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Sometimes people have trouble believing that God loves them and wants them to be happy. Some people have never believed it and others used to believe it. I was reading Luke 5 the other day and encountered four men with these same struggles.
The first was Peter. He was having a bad day because he had had a bad night. Out all night on his boat
fishing, trying to make a living, provide for his family, and didn’t catch a single fish. Not even a minnow. He was cleaning his nets when along came Jesus. Peter had heard of this Jesus guy. Supposed to be some new phenom rabbi who went around preaching, teaching and supposedly healing people. Large crowds followed him wherever he went, and this day was no exception. They were jostling him, pushing babies at him to bless, and begging to be healed. Jesus needed some space. He saw Peter’s boat on the shore, and asked Peter if he would row him out away from shore. Peter sighed heavily, looked at his nets, and then at Jesus. He stood up, walked towards his boat, helped Jesus in, then got in himself and rowed out always. “At least I get a front row seat to the Jesus show” he thought to himself.
Peter was strangely moved by this itinerant preacher. He could see why people were taken with him. He had an engaging smile, told interesting stories, spoke with authority that Peter had never heard before. He was actually a bit disappointed when the good teacher was through. But then discovered that although Jesus was finished preaching, he wasn’t finished with Peter.
2. The second man Jesus encountered knew he was a sinner. His body was full of leprosy, a judgement from God for his sins, at least that’s what everyone had told him, although he had trouble thinking what sins he had committed that merited such punishment from God. He was upset at God and couldn’t believe that God loved him and wanted him to be happy. There was a time in his life when he thought That was true. When he was caressing his beautiful wife and playing with his children. Now that had all changed. He wasn’t even allowed to be close to his family since the leprosy invaded his body. Now he was an outcast, societies reject, who had to live alone, or with a few other lepers. Anytime he went near another person, or someone approached him, he had to warn them with cries of “Unclean. Unclean.” He couldn’t remember the last time he had touched someone, or that someone had touched him. Happiness was now a foreign idea to him. A loving God was none existent.
3. The paralyzed man could identity. He wondered how a loving God could see him in his condition and not do anything to help him. He too, thought about sin, and wondered if he had done something so bad that he had to endure punishment from a wrathful God. That was the majority opinion at the time, and while a few kind people would occasionally help him out with a shekel or two, he figured they were thinking that he brought this malady on himself one way or another. “At least I have my friends” he thought.
4. Levi didn’t know and didn’t much care if God loved him and wanted him to be happy. He believed that you have to make your own happiness, and for him, making happiness meant making money, and lots of it, even if it meant taking it out of your brothers pocket and putting it in your own. Levi was a hated tax collector, working in collusion with the Roman government who ruled Israel. With these two strikes against him, he was despised and rejected by his fellow citizens. Never invited to his neighbors parties or celebrations. Banned from the synagogue. “Who needs them?” He often exclaimed. “I have the nicest house in town, eat the finest foods and drink the best wine!” This was his outward persona, but inside he felt something was missing. He was restless, always looking for the latest, greatest pleasure that would finally drown the gnawing feeling of discontent that he struggled with continuously.
I think that if we put ourselves in these guys sandals, we might also have trouble believing that God loves us and wants us to be happy. Christians all over the world, everyday, struggle with pain, rejection, financial difficulties and disappointment with God. By seeing how Jesus stepped into the lives and situations of the four men from Luke 5, we can get a glimpse of how he might make a difference in our lives and situations.
With Peter, after his teaching the crowd, Jesus told Peter to go into the deep water, let down his nets, and see what would happen. I’m sure Peter was skeptical. Jesus was a good teacher and healer, but what did he know about fishing? It turns out, plenty. Peter’s net was bursting with fish. His heart was bursting with shame. He realized that more than a man was in his boat, and Peter recognized his sinfulness and unworthiness to have Jesus in the same boat with him. Peter asked Jesus to leave because he felt so unworthy. The compassion of Jesus flowed into Peter when Jesus, told him, “Follow me, and you will become a fisher of men.” A bad day for Peter turned into one of the best days of his life. That’s what happens when we let Jesus into our boat.
The leper had heard about Jesus the healer, and hoped it was true. But even if it was true, would he have anything to do with a filthy, sinful, leper. He wanted to find out. As Jesus passed by the leper fell with his face to the ground before Jesus and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” Unbelievably, Jesus reached out his hand and actually touched the leper, something prohibited by Jewish law, but something greater than the law was present. The compassion of Jesus – and the leper was healed. He knew indeed, that God loved him and wanted him to be happy.
The paralyzed man wanted to experience the healing touch of Jesus. His friends took him to the house where Jesus was teaching and healing people. They couldn’t get the guy and his mat into the house because of a huge crowd of people trying to get at Jesus. One of the friends had an idea. They went to the roof, took off a few roof tiles, and the next thing you know, the man was being lowered down before Jesus very eyes. Surely the paralyzed man was excited, expecting Jesus to heal his crippled legs, and oh the joy that would fill his soul.
