to what they were always meant to be. God has made virture accessible to us. Now He is waiting for us to make ourselves accessible to Him.

What's Your Glory?

A while back I posted about purpose and what it looks like to begin to find God's plan for our lives. It's a subject that's stuck with me through the last couple months and one that God has continued to speak to me about. As I've been thinking, I'm beginning to wonder if we're not asking the wrong question. Whenever we begin to look at this topic we usually ask questions like what does God want me to do? What work has He prepared for me? What am I supposed to be doing with my time here on Earth? Those are all valid and worthwhile questions that God does want us to find answers to. But in order to find those answers, I believe we need to ask another question. A question that's at the heart of all our other questions about purpose. We need to ask God what our glory is.

We tend to shy away from this side of purpose because it sounds a bit self centered. Most of us when we think of purpose rightfully believe that that purpose is going to be first and foremost about serving God and others. That's true. We are part of a whole, the body of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven. Christianity is not a giant ego trip, it's an invitation to step into something much larger than yourself. So yes, it's absolutely true that our purpose, the work God has for us, is going to be for the benefit of others and His kingdom.

But it's not the whole truth.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know by now that I passionately believe God cares about our hearts and that the heart is central to the Gospel. He cares who He made us to be and restoring us to that person. He cares about healing our hearts and bringing us life. God is passionate about us as individuals. With that conviction in mind, I also believe that God made us individually in such a way so that we will come alive, step into our glory, by doing the work He has for us. In other words, when we talk about the work God has for we're actually talking about the very things that make us come alive.

As I'm beginning to discover more about my glory and purpose one thing I have tried to do is pay attention to what my heart is doing in any given situation. What sort of situations, stories, conversations, etc. make my heart feel alive? Then I go deeper into those things and start to explore what specifically about that situation, story or conversation made my heart alive. What is God saying to me through my heart's reaction?

One example for me has been playing the piano. Ever since I started playing a year ago I've known that I love it and that it's a huge source of joy in my life. But lately I've been asking myself what about it makes me love it. As I've paid attention I've realized that there's something in my heart that loves to play something beautiful and complex and especially to share it with others. My heart had the same reaction when Annie told me she wanted me to put together my puzzle of Monet's Starry Night so I could hang it in the bedroom. I was being invited to create something complex, beautiful and then to share it with my wife. It's not my main purpose or glory but it's certainly a part of it that God is inviting me to live out.

What makes you come alive? How does God want you to live it out in the work He has for? Those two questions are the key to finding your glory and ultimately your purpose. Invite God to show you your glory, to make you come alive. He will and as He does you'll begin to find your purpose and your place in the larger story.

New On My Office Walls

It turns out that gluing and mounting a gigantic puzzle isn't nearly as tough as you'd think it would be. Up until a week ago I'd never glued any puzzle, gigantic or otherwise, so before I risked ruining my 8,000 piece School of Athens I decided to try gluing and mounting a smaller one.

I settled on a 1,500 piece map of Middle Earth that I'd done once before. I chose it because it's both a pretty cool picture that would look good on my wall if the gluing worked out and because I didn't care that much about ruining it. For some reason I don't really like doing puzzles of maps so while I wasn't going to be too broken up if the project went down in flames. It took a couple days to put together and then came the moment of truth. I opened up the first jar of puzzle glue and started to spread it on. It was so thick and white that I could barely see the picture after I was done. I was thinking, "This should dry clear, right?"

Thankfully it did. I did another coat, used craft glue to put it on foam board, trimmed the edges of the foam board, and the result was fantastic!


Next up was the big one. I had to order more glue since I'd only bought two bottles, the map took over one bottle, and the other puzzle is five times bigger. The glue I used this time I worked even better. It took only one coat for most of the puzzle and then a second around the edges. I mounted it on two 60x40 sheets of foam board, trimmed the edges and used a heck of a lot of 3M mounting tape to get it on the wall.

I don't think I really appreciated just how HUGE this thing was till I got it on the wall. It looks great in the office and I'm really happy I decided to glue it.




I did one more puzzle once all that was done. This one is 2,000 pieces. I'd done it once before and thought it would look good in my office. Unlike The School of Athens, it's by no means great artwork but it's still a fun picture.


My new sword also arrived in the mail this week. It's a replica of the William Wallace sword from Braveheart. It was being sold at Boot Camp and it has Wild at Heart inscribed on the blade. I mounted it using a magnetic sword mount which makes the sword look like it's floating on the wall. Very cool.


Next up I'm doing a 2,000 piece puzzle of Monet's Starry Night. Annie thought it would look good in our bedroom. Then, in a few months I'm hoping to start on this one. It's 14 feet by 5 feet and 24,000 pieces.

More Than Forgiveness

1 Then the angel showed me Jeshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord. The Accuser, Satan, was there at the angel’s right hand, making accusations against Jeshua. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, “I, the Lord, reject your accusations, Satan. Yes, the Lord, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebukes you. This man is like a burning stick that has been snatched from the fire.”

