When one of my girls was in high school, she knew I kept a jar of change in my office.  At that time I kept all my loose change until the end of the year. I then counted it and gave it away to missions. One day she decided to go into my office and take some money out for herself. I’m not sure if Jo saw her do it; caught her doing it and asked he what she was doing; or if she felt guilty and told her mom. Then she had to tell me. I had to discipline her (not physically) but to this day I can’t remember what it was. I disciplined her because I loved her. I didn’t discipline her so she could see what she needed to do to earn the right to be my child, but because she was my child. I wasn’t rejecting her, but I did want her to know I loved her. I would have been derelict of my responsibility as a father if I had said, “That’s okay” and let her go with no consequences for stealing.

God’s discipline is for that reason. He disciplines me, not to show me what I need to do to earn the right to be His child, but because I am His child. I am the object of His love not His wrath.

It truly did hurt me more than it hurt her. It hurt my heart. I can only imagine how God’s heart hurts when I, as His child, needs disciplined.

“Father, thank you for your loving discipline. Help me to always remember it is not to earn Your love, but because You love that I am disciplined. Thank you for being a loving Father.”

Fitting that this devotion on masquerading should be on the day when masquerading and costuming is at its height.

Be aware that the kingdom of self is a costume kingdom. It does a perversely brilliant job of masquerading as the kingdom of God.

Words are often thrown around in our speech, sometimes flippantly. Insincere. Fake. Hypocrite. That last one is the favorite of people who have a “bone” to pick with Christianity or a specific Christ-follower. A fake. A costumed person. Someone who hides behind a mask so their true identity is not known.  The hypocrite is a spiritual fake. Someone who pretends. Little does the hypocrite know God sees him/her as he/she really is. The enemy has convinced that person they are doing well hiding behind the mask.

The Scripture in Jeremiah 10 is comparing God to the idols made with hands. The real vs. the imposter. The real vs the fake. God has no equal. The reality is I’m that imposter and the things I try to replace God with are not real. They are cheap knock-offs to the throne.

“Father, It’s gut-check time. Am I playing a game or am I real? Am I wearing a costume masquerading as a follower or am I really a follower of Jesus? Have I substituted fakes on the throne of my heart in place of the real king? Time to strip away the mask and see the real me.”

Tripp starts it off with a hammer:

People make good friends and loved ones, but they make bad messiahs. Life is only ever found in Christ.

Then the sledge hammer: “I do tend to put people in the place of God and ask them to do for me what only He can do.” To further quote Tripp: “I look to people, who suffer from the same condition of sin, weakness, and failure as I do, as if they were the fourth member of the Trinity. I ask them to:

• give me identity
• to heal my hurts
• to cause me to be happy” (end of quote)

But they can’t. Never have. Never will. How can they? They have the same issue I have: SIN. No human being can be my personal Savior.

I’m struggling with that right now. Not me but Jo. Her attitude toward me. My two bicycle accidents have her almost “clinging” to me. Her words of “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you” don’t boost me. They devastate me. They discourage me. I want to be important to her, the most important person on this planet, but not THAT important! Sort of like the lyrics from Mr. Roboto (Styx): “I’m not your savior; I’m not your hero; forget what you know.” I’m not. I can’t be anyone’s all. That is a burden I don’t want to carry nor was I meant to carry it.

“Father, You are life. You are breath. I need You. Rid me of the desire to satisfy myself outside of you. To find meaning outside of you. To find life and salvation outside of you. You be my Savior! For good.”

It has been debated for ages. It has been pondered; dissected; discussed; speculated about; even written and decided upon. What is that? The ultimate question of course: WHY? For some reason, many of us think God owes us an answer. “I serve Him so therefore He should tell me.” But God is not obligated to answer my “why?” He doesn’t owe me anything.

The reality is that God in His complete knowledge knows all things with absolute wisdom and clarity. He doesn’t need my piddly “wisdom” to muck things up. What I start trying to answer, figure out, diagnose and conclude, all I do is muddy the waters. Yes, Paul wrote to the Corinthians in chapter 1 that my wisdom is inadequate. But you know your human nature. “I know better.” Paul says my wisdom is a stumbling block. It is foolishness.

Why God does things is not for me to know. His plans are just that-His plans. When I continually spend my time trying to figure things out, it is easy to lose sight of rest and peace that can be mine. Tell myself I don’t need to know because the One who does doesn’t need my help or input. He’s got this and since He is all-wise and all good, that should be reassuring enough for me.

“Father, my incessant desire to know ‘why’ needs to stop. It really doesn’t matter why. What really matters is you got this and YOU KNOW. So help me to trust You and Your wisdom and Your plan for me.”

Today is OVCF’s (the church I pastor) 14th Anniversary! We will also be dedicating the youth addition. it is fitting this devotion comes on a day like today.

It is easy to feel as though I am in this battle alone. Oh, I know I’m not. My head tells me that. But my heart is a different story. Each morning I wake up to a new day, a new set of challenges. Someone has said, “I can wake up and say, ‘Good morning, Lord!’ or I can wake up and say, ‘Good Lord, it’s morning!’ ” While I don’t use phrases like the latter, I do sometimes not always have a good perspective. That perspective is often formed by my time with and in the Bible.

I simply cannot take the Bible for granted. Part of the armor is “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” I am not left to my own resources. When my strength is depleted and I feel wiped out, the Bible is at my beck and call. The words contained in it give me life. They show me where my strength is. Page after page show me the way to defeat the enemy. It shows me the importance of and the “how to” on strengthening my faith…and of winning daily victories…battles…and ultimately, the war.

“Father, may your Word come alive in me. May I see it as a vital part of my life, not just an ‘add on.’ Your Word teaches me You are my life, my all. Help me not to give into fear but to draw strength from You and Your Word.”