Jesus looked at the paralytic, called him “Friend”, and then said in a loud voice for all to hear, especially the Pharisees, “Your sins are forgiven.” I imagine the man on the mat was somewhat confused. He had come to be healed, and now Jesus is forgiving his sins. What is that all about? The paralyzed man’s greatest problem was not with his legs, but with his heart. His heart was crippled by sin and resulted in guilt, inner turmoil, and separation from living in right relationship with God. First things first. Jesus dealt with the heart situation first, and in the process let the large crown in on a little secret, that he was not just a man, but that he was also a compassionate God who heals hearts as well as bodies. After forgiving his sins, he heals his legs and the guy walks out, carrying his mat, rejoicing in the new found knowledge that God loved him and wanted him to be happy.
Finally, Jesus makes a difference in the life of Levi the tax collector. Jesus went up to Levi, greedily collecting the peoples money, and spoke to him. “Follow me.” Something incredible happened to Levi. Again, it was a heart thing. A heart change. Open heart surgery or a heart implant, where the Holy Spirit opened the spiritual eyes of Levi, softened his heart, and made him realize that there was more to life than money and materialism. Luke 5:28 tells us that Levi got up, left everything and followed Jesus. Now Levi’s life had real meaning, a true purpose and he was filled with great joy. God loved him and wanted him to be happy.
God comes to people lives in many different ways and usually at the most unexpected times. Sometimes it happens when we seek him, other times when his presence is the last thing we are looking for. But he always shows up to let us know that he loves us and wants us to be happy!
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I have a tale to tell. It’s sad but true. It’s about a boy I’ll call “Run Away Lou”. Not his real name, I need to tell you. His name
has been changed to protect the guilty, which Lou definitely is, although he is is not the only culpable figure in this story of woe.
It should be a happy story, full of joy and fun. Good times and laughter. Lots of sun, sand and surf. That’s the way it all began. During Christmas break most of the kids at the home for needy children where my wife and I are on staff, have some family member that they go to stay with. But, there are always about a dozen charges that have no place to go. Spending a week at the mission without the other kids there can be a depressing experience, so the staff members that stay behind usually do something special for the “left behinds”. My compassionate wife, Anita, felt God’s love strings pulling at her heart way back in August, prompting her to begin planning a beach vacation for the ones with no place to go, including Run Away Lou. She talked to some people and found a house we could rent for five days in the seaside city of Huatulco, Mexico.
The day for departure finally came, Christmas day, as a matter of fact. We loaded the pickup with food, beach umbrellas and chairs, backpacks and blankets. Some kids climbed into the pickup cab, while others filled the van, and away we went, into the sunrise.
The first couple of days were like any beach vacation you could imagine. All the kids having the time of their lives. Splashing, swimming and even snorkeling in the warm surf. Even Run Away Lou seemed to be enjoying himself immensely. I have a photo of him playing in the water, and a video of him helping to cover my daughter Sally with sand. Both record him with a winning smile having a great time.
But something clicked in his troubled 12 year old head early Sunday morning. After awhile, no matter how good things seem to be going in his life, something seems to click, to turn pleasant thoughts into bad thoughts, and Lou gets the urge to Run Away. And unfortunately he skedaddles with other people’s money or things in his pocket.
He was discovered missing about 5am Sunday morning. Also missing was the wallet from a staff member, his wife’s hearing apparatus and glasses, and my wife’s cell phone. After a quick search, the wallet, now devoid of cash, was discovered in the pickup. Later the hearing apparatus and glasses were found behind the toilet. So, it could have been worse, but our boy, Run Away Lou was no where to be seen that day.
Roughly the same event occurred at the mission several months before. Again, something clicked in the boy. Who knows what it was. Maybe thoughts of a mother who abandoned him, or a father he never knew. Maybe something as simple as a disciplinary matter he had to endure, or a chore he never wanted to do again. Perhaps the enticing idea of a life on the lamb with a wad of cash in his pocket. Whatever it was that made him snap, he left his room in the middle of the night, made his way to the visitors center, stole into the room of a sleeping volunteer from the States, rifled through his personal belongings, found a lot of pesos, and made his way into the night. And while he seems fearless in his actions, he isn’t so bright once he makes his get away. He walked a few hundred yards down the highway to a little motel and checked himself to catch 40 winks.
Again, him and the money were noticed missing in the early morn, and the search was on. Within an hour he was spotted exiting the motel by a staff member. The staff member was also spotted by Lou, and Lou made haste to make himself disappear. He was found by a governmental social service agency a couple months later and taken to an uncle. The uncle was none to excited to receive him, since Run Away Lou had absconded with the uncle’s pesos and possessions on more than one occasion. So there he lived until the kind and merciful folks at the home for needy children decided to give him one more chance, knowing that his chances at any kind of future would be better at the mission than with an uncle who begrudgingly took him in. We truly loved him and wanted him to be happy, as difficult as he could be. After all, we are a home for NEEDY children, and Lou definitely fit that description.
Naturally he was kept on a short leash after his return. He was shown lots of love, some of it Tough Love, but he seemed to accept it all as the natural course of things. I think he knew that he had made a big mistake and was grateful for a second chance. After awhile the leash grew longer. He was given more freedom and more responsibilities and to all appearances was doing well. He often hugged our administrator who made the decision to bring him back. She’s a Chicago woman and was both appreciative of his affection and also somewhat skeptical of his intentions. I don’t know if being from Chicago has anything to do with being skeptical, but she was right to be wary. She was also in Huatulco with some friends when everything went down.
