Do you get angry when people can’t or won’t heed your way of life? Do you clamor up when people live differently than you do in faith? Why?

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? (Acts 15:10)

Before your decision to put faith in Jesus Christ, I’m thinking your lifestyle and/or thinking was pretty asinine.

Moreover, I am thinking that our reason for rebelling from our parents and even putting off the decision to follow Jesus for as long as we have was because our asinine lifestyle and thinking. Maybe you won’t go as far as calling it “asinine.”

But I’m pretty sure somebody would. That is always the case. Stop putting yoke on people that is unnecessary nor attainable. We, as human beings, constantly and consistently push people to live the way we can only strive to live in our wildest dreams.

What I’m saying is that our unrealistic expectations reflected on other people will go unfulfilled so long as we have them because we can’t even uphold them.

Here is why we stop judging people and start welcoming those whose lifestyles we disagree with: “But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:11). Peter says essentially says that we were saved by grace, that is, because we couldn’t save ourselves from ourselves; so why would we unfairly expect somebody else to save themselves?

Hopefully it is not because of they have us as coaches. Failures hardly make good coaches.

When we catch ourselves from yoking others, we become good role models to people striving to find Jesus. Let’s work towards that.

For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord , that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen. – Jeremiah 13:11

Check out this passage in its entirety and you will know God not only has a sense of humor, but that He is incredibly practical and creative. He says, “I made my people like underwear, they cling around me and find their purpose. Without clinging to me, they are just soiled rags.” What kind of God would say that? I’ll tell you that it’s not one that lacks in confidence.

It is one who will tell you exactly your worth. This interchange is brilliant because it is so true. When we stop clinging to God, which we occasionally do because that is human nature, we become like soiled loincloths.

Just think about the last time you didn’t pray for a day; or the last time you skipped church; or the last time you decided you were going to go partying for a night; or the last time you did something that in hindsight was stupid (don’t make me name all the stupid things we do).

I’m not talking about regret. I’m talking about you doing things because you wanted to be a master of your own life because you never thought…. (I’ll let you write the rest of that sentence)– yeah, the consequences. You and I are underwear. The foul odor you smell when you wake up is you. You are the thing that smells, you are the soiled loincloth. There is a clear dichotomy here.

You can cling to God and be what you were always intended to be, an unsoiled worshiper of God. Or you can stop clinging to God and live under a rock (figurative or literally) and be soiled and worthless. The choice is yours and you make it when you cling or you don’t.

If you want to live the way God created, you have to cling to Him hard and fast and don’t let go.

Don’t cling like you are an elastic waist band. Cling like you’re tied to God and anything can cause the knots to be undone. This is praise and glory.

From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so. Does a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh and salt water? Can a fig tree, my brothers, bear olives, or a grapevine produce figs? Neither can a salt pond yield fresh water. (James 3:10-12)

Here’s the tone that James, brother of Jesus is writing: there is a huge difference between what we believe and how we act, especially noticeable is the dichotomy between our speech or words and our actions.

The interesting thing is that James knows that it is impossible to live so flawlessly. In fact, we would be perfect if we could do that. But since the conclusion is that we’re imperfect people, we need to figure out how to curb that imperfection as much as we can, not that we’ll ever get there (perfection), but in the hopes that the grace of God would instill in us His power to speak and do good.

I don’t really think I need to elaborate on the Bible passage to explain what and how we should be speaking to people, but just in case you believe it’s up for interpretation, allow me to clear it up for you.

We can’t claim to embody love if we are beating up on people with our words. If we are harsh with our words, then we have to ask ourselves whether we even know what we’re embodying.

So you remember that thing you said to your friend of family yesterday? We know you didn’t mean it, but you were frustrated and they were starting to annoy you, was that right?

What about the whipping you put on your co-worker? The negative thing you said in passing to your child or spouse or significant other; would that be considered as an embodiment of Christ love?

Let’s consider the things we say, and use our words to build and not tear down.

And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. (2 Chronicles 14:7 ESV)

There is peace in the seeking. That is to say that when we seek God, He gives us peace. Let me explain that statement.

In this passage we find Asa, king of Judah, in a golden age not seen in this area since Solomon was king. There was so much peace that he had time to make infrastructure improvements– ten years of improvement.

That much is obvious from our passage today. Asa attributes his uncanny peace to the fact that he and everybody he was entrusted to lead sought after God. In seeking out God’s will, there overflowed into their socio-economic lives a prosperity and peace.

