Shallow Expectations
Psalm 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. 10 The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing. 11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is the man who desires life, And loves many days, that he may see good?
God woke me up this morning in the middle of a dream. The last phrase I remember hearing was this:
"Most people have a very shallow experience of life, because they don't know that more is available."
It is kind of like going to the best restaurant in town, and the waiter handing you the kid's menu: hot dog, mac n cheese, chicken fingers...but you had heard this place was so good. Every once in awhile you get a whiff from the kitchen, and you know there is some good stuff back there...and they have a chef you have heard about! there must be more than hot dogs! If you don't know how, or what, you can order, simply knowing there is more is just really frustrating!
The Bible, and the amazing stories of regular people in it, is God's advertisement that more is available to a life lived in the fear of Him above all other fears. "Fearing" God in the simplest of terms means fearing His opinion of your life more than anyone else's. Fearing missing out on what He says your life should be about, and fearing giving in to what He says your life should not be about.
When I read the Bible, I read about regular people experiencing unbelievable things. There are hundreds of these stories in the Bible. These men and women all had one thing in common, they stood out from all of history because of an incredible history with the Lord that started with a very quiet decision to go after a deeper experience of life. They caught a glimpse of what was available, and weren't satisfied with hot dogs and mac and cheese. Once they saw who was manning the kitchen, nothing was impossible, the sky was the limit for what might be on the menu.
David is one of the preeminent examples of fearing God. David spent years in the back 40 with the sheep honing his ability to see God's hand in his loneliness, the unfair treatment he got from his family, as well as the occasional bear or wolf attack. Even though he was the most oppressed member of his family (his dad didn't even consider him as equal to his brothers when Samuel came looking for the next king) he wasn't trying to figure out how to get ahead in life, or out of the poverty of his situation. David made God's opinion the only one that mattered and went after an experience of God as first priority. Because David chose God to have first priority in his life, God took David to the heights of experience in life. By the time he was running at Goliath with a slingshot, he already had a personal history of victory with God that no giant could touch.
In Psalm 34, I see what God was telling me in my dream last night, that what I see as available in life, whether shallow or deep, is entirely related to fear...positively or negatively. Jesus talked about this same thing when talking about seeking God's kingdom above all other things:
Matthew 6: 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The vast majority of people throughout history have not understood Jesus' advice: don't fear what everyone else fears, fear God. The fear of God actually brings life. All other fear steals life. Worldly fear, the fear of missing out on what everyone else thinks is important or responsible) distracts me with things that are a given, and keeps me from going deeper in my experience of life. If I could get my mind and heart to a place where I really trust God for food, clothing, and shelter, then I could free my heart and mind to go deeper in life...in my experience of what I was really made for: God with man...Immanuel.
God never intended for our experience of Him to be boring. If I will believe Him, if I will fear missing out on what He says is possible, I can be completely consumed by this life-bringing Fire. God calls Himself a Consuming Fire. We want to make Him a cross, or a statue, or a higher way of life...a philosophy. He says He is a Fire. It is never boring near a fire. A fire is constantly taking more, changing the environment around it, releasing heat and light, moving and dancing and jumping and cracking. Does this describe my experience of God? If not, then I am not experiencing Him as He says He is. Period.
God is unwilling to be relegated to a position in life behind my work, or family, or vacation plans, or retirement plans...He has always wanted first place, but because of love, He doesn't force the choice....most of us want to put God first, but a fear of missing what the broken world offers keeps me captive. If I am not careful, I will let a world I don't even agree with set my expectations and form my experience.
The fear of what might happen if I stop chasing after more of what everyone else is chasing, even things tradition says are "responsible," is designed to keep me from getting all the flavor from life that comes with God being the first thing I think about in the morning, my obsession all day, and the last one I think of as my eyes close for the night.
The Bible is literally the story of hundreds of people throughout history who chose to fear God over what everyone else was afraid of. Fearing God brings remarkable and deep life. It sets the priorities of life in the right order.