She was probably awakened from a peaceful sleep at five in the morning when she was alerted to Run Away Lou’s latest escapade. The adults left the house to try and track down our little Run Away Lou. I drove the van with Anita and another staff member. One other staff member was in the truck. We all had an idea that Lou would want to get out of Dodge as soon as possible. I don’t know why we thought that. I guess that’s just the way adults think. Any way, it gave us something to do. We went to the bus terminals and van transportation services that take people to Oaxaca city. We even went to taxis. I had a picture of him on my Kindle, and another lady had his picture on her phone. Anita showed his face to a group of taxi drivers, and incredibly, or blessedly, one driver remembered giving the kid a drive to a nearby hotel. He took us to the hotel, but no luck. The clerk at the hotel said yes, this boy did try to get a room about three in the morning, but was denied. I’m not sure why. The clerk said the boy then sat on the curb and played with a cell phone.
Well, after some more searching and reports to the local a authorities police, and even a radio station, we gave up and took the rest of the kids back to the beach, albeit with heavy hearts.
That evening we were treated to a wonderful dinner out on the town, thanks to the generosity of a couple of Canadian churches who have a special place on their collective hearts for the children of Casa Hogar Oaxaca. We went back to the house with full stomachs and concerned hearts and many of us fell into a fitful sleep, Run Away Lou still on our minds and in our prayers.
Evidently we were also on the mind of Run Away Lou. Or at least our money and our possessions. At about the same time that he had left the house the night before, he returned to the premises, to the scene of the crime. In the dead of night he opened the big metal gate at the entrance of the property and let himself in.
I thought I had heard some kind of sound outside, but dismissed any idea that Run Away Lou had come back. “This is the last place he would go” I thought to myself. I was wrong. A few minutes later he was discovered trying to make himself invisible at the end of the bed in the room next door. Evidently he had been going for the tablet of a staff member sleeping in the room. The same staff member who he had robbed the night before. He had the charger in his pocket, and had grabbed the tablet off a high shelf in the darkened room. Somehow it slipped from his fingers and banged on the floor. The staff member awoke, investigated the noise, and Lou crouching at the foot of the bed. We had him back, and now had to figure out what to do with him.
Once again the administer of the mission was called. She told us that since we had reported him to the police, that we should take him to the police station and seek their help. We didn’t want Run Away Lou to run away, so under close scrutiny we put him in the van and hauled him off to the police.
They didn’t want anything to do with him. The city of Huatulco had no facilities for juvenile delinquents. Since we were legally responsible for him, he was our problem. They suggested we return him to his uncle, or take him to the appropriate authorities in Oaxaca city. We decided on the former course of action. At 2:57 am he was put aboard a van service with two adult males from our group to keep an eye on him and taken to Oaxaca. There he was met by his very disappointed house father from the mission and delivered to his uncle.
So there it is, the tragic tale of Run Away Lou. He was guilty, once again, of stealing from those who loved him, cared for him, and wanted nothing but the best for him. He had it all. He spurned it all. He gave it all up for a mess of porridge as it were, like Esau in the Bible. He gave up making sand castles on the seaside for making mudpies in the slums as C.S. Lewis once said.
I mentioned that Lou was guilty, but that others were also culpable in his demise. How about an absent father? What about the mother who abandoned him? I have never faced what our young Run Away Lou has had to face. I can not even begin to imagine the thoughts that fill his mind, that perhaps torment his thoughts. I do know that we have dozens of children at the home for needy children who have lived through similar harsh circumstances in life and are now flourishing under the loving care and guidance of staff members at the mission. Why sharing God’s love, mercy and Grace with Lou didn’t “take”, I have no idea. We all hope and pray that someday, like the prodigal son, that Run Away Lou will “come to his senses” and that instead of always running away, that he will run into the arms of our loving heavenly Father. I hope and pray that someday Run Away Lou will become Run To The Father Lou.
So why did I title this story Putting the HAPPY in 2015? Because, in a sense, we are all Run Away Lou’ s. We are in the care of a God who loves us and wants us to be happy, just as Lou was in the midst of a community of Faith who loved him and wanted him to be happy. God has provided the perfect recipe for happiness. It’s called the Bible. We have a choice to make. We can choose to follow and obey the commands of the Bible and live in right relationship with God, or follow the inclinations of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and live in misery. Lou made disastrous choices and is not happy.
This New Year, let’s run into the loving arms of the Father, abide in Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and experience true happiness!
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These are the three things that make up our lives. What we do; what we want to do; what we should do. Sometimes, rarely for me, they are all the same thing. There is usually a bit of tension, or a lot of tension, between these three things. Some would argue that there is no difference between what we do and what we want to do. They say that people always do what they want to do. If people wanted to do something else, they would do it. They really don’t want to do something else, or they would do that instead. I think that is true to some extent, but I also believe that there can be, and usually is, a struggle within our being of what we are doing in various situations, and what we would rather be doing. That struggle is normally between our minds and our hearts. Between our intellect and our desires.
Think of your job. Most people don’t really like their jobs, or if they do like their job, they can think of a different job that they would rather be doing. I read a quote recently that said, “Choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life.” I love that quote. I think most of us can relate to, and even applaud the sentiment that is expressed. If you love doing your job; if you wake up every morning looking forward to doing your occupation, then it seems more like play or an adventure than “work”. You Do your job because you Want to do your job.