Skeptically, you are thinking that this is nothing more than Israelite propaganda written by the author of this particular book to plainly paint out the fact that there is a correlation between seeking God and prosperity.

More than likely, this causal link was made by the author to point to the fact that the reader’s life probably was not peaceful or prosperous because he or she had not been seeking after God. However, this debate can be tabled for another day.

What I want to point out here is that peace and prosperity are not directly correlated to seeking God. In fact, we know from experience that seeking God usually disturbs our ill gotten peace and sense of mind.

Asa battled with the Ethiopians, a million of them according to this passage, in his time as king. Therefore, coming to terms with the fact that Asa says that God gives them peace on every side and still finds himself battling a nation leads us to one conclusion: his heart was at peace in seeking God and that was all the peace he needed to build and prosper.

Take this with you for the weekend: seek God for your everything (needs, wants and worries) and find peace on every side of you, even if you are warring with people around you.

Cry to God and seek Him, and find out how God defeats and allows you to build and prosper.

…many are saying of my soul, there is no salvation for him in God. Selah But you, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head. (Psalms 3:2-3)Before I even got a chance to finalize my new year plans and resolutions, I hit a big fat rut in the road. When I hit that rut; well, let’s just say it feels like getting a flat tire in the middle of nowhere with no spare tire or tools in the trunk and zero cell phone service at the twilight of the weekend.

That’s what the rut feels like, and it seems as though we hit it every single year around this time– three days. Being in a rut isn’t necessarily the problem. The problem really is that we already made promises we won’t be able to keep in 2013. Moreover, we know that any changes, policies we implemented over the past few days have more chances hitting the PowerBall than of actually sticking through the month of January.

But we knew that already. In fact, our friends and family ask us why we put ourselves through that junk again and again, year after year. The conclusion always being the same: because no matter how we ended the previous year, we hope that the coming year will be the year God has made specifically for our blessing.

You didn’t really come into 2013 thinking that some form of behavioral modification would alter your life in the long term. But you believe it when other people tell you that behavioral modification is the only way; and that slow and steady growth by the sanctification of your soul through the will of God is less than nothing.

Let me break that down to you: people everywhere, because it is human nature, want to sell you the lie that you have to earn some type of merit based grace from God through changing the outwardly actions you make — that’s right, they are selling you the idea that you control something external to yourself; and you, just like me, believe it wholeheartedly.

Then when we think about it, there is no salvation, that being “hope.” The rut you hit is that feeling you’ll never be blessed the way you’re going and that isn’t a lie. It’s absolutely true. We won’t be blessed given the way we fail to change our behavior.

“Selah.” If you don’t know what that means, it just means that we need to chew on a new piece of information and make it applicable to our lives. What I want you to “chew” on when you are in a rut is this: “but,” that is to say that despite my inability and iniquities, God gives me a “but.”

But God is still with me. But, despite the fact we don’t deserve it because we are in a rut, God answers when we call out to Him in our rut. It doesn’t matter what we are, how bad we failed, or our quickly we broke form from change, God lifts us out of the rut.

If you’re in a rut already, don’t give up on the year. This could still very well be your year. You need to cry to God and remember He is your shield and your glory. Let’s cry to God every time we hit our rut this year.

“I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains…for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.” (Revelation 3:1-2)

Why are we pretending? We have no more motivation left. We’ve been beaten. It’s easier to just go through the motions at this point rather than fight against ourselves or even fight against everybody else for the smallest gain or purpose. What we’ll tell ourselves is, “well maybe we’ll try again next year.” But we all know next year will roll around and we’ll be at the same place again.

We’ll be between here and nowhere, given up, broken, and going through the motions. Some of us have been going through the motions so long that we don’t even know what it feels like to actually do that thing. Just be honest with yourself, don’t you just go to work, almost on autopilot and park yourself in your cube and mindlessly keep busy until five? Maybe that’s the routine you have on Sundays? You mindlessly get ready for church and then come to church and sit down for a mindless service, lifting your arms up ever so high at the staccato of the very last song, then close your eyes really hard, word some things with your mouth, and sit down.

The writer of Revelation says to the church in Sardis (an ancient city in Turkey) that it’s time to stop being so faint hearted and soft. It is unacceptable to start things and not see them through. Worse than an inability to follow through, is following through half-heartedly. It is not acceptable to God.