Reading today’s devotion was like looking in a mirror. The reflection was ugly. I never saw it coming. I saw my approach to ministry as being bold. I was opinionated. Legalistic for sure…but believing I stood on the Bible. I believed peoples’ press about me. I moved from a country church when I’d had ups and downs for 5 years (to be expected but this was largely a result of my “problem”) to a city church where the pastor and I clashed over ministry ideas. He was of the social kind (psychology and Time magazine) and me of the Biblical (or so I assumed). Asked to leave there I moved to a very legalistic church where I saw what I didn’t like, a real ugly version of me. But it was in the mid ’80s when I had another pastor tell me I was arrogant and judgmental that I rationalized it all. “I’m not arrogant. I’m good at and sure of what I do.” WOW! Did I hear myself just say that? But it all came crashing down by 1987 when I was asked to leave another church. Twice now. When will I learn? There is more to my story but I’ll stop there because it illustrates what Tripp is writing about.

God is faithful and will do what is necessary to craft real faith in me.

I look back now and see all those missteps and misfires, mistakes, sin (especially arrogance), being fired, as God doing what is necessary as the Master Craftsman to grow a mature faith. News flash!! HE’S STILL WORKING!!

“Father, all the past has been a lesson. The ‘now’ is a lesson. The future is a lesson. It’s an effort to mold me into what you want me to be. Please continue to whittle me into the man you want-not a biblical scholar or know-it-all but a man of mature faith.”

What’s it like to take an honest inventory? Tripp shows me and at the same time includes me.

I wish I could say:

• All my actions are godly
• I always live with God’s Kingdom in view
• All my responses to people are motivated by love for God
• Awe of God was my principal motivation
• I love God’s glory more than my own
• Selfishness and greed are in the rearview mirror
• I have a heart of submission
• I always exhibit the fruit of the Spirit
• Materialism does not capture my heart

There are more (6). My response? “I wish…but I can’t.” I’m too wrapped up in my own little world. But as Tripp says, “All this means is I value justifying grace.”

So he lists a few things he’s thankful for:

• The perfect life of Christ
• He subjected Himself to the temptations of this world
• He took my stripes and carried my guilt and shame on the cross
• He took the Father’s rejection
• He burst out of the tomb
• His righteousness is attributed to my account
• He fulfilled the Law and satisfied the Father’s anger.

“Father, I wish…but I’m also thankful. Short of words thankful. So please accept my thanks, my gratitude, for Your acceptance.”

Sometimes it is good to be satisfied. Dissatisfaction with what God has given me; my lot in life; my spouse; my “earthly” goods; etc. can be dangerous. Covetousness is right around the corner.

But there is also a bad kind of satisfaction. As Tripp calls it: personal spiritual self-satisfaction. It is a satisfaction based on “arrived.” I’ve arrived. I’m settled in. Don’t challenge me. Don’t ask me to change. Don’t ask me to move. It’s a settledness within that is comfortable. Maybe I can say when I get this way, or a person gets this way, it makes me part of the “pat-myself-on-the-back” society.

On course that is one dangerous-very dangerous-spot to be in. There is no doubt I still need to grow in all areas of my spiritual walk but since I’m satisfied, I don’t see it or want to make the effort to change. “God, wake me up!”

“Father, you are not one to settle in. True, Jesus did all that was needed-as Hebrews says ‘once for all.’ No other sacrifice for sin needed to be made. But when it comes to my walk with You? One thought: constant need for change. Help me not to become personally spiritually self-satisfied. Continually move me; change me; rearrange me; mold me for my growth and Your use.”

I used to hear it a lot but not so much anymore. “I’m too bad. God couldn’t love me.” “My past is so checkered with bad decisions there is no way God could forgive me.” There are multiple variations of that view, but essentially that person is saying God could never accept them. I’m not sure where it came from, but the idea that we have to be perfect, or have to have our act cleaned up, or to be alright has invaded the whole “come to Jesus” thing.  Maybe it is the “airs” we put on?

God does meet us where we are. I totally agree with Tripp when he writes: “If God asked us to meet him where he is, we would all be damned.” That is an overwhelming, powerful reality. How in the world could that ever happen? Total holiness vs. pure sin. Unequaled perfection vs one big hot mess.

Peter? No. I’d say, “Bill.” I’d say “I don’t stand a chance.” I’d say, “I’ve got Peter beat.” 3 times? Ha. How about 300? 3000? 30,000? A picture of faithfulness I’m not. That’s why I need Jesus. Why I need the cross. Why I need salvation. Why I need Jesus meeting me where I am. Ain’t no way I could meet him and measure up. He does not wait for me to come to Him; he comes to me.

“Father, thank you for reaching down to me. Thank you for taking the much-needed steps to reach me and to come to me as I am. Thank you for looking beyond my ‘Peter-ness’ and seeing me, my need for hope and life and forgiveness. Thank you for coming to me.”

What a fantastically, amazingly encouraging devotion today!

I panic. God stays true to his sovereign plan. I wonder. God knows the end from the beginning. I pray. God answers with wisdom and grace.

NO PANIC!

• God is never anxious.
• God never wrings his hand.
• God never worries about what happens next.
• God is never surprised or caught up short.
• God is never overwhelmed.
• God never feels needy or unprepared.
• God never regrets that He didn’t do better.
• God never fails at a risk.
• God never makes promises He can’t keep.
• God never forgets what He said.
• God never contradicts Himself.
• God is never dismayed or distracted.

As Tripp writes: “His (God’s) plan marches on. Why? Because it is not based on my character, but on His. Redemption doesn’t rest on my resolve, but on His. Salvation doesn’t hang on my strength, but on His.”

There is nothing more to say. “Father, You are amazing! Amen.”