That is just one example of the tension many people encounter with doing something, and wanting to do that thing. In most areas of life, from finances, to social life, to what we do in our leisure time, we can experience an inner struggle between what we are doing and what we want to do.
And, if the struggle between what we do and what we want to do is not enough, there is always another element to consider – What we Should do.
Consider the job example. Perhaps a person has a job to do, a job they want to do, but there is a gnawing inside them that they should be doing something else. They look at their job, and experience a certain amount of joy and satisfaction from that job, but occasionally they ask themselves, “in the end, Does it really matter? Does it make a significant difference to anyone? Am I alleviating pain and suffering for anyone but myself? Am I helping to end world hunger or bring about world peace? Am I doing anything to make the world a more beautiful place for anyone but myself and my family? Should I really care about those things? Ought I to concern myself with anyone but me? And if so, Why?”
I believe that God loves us and wants us to be happy. In his word to us he tells us many things that we should do. Things that will make us happy. He created us thus he knows what makes us happy. All the things that we should do to be happy fall into two broad categories; love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength, And love our neighbor as we love ourselves.
Think about when you fell in love. Normally when we fall in love, we think about our boyfriend or girlfriend all the time. We want to be with them all the time and can’t wait to receive a text message, email, phone call or letter from him or her. We hang on every word from our beloved. We give them cards and flowers and little gifts and big gifts. We talk and talk and talk and love being together. We do these things. We want to do these things. We should do these things. It makes us happy to make them happy.
The same thing should happen with God. He created us to be sublimely happy, full of joy, when we are in right relationship with him. When we are spending time with him, reading his love letter to us, the Bible. Our joy is increased when we are loving those in the community of faith as we love ourselves. Our joy or happiness is complete when we venture into a hurting world and bring spiritual, physical and mental healing.
These things SHOULD happen with God and with others, but many times they don’t happen. Martin Luther said that we struggle on a regular basis with the World, the Flesh, and the Devil. These three enemies do not want us to love God and our fellow man. They do everything in their power to keep our focus and energy and devotion on ourselves.
Do you struggle with the World, the Flesh, and the Devil? Do you feel a tension within between what you do, what you want to do, and what you should do? I do. And you know what? We are in good company. The apostle Paul also battled. In his greatest theological letter, the one he wrote to the Romans, he takes up a whole chapter talking about his personal struggle. This mighty warrior of the faith, this saint of God, could have just left this portion of his epistle out, and it still would have been his greatest literary work. But thank God he included it. By writing the words that we call Romans seven, He lets us know that it is normal to struggle with what we do, what we want to do, and what we should do. Here’s the way he puts it:
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. Romans 7:15-20
So this a normal human struggle, especially for a Christian who is trying to keep the commandments, who really wants to love God with all his or her being and really wants to love his or her neighbor as he loves himself or herself. We find ourselves failing to meet this goal everyday, if not every hour. It’s normal. It is also normal to beat ourselves up about our failures. But it is not acceptable to condemn ourselves. Paul goes on to say in Romans eight that there is no condemnation from God for those who walk in the Spirit and not in the Flesh. Walking in the Spirit doesn’t mean we don’t struggle, it means our goal in life is to love God and seek him first. It means that we recognize our frequent failures and go regularly to our compassionate heavenly Father asking for forgiveness today and strength and insight for tomorrow to win more battles than we lose against the world, the Flesh, and the Devil. We ask Him to open the eyes of our hearts to the reality of What we do, What we want to do, and What we should do.
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As part of Jesus conclusion to the sermon on the Mount, he says “Enter through the narrow gate….small is the gate and 
narrow is the path that leads to life, and only a few find it.” I read those words of Christ and began to ponder what it was that Jesus wanted his hearers to take away as they headed back down the mountain to their homes. I wondered what Jesus wanted me to learn from this statement as I was about to begin my day of work at the home for needy children in Oaxaca,Mexico. I couldn’t quite get a handle on it, so I gave up and went outside to begin my day.
The first thing that I encountered was a big mess of fruit and vegetables that needed to be cleaned up. Somebody made a mess and I needed to clean it up. I was upset. Inwardly I began to grumble and complain. It’s not right. It’s not fair. I began to think bad of the brother who had made the mess. I began to judge him. Then it hit me. I was not entering the narrow gate that leads to life, but was trundling down the broad road that leads to destruction. My negative attitude had destroyed my peace and joy. In a way I had destroyed my brother in my mind. I felt God saying to me, “Get with it and go through the narrow gate!”
Doesn’t Come Naturally
Now I was beginning to understand. Entering the narrow gate means going against what comes naturally, and following the principles that Jesus had been laying down in his sermon. Principles of having a kingdom heart. Principles like not judging; forgiving; loving those who do wrong. Jesus was saying that it is easy to follow the flesh and do what comes naturally – that is what the crowd is doing who enter the wide gate and go down the broad road that leads to destruction.
The last story he gives us in his sermon is the well known story of the wise builder and the foolish builder. In his introduction to this parable Jesus says, “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock.” Jesus could just as well as said that everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who entered through the narrow gate.
What are some of the other words that Jesus said that we need to put into practice? Other things we need to do to enter through the narrow gate?