Part of fearing God should mean fearing facing Him someday and having to admit I wasted the vast majority of the time worrying about the exact thing Jesus said not to worry about, and let that distract me from seeking Him first and contending for what I know is available in life: a supernatural relationship with him, seeing heaven open, healing the sick, multiplying resources, raising the dead, knowing God's words for people...and much, much more. These are all described as being experienced by weak and broken people, just like me, in the Bible. Jesus said himself that the Bible is the menu of the MINIMUM experience that is available in the life of someone who has chosen to fear the Lord...to take Him at His word. Jesus said "you will do greater things than me." The world would have a pretty good accusation against Jesus right now simply because in the last 2,000 years very few have come close to doing greater things than He did! But how many have actually seriously contended for that experience since the time of Peter, James, John, and Paul?!
I want to see with my eyes Jesus' words be true, not just for the richness of my own experience, but for the sake of His name. He attached that amazing promise to a bunch of people, His body, that also had free will! What a risk He took on saying that about me! I want to exercise my free will to agree with Jesus! Yes, Jesus...I say yes to the greater things you are offering! I am willing to spend my time, my money, and my reputation contending for it. Your reputation is worth it!
James said that we don't experience the depth of life, the greater things Jesus promised, because of the war going on of what to fear in our own hearts. Do we give in to fearing missing out on what the rest of the world chases, or do we chase after the Lord, fearing missing out on what He is offering?! When we realize God is offering a much deeper and better menu of life, do we actually spend our time and our resources...even risking our reputation...seriously contending (asking) for it?!:
James 4:1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
This distraction with what the world claims is responsible, wise, pleasurable, fun, enjoyable, cute, and fashionable is designed to keep me from the fullness of chasing a life worth being included in the Bible.
If I want to live a life worth writing about, Jesus and James said it is as simple as pointing my desire to, and have my mouth agree by actually asking God for, what the Bible describes as possible for a person in a relationship with Jesus. The Book of Acts is the appetizer menu of a full life driven by the fear of Lord.
God woke me up this morning in the middle of a dream. The last phrase I remember hearing was this:
"Most people have a very shallow experience of life, because they don't know that more is available."
It is kind of like going to the best restaurant in town, and the waiter handing you the kid's menu: hot dog, mac n cheese, chicken fingers...but you had heard this place was so good. Every once in awhile you get a whiff from the kitchen, and you know there is some good stuff back there...and they have a chef you have heard about! there must be more than hot dogs! If you don't know how, or what, you can order, simply knowing there is more is just really frustrating!
The Bible, and the amazing stories of regular people in it, is God's advertisement that more is available to a life lived in the fear of Him above all other fears. "Fearing" God in the simplest of terms means fearing His opinion of your life more than anyone else's. Fearing missing out on what He says your life should be about, and fearing giving in to what He says your life should not be about.
When I read the Bible, I read about regular people experiencing unbelievable things. There are hundreds of these stories in the Bible. These men and women all had one thing in common, they stood out from all of history because of an incredible history with the Lord that started with a very quiet decision to go after a deeper experience of life. They caught a glimpse of what was available, and weren't satisfied with hot dogs and mac and cheese. Once they saw who was manning the kitchen, nothing was impossible, the sky was the limit for what might be on the menu.
David is one of the preeminent examples of fearing God. David spent years in the back 40 with the sheep honing his ability to see God's hand in his loneliness, the unfair treatment he got from his family, as well as the occasional bear or wolf attack. Even though he was the most oppressed member of his family (his dad didn't even consider him as equal to his brothers when Samuel came looking for the next king) he wasn't trying to figure out how to get ahead in life, or out of the poverty of his situation. David made God's opinion the only one that mattered and went after an experience of God as first priority. Because David chose God to have first priority in his life, God took David to the heights of experience in life. By the time he was running at Goliath with a slingshot, he already had a personal history of victory with God that no giant could touch.
