daily java

Daily Java:

Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? (Romans 2:21-22)

The guy walks into the new gym class to lead calisthenics. He is smoking a cigarette, is at least 60 pounds overweight, sounds like a freight train when he walks up the stairs and is coming in to show you how to get in shape.

He is kind of like the girl who was describing the various coffees in a coffee shop one time. I asked her which one she liked. Oh, she said, I don’t like coffee, I drink tea. But, she assured me, she had tasted all of them.

It would be like me working in a butcher shop where I had to help people buy liver. I hate it so I don’t want to sell it.

The preacher preaching morality who is an adulterer, the butcher selling meat who is a vegetarian, the beer truck driver selling alcohol who is a tee-totaler, the Republican party chairman who is a Democrat – all people doing something with no credibility.

If I go to get in shape, I want someone who is in shape to guide me, not some guy like me.

I went to a weight loss clinic once out of curiosity, the slim girl behind the desk assured me that is was a good company. Have you lost any weight yourself, I asked? Oh, yes, sir, she replied. I have lost seven pounds. No. I want some woman who had lost 110 pounds to show me how it worked.

That is why Jesus said in Matthew 23 not to seek those titles, primarily that of Teacher, because it opens you up for so much criticism, especially if people see that you are not living your life like you tell others to live.

Any time you condemn some one else, you need to look at your own life first. You need to jettison the stuff that is keeping you back.

We must strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up (Hebrews 12:1). If we don’t, we have got a lot of trouble convincing others to do the same.

The father who steals office supplies from work, the mother who tells her children to tell the guy on the phone she is not here, the teenaged girls who lies about why she can’t go to the party and then shows up with someone else, the boss who tells you what a financial strait the company is in and then gives himself a raise. One who preaches sacrifice but lives large themselves.

You cannot divorce a teacher from what he or she teaches. You are your message. Be the right message.

daily java

Daily Java:

Do to others as you would like them to do to you. (Luke 6:27-31).

Christianity is a system of contradictions.  It is a war, yet the adherents are peaceful. The leader is a king, yet is a subject himself. It is life, yet is based on death. It encourages perfection, yet admits it is unattainable.

The whole attitude of Christian living is summed up here. Treat people nice.  And the Bible goes on to say in other places, do this even when they don’t treat you nice.

The Bible says that the Christian is on a proactive approach to living. He or she doesn’t do things that will cause others to be hurt. It is a positive way to look at things. It is not a reaction, or a warning not to do what others do. It is a lifestyle, loving others.

And it is hard to do. Without the help and the movement of God, it is impossible.

After all, how can you go through life automatically treating people like you wish they would treat  you?

Jesus was a very confrontational man, even occasionally to the point of being violent. He was eventually killed because of this. He did what he wanted to do regardless of whether or not he hurt the feelings of those around him.

Yet he says do to others as you would like them to do to you.

Whatever he did, he would want others to do if he were in their place. He would want them to talk about the holiness of God even if it hurt his feelings. He would want them to tell of the better way, even though the listeners liked the present way.

He would want to see that we loved God enough to do the hard things. He would want to be shown the love of God, even if he were angry. He did what he would want someone else to do if he were in the listener position.

Jesus was a model of godly behavior, even when others didn’t consider it godly.

If I were wondering if it were correct to have the temple turned into a yard sale, I would want to see someone say no. If I were wondering if it were a good idea to feed a whole bunch of people, I would want to see someone do it. If I were wondering if the hypocritical leadership was of God or not, I would want to hear someone say yes or no. He modeled God.

He did what needed to be done whether people liked it or not. And he knew that if he were in our position and we in his, he would want to see this.

Loving, yes. Compassionate, yes. But also with the strength of God behind him.

A different picture of Jesus than our traditional one, but absolutely realistic.

And I want to be like him.

a mirror of God

Daily Java: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.

I have always wanted the things I say to be the oracles of God, the words of God, something that he would say if he were speaking instead of me. if I am crucified in Christ and he lives in me, then anything I say should be like that. I cannot just blap out stuff and expect it to be fine, I have to remember that he is speaking through me, that whatever comes out of my mouth is perceived by other as coming out of his mouth.

That is one of the problems that comes with calling yourself a Christ follower. If you are following him, then you are trying to be like him. And if you are doing that, you are trying to make your life like his, your speech like his, you reactions to life like his. And if you tell people that, then whatever you say, they figure Jesus would say. When you say stupid things, things that hurt, stuff off the top of your head, then they see Jesus that way

Jesus said When you see me, you see the Father. His point was that he was a mirror of God. We are that same: mirrors of God. Not as good as Jesus, obviously, but still, we mirror him in our own flawed way.

I have always had a problem with saying the first thing on my mind. There were times in my life that if I had not been so big, someone would have taught me more perfectly the way of righteousness with their fists. I got away with it on sheer size, but I was wrong.

We have to remember that others are looking at us and that we mirror the Father who has sent us to do his will on this earth. We want to be like Jesus.