Jesus said don’t be angry with your brother. Don’t lust. Don’t do acts of righteousness to be seen by people so that you will be honored. He said his disciples are to love their enemies and pray for those that persecute you. He said to turn the other cheek and give to those that ask and go the extra mile. He said we are to treat others like we want to be treated. These are not easy things, but are marks of a true disciple with a kingdom heart who strives to enter the small gate and go down the narrow path.
Does God Really Want Us To Be Happy?
If we really believe that God is good and that He loves us and wants us to be happy, then we needn’t worry about anything. At the end of Matthew chapter six, Jesus teaches his disciples that not worrying is part of what it means to enter through the narrow gate. Jesus said, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.” He goes on to say that your Heavenly Father feeds the birds and dresses the flowers and you are more valuable than they are. People without Christ in their lives worry about many things; get stressed out at work and home, and are headed down the broad path toward destruction. Worry and stress destroys a persons health, mental outlook, happiness and relationships. Trusting God to meet our physical and spiritual needs leads to health, happiness and life.
Everyone wants to be happy. C.S. Lewis writes that God desires our happiness more than we ourselves desire to be happy. God has provided explicit, written instructions on how to be happy in the Manual of Life called the Bible. Those who enter the wide gate that leads to unhappiness and destruction disregard God’s Word. Those who love God and trust him and put into practice His principles found in the Bible enter through the narrow gate that leads to life. C.S. Lewis writes, “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Jesus put the question to the crowd and to his disciples, are you going to be wise and put what you have just heard me preach into practice, or are you going to be foolish and ignore what I have just said? Are you going to enter through the narrow gate that leads to life, or continue going down the broad path that leads to destruction?
I ask in the vain of C.S. Lewis, are we going to happily make mud pies the rest of our lives, or are we going to make sand castles by the sea?
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The narrow gate is not, as so often assumed, doctrinal correctness. The narrow gate is obedience – and the confidence in Jesus necessary to it. We can see that it is not doctrinal correctness because many people who cannot even understand the correct doctrines nevertheless place their full faith in him. Moreover, we find many people who seem to be very correct doctrinally but have hearts full of hatred and unforgiveness. The broad gate, by contrast is simply doing whatever I want to do. Dallas Willard in The Divine Conspiracy
I have been stuck In 2 Peter chapter one for a couple of weeks now. It is a rich chapter and also a bit difficult to understand in certain places. I don’t like to leave a chapter until I have sucked all the meat out of it that I think is possible . Thus I am still I this chapter. It’s amazing how you can spend so much time in one portion of scripture, reading it and rereading it, and about the time you think you are ready to leave it, something jumps out and surprises you. That happened a couple of days ago. I was surprised by divine nature. Peter tells hos readers that God has promised we are participants in God’s nature. I had read that verse a dozen times and never thought much about it. This time it stunned me to think that God wants me to participate in his divine nature. To be his servant , sure , that’s obvious. To obey his commands, of course. To be a part of his kingdom and to work for it, I think all Christians understand that. But to participate in his divine nature? That is definitely out of this world. I can much more readily identify with Paul when he says that he is the worst sinner (I thought I was); I know where the guy is coming from who said “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief”; it is easier for me to understand King David and his foibles then to imagine God wants me to participate in his divine nature.
So what on earth could Peter possibly mean about participating in God’s divine nature? Peter says in the previous verse that God has promised us this. I have been reading the bible for at least 45 years, and I couldn’t recall any promises to this effect. I was mentally seeking out these promises and was drawing blanks. One promise I do remember is that those who seek will find.
The next morning, during the regular devotion time we have at the home for needy children where I participate here in Oaxaca,Mexico, the person that was speaking had us look at the gospel of John, chapter 14. There they were, a whole bunch of promises from the very lips of Jesus. He promised his followers that the father would dwell in them, Jesus himself would be in them, and if that wasn’t enough, they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. The whole trinity is in me! How’s that for participating in the divine nature?
John 14 promises – I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever…
I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.
Also John 15 – If a man remains in me, and I in him, he will bear much fruit.
If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
So there it is – God has decided that us frail, mortal, weak, humans can participate in His Divine Nature. God certainly loves us and wants us to be happy! Enjoy God and His Divine Nature, today and everyday!
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Jesus was now in charge; he was already, now, calling the nations to account. And he was going to do so through his followers, those to whom he had given his Spirit. This, whether we like it or not, is where we come in.” N.T. Wright, Simply Jesus
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Next blog – Released From Prison
My wife Anita, our two daughters and myself were in Mitla, Oaxaca, Mexico a couple weeks ago, helping with the
Anita serving up atole
preparation and joining in the celebration of Radio Zapoteca’s second anniversary. Wood fires were burning in cinderblock rings. Smoke filled the cooking area and escaped through slits in the rusted tin walls. Milk, ground up oats and sugar were mixed together in a big pot over one fire to make a traditional Oaxacan drink called atole. Chickens, throats freshly cut, were briefly plunged into boiling water of another pot and then plucked naked. Nine butchered chickens contributed to some delicious chicken soup and tasty tamales.