In Psalm 34, I see what God was telling me in my dream last night, that what I see as available in life, whether shallow or deep, is entirely related to fear...positively or negatively. Jesus talked about this same thing when talking about seeking God's kingdom above all other things:
Matthew 6: 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
The vast majority of people throughout history have not understood Jesus' advice: don't fear what everyone else fears, fear God. The fear of God actually brings life. All other fear steals life. Worldly fear, the fear of missing out on what everyone else thinks is important or responsible) distracts me with things that are a given, and keeps me from going deeper in my experience of life. If I could get my mind and heart to a place where I really trust God for food, clothing, and shelter, then I could free my heart and mind to go deeper in life...in my experience of what I was really made for: God with man...Immanuel.
God never intended for our experience of Him to be boring. If I will believe Him, if I will fear missing out on what He says is possible, I can be completely consumed by this life-bringing Fire. God calls Himself a Consuming Fire. We want to make Him a cross, or a statue, or a higher way of life...a philosophy. He says He is a Fire. It is never boring near a fire. A fire is constantly taking more, changing the environment around it, releasing heat and light, moving and dancing and jumping and cracking. Does this describe my experience of God? If not, then I am not experiencing Him as He says He is. Period.
God is unwilling to be relegated to a position in life behind my work, or family, or vacation plans, or retirement plans...He has always wanted first place, but because of love, He doesn't force the choice....most of us want to put God first, but a fear of missing what the broken world offers keeps me captive. If I am not careful, I will let a world I don't even agree with set my expectations and form my experience.
The fear of what might happen if I stop chasing after more of what everyone else is chasing, even things tradition says are "responsible," is designed to keep me from getting all the flavor from life that comes with God being the first thing I think about in the morning, my obsession all day, and the last one I think of as my eyes close for the night.
The Bible is literally the story of hundreds of people throughout history who chose to fear God over what everyone else was afraid of. Fearing God brings remarkable and deep life. It sets the priorities of life in the right order.
Part of fearing God should mean fearing facing Him someday and having to admit I wasted the vast majority of the time worrying about the exact thing Jesus said not to worry about, and let that distract me from seeking Him first and contending for what I know is available in life: a supernatural relationship with him, seeing heaven open, healing the sick, multiplying resources, raising the dead, knowing God's words for people...and much, much more. These are all described as being experienced by weak and broken people, just like me, in the Bible. Jesus said himself that the Bible is the menu of the MINIMUM experience that is available in the life of someone who has chosen to fear the Lord...to take Him at His word. Jesus said "you will do greater things than me." The world would have a pretty good accusation against Jesus right now simply because in the last 2,000 years very few have come close to doing greater things than He did! But how many have actually seriously contended for that experience since the time of Peter, James, John, and Paul?!
I want to see with my eyes Jesus' words be true, not just for the richness of my own experience, but for the sake of His name. He attached that amazing promise to a bunch of people, His body, that also had free will! What a risk He took on saying that about me! I want to exercise my free will to agree with Jesus! Yes, Jesus...I say yes to the greater things you are offering! I am willing to spend my time, my money, and my reputation contending for it. Your reputation is worth it!
James said that we don't experience the depth of life, the greater things Jesus promised, because of the war going on of what to fear in our own hearts. Do we give in to fearing missing out on what the rest of the world chases, or do we chase after the Lord, fearing missing out on what He is offering?! When we realize God is offering a much deeper and better menu of life, do we actually spend our time and our resources...even risking our reputation...seriously contending (asking) for it?!:
James 4:1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don't they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can't get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don't have what you want because you don't ask God for it. 3 And even when you ask, you don't get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
4 You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
This distraction with what the world claims is responsible, wise, pleasurable, fun, enjoyable, cute, and fashionable is designed to keep me from the fullness of chasing a life worth being included in the Bible.
If I want to live a life worth writing about, Jesus and James said it is as simple as pointing my desire to, and have my mouth agree by actually asking God for, what the Bible describes as possible for a person in a relationship with Jesus. The Book of Acts is the appetizer menu of a full life driven by the fear of Lord.
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