3 Jeshua’s clothing was filthy as he stood there before the angel. 4 So the angel said to the others standing there, “Take off his filthy clothes.” And turning to Jeshua he said, “See, I have taken away your sins, and now I am giving you these fine new clothes.”

5 Then I said, “They should also place a clean turban on his head.” So they put a clean priestly turban on his head and dressed him in new clothes while the angel of the Lord stood by.

Zachariah 3:1-5

One of the things I try and pray on a daily basis is to renew my commitment in Christ to put off my old, sinful nature. I do this both because it's a much needed reminder of where Christ has brought me from and because not a day goes by where some part of me doesn't return to that sinful nature.

Lately as I've been thinking about this I've realized that while it is helpful and needed to pray this daily, and while I do genuinely believe it, I have a hard time living it. As I've been talking to God about why that is, He's been reminding me that while forgiveness, stepping out of our sin and having our slate wiped clean are all wonderful and beautiful promises God has made to us they're not the whole story.

I love the imagery in the passage above. It's exactly what's going on in our lives. The enemy has done his best to take us out and he's got a list a mile long of reasons why God should reject us but instead God rejects him. The picture of a stick snatched from the fire is a beautiful image of Christ's redemption. Just when everything seems hopeless, He comes and rescues from our sin.

But I also love that it doesn't end there. There's a promise in the last two verses that God isn't about just rescuing us and then leaving us to fend for ourselves. What He's up to is restoration, healing, growth and adoption.

There's a beautiful picture of this in Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. Early on in the story, Fantine, a single mother, is forced to leave her infant daughter, Cosette, in the care of the Thenardiers. She is to pay them a monthly rate and in return they will care for Cosette as one of their own. Eight years later the Thenardiers have long since broken their part of the bargain. Instead of treating her like a daughter, they've made Cosette a slave and are constantly demanding more money each month. Fantine is unable to go to Cosette herself but Jean Valjean promises Fantine that he is going to rescue her daughter.

When Jean Valjean arrives at the Thenardier's inn, Cosette is, in between beatings, being forced to knit new stockings for the Thenardier's daughters, even though she is denied any stockings for herself, new or old, and goes the whole winter in bare feet. Jean Valjean buys the unfinished stockings from the Thenardiers and in doing so he buys the time Cosette would have spent knitting them. He tells her that she is to use that time to stop working and play, something she's never been allowed to do.

It's wonderful. He comes into her life and gives her a freedom from her slavery she had never imagined possible. But there's one problem. Cosette has never been allowed a single doll her entire life. She has nothing to play with. She has her freedom but something's missing.

Jean Valjean goes out of the inn and comes back with the nicest, most expensive doll in the village. Cosette has seen it before but always believed that only a princess would be able to own such a doll. In a few moments, Jean Valjean's love has transformed her from a slave to royalty. He goes on to take her far from the cruelty of the Thenardier's and adopts her as his own.

That is exactly what God promises to do for us.

The reason I struggle (and I suspect I'm not alone) with putting off my sinful nature is because I forget that that's not the end of God is up to in my life on any given day. The freedom from sin He offers is wonderful but we must realize that we need more. We must not be content with just forgiveness when what God is really offering, what He truly desires and longs for, is to make us sons and daughters. Put off your sinful nature and do it daily. But remember too to step into your new nature and the life God is offering.

Two Questions

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
John 10:10

As I've been going through the last few weeks of warfare and starting to live out everything God showed to me at boot camp, I've found myself returning again and again to John 10:10. If you were trying to sum up the entire story of the Bible in a single verse I don't think you could do much better than this one. Yes, there's much more to the Gospel and to the Christian life but when it comes right down to it, what is going behind all of that other stuff is Jesus trying to restore and the enemy trying to destroy us.

With that in mind, as I've been thinking about this verse I've found that God has been using it to ask me two questions: What is Christ doing to give me life to the full? How is the enemy trying to steal, kill and destroy it?

I've found this to be a fantastic way to reorient myself on Christ. It forces me to look at my thoughts, my actions, my desires and think about where they're coming from. It forces me to think about what the fruit of any thought or action is.

For example, I've been feeling worried about work the past couple days. In the past I would have brushed this off as normal human anxiety or maybe even God trying to force me to go find more work. Asking myself these two questions completely changed the way I looked at my situation. If I recognize that the enemy is constantly trying to steal, kill and destroy my life than attempting to paralyze me with fear seems like a pretty effective way to accomplish his goal. Add to that the fruit of my worry wasn't to help me find more work or do anything worthwhile but to make me feel miserable.

On the more positive side, when I am asking myself how God is trying to bring me a full life, it changes everything. It's so easy to simply blast through the day but when I recognize that one of God's goals for the day is to bring me life it changes how I approach everything. I slow down and take in what He has for me in the beauty of the day. I can trust Him more because I know that whatever He's up to, it includes bringing me a full life.

I've known the truth of John 10:10 for quite a while now but drawing these two questions out of it and asking myself them regularly has moved that knowledge into action. Give it a shot. You might be surprised how much God shows you through it.