Women from a half dozen local church congregation gathered in Anita’s parent’s yard to help. Some churches donated food, others tables and chairs. The Home for Needy Children, where Anita and I are staff members, donated cases of milk. I wrote in an earlier blog that the social service arm of of the government had given the ministry a bunch of milk. Out of our abundant supply we were able to share. Blessed to be a blessing, as the saying goes.
Anita’s older brother, Arturo, started Radio Zapoteca two years ago, because of his vision of proclaiming the Good News that God loves us and wants us to be happy, to the entire Mitla valley. This wonderful 
Christian radio station plays inspiring Christian music, and proclaims the messaged of God’s love in Spanish and the local Zapoteco dialect. This station also broadcasts via the internet at RadioZapoteca.com if you want to give it a listen.
Arturo is an inspiration himself. Fifteen years ago, Arturo was living for himself. He graduated from the local university with an accounting degree and immediately got a good job making good money. God spoke into his life through local missionaries, who convinced him, with the help of the Holy Spirit, that there was more to life than money and mezcal. He turned his life over to the Good Shepherd and Savior of his soul. He was filled with a joy that he had never experienced
Cooking tubs of tamales
before. He gave up his job and went to work for the missionaries, helping them make recordings of the Bible in the dialects of illiterate village people living in isolated areas of Oaxaca (RadioZapoteca.com includes Bible recordings of over 400 dialects).
He worked faithfully in that ministry for a few years, while being heavily involved in a local church. The little church, Dios Es Amor (God is Love), was the result of a church planting of a larger church in Oaxaca city. The idea was that after a few years, it would become self sufficient with its own pastor. Arturo had been in charge of the youth group and would preach occasionally. The pastor of the parent church in Oaxaca city saw the hand of God on Arturo’s life and Arturo felt the call of God to pastor the little flock. After receiving pastoral training, and much prayer, Arturo was ordained as pastor of Dios Es Amor.
Over two years ago, Arturo began dreaming of a way to communicate Christ, not just to his small band of brothers and
Sisters in Christ helping to prepare a feast for the fiesta
sisters in the Lord; not just to his neighbors and those he would casually meet, but to all of the Mitla region. He envisioned a Christian radio station that would proudly proclaim the gracious goodness of a living Redeemer, not just to the Spanish speakers, but to those indigenous people in the area called Zapotecos and spoke that dialect. Arturo could reach out to them in their “heart” language, since he was half Zapoteco and could speak the language.
He shared his vision with other Christians and they began to dream the same dream, and supported Arturo with
prayers, funds, time and talents. Two weeks ago, these Christians, along with hundreds of others who regularly tune in to Radio Zapoteca, came together in the town square to celebrate the radio station’s second year of existence. Pastors of different denominations spoke about the importance and blessing that Radio Zapoteca was for them personally and for their congregations. People spoke about how much more they enjoyed God when they could turn on the radio and listen to inspiring Christian music, teaching and preaching. Bands came from all around to play their different styles of music, glorifying the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Standing in the smokey, makeshift kitchen of my in-laws, surrounded by sisters in Christ cooking chickens and making
Arturo broadcasting the Good News on Radio Zapoteca
tamales, I rejoiced in God’s work and goodness. I thought of all the Christians in the community that were encouraged daily by Arturo and Radio Zapoteca. There were so many who had come to know our Great, Good God, and were themselves helping to grow the Kingdom of God in their own special ways. And on that Saturday in February, we were all together, pitching in, to make the second anniversary fiesta such a success – glorifying God and enjoying Him and His presence among us.
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Guiraa redee badeedni te guluiireni rexpejn Jesucrist, te gunreni dzuun te gustajlreni rebejn ni gac xquidoo Jesucrist. Zapoteco de Mitla translation of Ephesians 4:12 – to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.
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Next blog – Beauty, Truth and Goodness
murphys law (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)
When you are having “one of those days”, a Murphy’s Law day, what do you do? When you find yourself in a messy situation, or an unforseen problem arises, what options do you have, other than to be frustrated, irate, or irritable? Here are a few things I think about to help me to find happiness in the mess.
1. Things could be worse.
2. Things will get better.
3. Find something to be thankful for.
4. Find a happy verse.
5. Sing a happy song.
6. Smile.
7. Find opportunities in the midst of difficulties.
8. Nothing good is gained by grumbling.
One of the things that can rob us of our happiness, that makes us feel frustrated, angry or upset, is that things aren’t going the way we planned. We have expectations of the way things should be. When those expectations turn sour, we are tempted to turn sour in our attitudes and outlook. When our day begins to take a turn for the worse, we need to take a deep breath and realize that negative, “stinkin’ thinkin'” will not help us. When we feel like our good day is beginning to sink in the troubled waters of unmet expectations, it’s a good idea grasp the life preserver of happy thoughts. When I cling to the eight ideas above, a smile comes to my lips, happy feelings return, and I can return to the helm of life with a cheery disposition. I hope that these ideas help you turn your mess into happiness.
I didn’t plan on getting the flu last week. I didn’t expect my wife and daughters would be sick. But that is the situation we found ourselves in. Through the coughing, fever and fatigue, I was able to find happiness in the mess.
Things could have been worse.
We could have had cancer, or some other painful, life threatening disease. It was just the flu after all. And it was comforting to know that God was by our sides, helping us through the illness. The ultimate “things could be worse” would be going through sickness, pain, disappointment, without our gracious, compassionate and merciful God at our side.