It’s horrible worship. It is comparable to peeing your pants and walking around in public wearing soiled articles of clothing. With three days remaining in 2012, I want to challenge you: stop pretending life by going through the motions, but actually live life with the fire and tenacity latent within your heart.

You and I both know you have dreams you want to aspire toward. That you once imagined God to be leading you for something so satisfying that it made you drool in your dreams.

Forget trying again next year, there’s still time this year to work. Join me, and make this year a banner year and I guarantee that you’ll find yourself raising a banner even higher next year. Let’s do everything in the name of our Lord. Stop pretending life, wake up and live it.

And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” (Luke 19:5 ESV)

If you spent any time in Sunday School or did time in Vacation Bible School, you probably know the tune and the dance that accompanies this passage. But have you ever thought of the song’s significance?

It’s not just to encourage small people (aka kids) to take the initiative to do what is necessary to glimpse of Jesus. Rather, it’s about a disposition of heart that even us “big people” can relate to and need in order to have Jesus invite himself into your house (figuratively).

Zacchaeus was the equivalent of a modern day traitor. He was a tax collector and he was a corrupt tax collector at that. But the reason I call him a modern day traitor is because tax collectors basically were a franchise owner for the people who oppresses you. Let me explain, if you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about and haven’t heard my tirade on this on any given Sunday.

The Roman empire would franchise out its tax collecting duties to people in the localities that they conquered so that the garrison and/or military forces employed by Rome can be paid to keep Roman control in that land and territory by the very people they conquered. It’s an ingenious system if you ask me. So what you have are people that serve as tax collectors that are taking money from their own people so that a foreign nation can rule over them on their dime. Zacchaeus was, therefore a traitor; and like most traitors, he was also corrupt, he levied higher than normal taxes so that he could gain wealth.

What this story in Luke teaches us is that Zacchaeus was willing to climb up a tree to get a glimpse at something that he wasn’t primed to get a glimpse at. Jesus, being a religious leader, was not the type of person that would be found associating himself with a morally broken traitor and Zacchaeus knew it. But despite that, Zacchaeus had to see for himself, who this Jesus was. Jesus then surprised Zacchaeus by reaching out to him.

On a normal day, God would have no business meeting with us. He is after all, holy, perfect and eternal, whereas we are the opposite. But like Zacchaeus, if we are willing to catch a glimpse of God, He will turn around and surprise us each and every time by inviting himself into our life and associating with us. It’s really beautiful.

Every single time we take the initiative to get a glimpse of God passing us by, He will always say, “hurry up and come down.” Some of us will not respond to that invitation to “hurry up and come down.”

Others of us will cling harder to the tree we climbed up to get a glimpse; but both are incorrect responses. Jesus must stay at your house (your heart) today, but you must hurry up and come down to accept his invitation.

Days off are a great thing aren’t they? They give you a chance to catch up on things you missed out on; and/or an opportunity to recover from the drain of living life. Yet, we take that for granted. We whine, “there isn’t enough time.” Perhaps you are right.

There is never enough time. But one thing is for certain– a lot of forgot what it means to take a day off and take a Sabbath (myself included).

Moreover, I gave them my Sabbaths, as a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. – Ezekiel 20:12

Let me define the word “Sabbath” for you because I know the word is as ancient and religious as your grandmother and the meaning of the word has lost its meaning and effect on us.

A “Sabbath,” as understood here in this passage and all other passages in the Bible, was created so that we would take a day from toiling toward our own interests and our own ends and to dedicate it for worship.

Worship, is not simply religious activity or ritual, although it could be, moreover, “worship” is an act of positive self-sacrifice.

That is to say that, on a “Sabbath” day we worship God by serving others interests and relaxing by looking at the work of God in our lives and gratefully appreciating the promise God embodies in our lives every single day.

In effect, a “Sabbath” is a day whenever you get a chance to breathe and take a step back from your life, remember to thank God for the opportunity you have for being able to wind down and reflect and to give back.

God gives us a Sabbath as a “sign” for us to remember that it was and is always God who helps us walk our paths and makes our lives full. It is a “sign” for us to think about what God’s plans are for us and why and how He intends those plans to be fulfilled in our lives.

It is a gift for us in our toil to take a break and just look toward our maker and say, “thank you.” God tells Ezekiel, the prophet, that the Israelites are coming to inquire from God, but they forget the greatest sign and the most important day of the week when God gives them an opportunity to inquire, think and ponder.