Things will get better.
We are all better now. While we didn’t like suffering from the flu, we knew that after a week or so we would feel better. And after a month we would forget all about laying in bed with shakes, shivers, sweat and snotty noses. That helped make me happy in the midst of my discomfort. The ultimate “things will get better” is knowing that even if one of us did have a terminal illness, and ended up dying, we would be in the happy arms of our loving heavenly Father, experiencing relief and incredible joys forevermore.
Find something to be thankful for.
I was thankful for the marvelous miracle of modern medicine. Thank you God for drugs! Thank you God for doctors that know what to prescribe to make us feel better. Thank you God for nurses, like Marge, who is helping out here at the home for needy children for a month. She administered the unpleasant shots that the kids needed, along with a healthy dose of encouraging and comforting words (and some natural herbal remedies thrown in for good measure).
Find a happy verse.
Scripture verses from the Bible give me a joy that would otherwise be unknown when I find myself in a mess, be it physical, job related or just everyday inconveniences. They help me change my focus from me and my unpleasant mess, to God and His goodness and power. Some verses that I regularly grab hold of in time of need are:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path. Proverbs 3:5,6
All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who have been called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you . Matthew 6:33
Sing a happy song.
Most of my happy songs that encourage me in the mess, are oldies but goodies from my youth. A few favorites are:
Praise God from whom all blessing flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the children of God.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.
Smile.
It is amazing what a smile can do for the general well being of a person who finds himself in the midst of a mess. Over the years I have read articles from psychologists who tell us of chemical and biological changes that happen in the brain when we smile, that make us feel better even if we don’t feel happy at the time.You can check out a somewhat recent article in Psychology Today about the power of a smile to make you feel happy. Another thing about smiling when we don’t feel like it, to encourage happiness, at least for me, is that when I smile, it reminds me of happy days and times in the past, when I really did feel like smiling. Those memories create in me a good feeling and in turning my thoughts from my present negative mess, to positive happy times I have experienced, creates in me a genuine feeling of joy and contentment.
Find opportunities in the midst of difficulties.
Sometimes, when things aren’t going the way I had planned, if I take a moment and tell myself to try and find something good in the bad situation, I generally discover a opportunity for happiness to displace the mess. I am generally impatient and hate waiting. When I am held up by other peoples tardiness, or road blocks ( a rather common occurrence here in Oaxaca, Mexico) I can choose to sit and stew, or find an opportunity to better my condition. Sometimes, while waiting for someone, I will take the extra time to make sure I have everything I need for the task at hand. I’m surprised at how often I discover that I have forgotten something important, and have a chance to retrieve it, and breath a prayer of thanks for the delay. When I am stuck in traffic, or sick in my bed, I have opportunity to work on my blog or prepare a devotion for the mission church service. If we take time to think, we can find opportunity in the difficulty.
Nothing good is gained by grumbling.
My first reaction upon finding myself in a mess is to grumble. To complain. To get angry and find blame. I get frustrated and upset. After some time of going through these mental gyrations, I finally realize that I have wasted time, energy and thought over something that I have no control over. I have gained nothing by my negative thoughts. Realizing that nothing good is gained by grumbling is the first step for me toward finding happiness in the mess.
So there you have it. Eight thoughts to help you find happiness in whatever mess you might find yourself in. A few quick things to hang onto and put into action when Murphy and the mess slam head on into your otherwise perfect day.
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No matter how much we have grown, we still need to grow more. No matter how mature we are, we never stop maturing. And no matter how unspiritual we are, as long as we want to grow more, Jesus will show up in the life of even the messiest of disciples. Michael Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality
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Next blog – Chickens, Tamales, Smoke and Radio Zapoteca
Elaine
Elaine and her husband Ian are long time volunteers from Canada, here at the home for needy children in Oaxaca, Mexico. The other day I asked Elaine if she believed God loves her and wants her to be happy. She said, “Absolutely!” Then I asked her why she thought God allowed her to lose her hearing.
Happy Children Playing
Artwork by Elaine
She had had perfect hearing most of her life. About 28 years ago she gradually began to lose her hearing do to menieres disease, losing her hearing first in one hear, and then in the other until she was totally deaf. She thought about my question. She told me that she never thought a lot about why God allowed her to lose her hearing. She told me about difficulties she experienced as her hearing became impaired. With tears in her eyes she recounted a recurring nightmare she had regarding her hearing loss and her increasing need to depend on devices used to help the hearing impaired. A few more tears appeared as she told me about how much she loved music, and that she can’t go into a music store now.
Thinking more about my question, she mentioned that with her hearing loss she has learned to depend more on God. She rests more in God. Sometimes God takes things away from us, things that we enjoy, to help us focus on Him so that we can enjoy Him more.
God has made Elaine happy and uses her in a tremendous way at the mission, in the community and in three Oaxacan prisons. She is an artist and has painted many beautiful pictures and murals that inspire everyone here at the children’s home. She received a cochlear ear implant almost three years ago and partial hearing has returned to her life. That helps her to teach art classes at the mission school. She also has a sewing talent and ministry that reaches out to poor and incarcerated women, both physically, with quilts, and spiritually, with words that flow from her compassionate and joyous heart. She glorifies Him and enjoys Him in many different ways everyday.
Thinking about Elaine and her spiritual journey, I was reminded of two different scripture passages from the book of John. One is from chapter nine, the account of the man born blind. In those days, most Jews thought that physical maladies were a result of sin. The disciples asked Jesus, “Who sinned?”
Jesus told them that the blind mans affliction was not a result of sin. He was blind all his life so that one day the master healer, Jesus himself, would come along and restore his sight, and that God would be glorified through the miracle. Surely, the man who could now see, glorified God and enjoyed Him forever.
I also thought about John 15, where Jesus speaks of God the Father as a gardener of a vineyard. Jesus says the gardener cuts off every branch that bears no fruit. It is a basic principle of horticulture that to get more, you cut more. I do most of the gardening and landscape maintenance here at the mission. While we don’t have any grape vines to prune, I am constantly pruning roses and other flowers in order to get bigger and better flowers. Lately I have been pruning some overgrown citrus trees in order to get more, high quality fruit. In the same way, God prunes things from our lives, in order that we may produce more fruit – fruit of the Spirit. In the case of John 15, the spiritual fruit in question is JOY. In verse 11, Jesus says, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” God loves us and wants us to be happy, and many times He prunes away one aspect of our live to ultimately produce more joy fruit in our lives.
Elaine misses her ability to hear perfectly. Daily her thoughts turn toward heaven and the time that her hearing will be restored. In the meantime, she thanks God for the gifts he has given her and the compassion she is able to show others who have suffered loss.
Art
When I first met Art, he was dying of a brain tumor. He was a middle aged man, gray hair, balding. He had once been an active Episcopal priest. I met him at a Lutheran church that I had just begun attending in Northern California. As I recall, he told me a joke. He loved to tell jokes. It was hard for me to understand him, because the brain tumor had caused his speech to be a bit slurred at times. He also had trouble with his sight, and needed a cane to get around. All of this didn’t stop him from enjoying God and telling jokes.
He told me about the time he told God a joke. Immediately afterward he said he was plagued with guilt. Who was he to be joking around with the Almighty, Holy God. He was in turmoil, he told me. He prayed. He cried. He begged forgiveness. He repented. After some time in this anguished state of mind, he heard a voice. The voice said, “Art, tell me another one.”
I think that because of this experience with a God who likes to laugh at jokes, Art began bringing much joy and mirth into peoples lives by telling jokes and funny stories. It didn’t matter so much that you couldn’t always understand him or get the punch line. What mattered was, here was a man who believed that God loved him and wanted him to be happy, despite his painful circumstances. As a result of the joy he experienced, he naturally wanted to spread the joy, and the best way he knew was telling jokes and hysterical stories. After I gave Art my email address, not a week went by that I didn’t receive at least one new joke or funny story. I always laughed and thanked God for Art. I miss him.
Anita
Anita was born into poverty. She was born at home because her parents couldn’t afford a hospital. She had a brother that was stillborn. One of her sisters died at six weeks, and another who died before her tenth birthday. Her youngest brother has Downs Syndrome.
Anita is a lady who suffered much as a young girl growing up poor in Mitla, Mexico. Her parents couldn’t afford a house, so they lived with an oppressive grandmother who treated them like servants or slaves. When that environment became too much for them, they decided to move to a small piece of land they owned on the edge of town. They constructed a “house” of bamboo sticks and a tin roof. Some days all they had to eat was tortillas with a bit of salt or pumpkin seeds for flavor.
Their only hope, so it seemed, lay in the syncretistic, Catholic religion that combined Christian orthodoxy with ancient, pagan, Zapoteco traditions. They prayed to saints, built a shrine to dead loved ones, and put out offerings they couldn’t afford , to celebrate the “Day of the Dead.” All of this brought nothing to their souls by way of peace, joy and happiness.
Fortunately, protestant missionaries lived nearby, and helped Anita and her family financially by giving them jobs. More importantly, they helped spiritually by giving them the gospel, the good news, that God loved them and wanted them to be happy. One by one, Anita and her family gave their lives to Jesus. One of the happiest days of Anita’s life was when she surrendered to God and embraced His love. The burdens and oppression she had suffered all her life, lifted away. She felt light as a balloon. She felt she was floating on air. And oh the joy that flooded her soul.
Anita, The Happy Cocinera
Anita is my wife. I met her my first day at the mission. She is an incredible cook and was working in the kitchen at the time. The first thing I noticed about her was her smile and sense of humor. My Spanish wasn’t so great then, and I didn’t understand half of what she said, but I did understand that she was glorifying God by enjoying Him!
We married two years later, and she continues to light up my life, our daughter’s lives, and all those at the mission, with her cheery attitude, generous giving of herself, and her contagious sense of humor.
I thank God everyday for this ray of heavenly sunshine that He has shined in my life. I also thank God for the inspiration of Elaine and Art, people who show me how to enjoy God in the midst of unpleasant life situations. People who know that God loves them and wants them to be happy.
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“One day our Sovereign Father and Friend will allow us to grasp His reasoning. Until then, we must trust Him. He is filled with love for you and me, and He uses the things we don’t understand to bring us closer to Him.” Letter from Bob Vander Plaats to his severely disabled son – from his book Light From Lucus.
To Enjoy God 