Here in the 21st century, we are no different. We set out to inquire of God about our lives and we virtually ignore the “Sabbath” He gives us as a sign between Him and us to prove He is faithful and that He always delivers on His promises.

Take a Sabbath and worship God, you will indefinitely understand how God shapes your life. It is a gift of understanding and peace of mind. Let’s celebrate that together.

If you’re one of those people who have ever wondered whether God is still out there intervening in your life, this is the prayer we need to be praying: For this reason I bow my knees before the Father…that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14, 19b).

Let me back track from the conclusion I just made to where we currently find ourselves or have been finding ourselves frequently and persistently through our journeys for spiritual significance. We would not need to pray this if our lives were fine and dandy and filled with beauty and blessings and happy things.

But our lives don’t reflect that type of butterflies and kisses type of design. They are filled with turmoil and suffering at worst, and at best, our lives are filled with little bits of annoyances that constantly break the camel’s back. So we lose confidence, our boldness is gone and glazed over our eyes is the empty, tired look of defeat and monotony.

Our inner being is sullen and downtrodden and the youthful exuberance that once filled us is strength-less. I mean that is the price we pay for living in this world. We wonder about God existence and if we do believe in God’s existence, we wonder about whether He even cares about what happens to us. Constantly playing in the background of our minds is the Biblical passage that our lives are nothing more than mist passing through the air and this obviously doesn’t help our discomfort nor our afflictions.

However, I tell you that God still searches for you and longs for you even though you do not notice. He is working in you and around you to give us opportunities to grasp at an understanding of His true love for us. God wants us to have “fullness” in our hearts that only He can provide. He wants us to feel the power at work within us. What we need to do is recognize His love pervading through our circumstances and reaching out towards us.

Unless we’re attentive to it and are framed to identify it, we will never catch it. We become attentive to it when we “bow our knees” in humility. Humility is knowing that God is working in us and through us even though we’re messed up and not up to par with the holiness standard God set for us in the beginning. It is not calling ourselves unworthy. It is not fuming at our own mistakes and missteps.

Humility before God (bowing our knees) is an act of accepting God for what He does how He does it in our lives– that is to be open to God’s way of loving us. Once we are open to the way God loves us, we begin to understand how Christ loves us in our fallenness.

When we experience how Christ loves us, we become filled with the “fullness of God” — an all encompassing love that cannot be expressed in any way except by experiencing it with an open mind and heart to the power of it all. If you want to live a fulfilling spiritual life, you have to experience the fullness of God.

In order to experience the fullness of God, you have to open yourself to how God loves you. To open yourself to how God loves you, you must accept that God loves you knowing you better than you know yourself and accepts you for it. Become full of God and see where a full life can take you in your circumstances.

What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (James 4:14 ESV) I want you guys to keep this in mind and think about this today and through June.

I know the school year is no longer in rhythm for you guys and you all beat to your own drums but this has eternal consequence if you think about this the right way: “what is our life?”Can you say it is anything at this point? Most likely, it is simply the sum culmination of eating and going to the bathroom?

I thought about this over the past few days and asked God, “what is my life?” because when you think about it, there are a lot of things in life that sort of randomly connect but you don’t know what that connection or what those connections are until you question, “what is my life.” When you go to that furniture purgatory known as Ikea and buy that quality Swiss engineered, Chinese manufactured piece of home comfort, you pick it up in a box with pieces and parts that you have to manually assemble. I don’t know why but the instructions are usually missing and if the instructions are there, in 8 languages but your own, you can’t seem to decipher it because it wasn’t written for a five foot eleven, Asian American dude born and raised on the East Coast.

You put piece 2f into the socket called Q, tying it widget B and your furniture doesn’t look like the picture on the box or the catalogue. So you take it apart and do it again with your own expert furniture engineering skills and you have left over screws and a few extra arms and now a missing leg. As soon as you sit on that baby, it’s done– you throw it in the trash a few months later; a mist that disappears after a moment.

Your life, until you can start piecing together the pieces, is meaningless. It’s like a breath that comes and goes like hot winter breath in the freezing cold. If that is the breadth of our life, then we must certainly do something with it because time is running short. But more importantly, we have to screw the pieces of our lives together appropriately or we won’t be useful for long. James, concludes with these fantastic ideas.

It’s one thing if we have no idea what we’re doing and them losing an opportunity on life given to us by the grace of God and the blood of Jesus Christ; it’s a totally other thing (sin) when we know how the pieces of our lives fit and fail to put it together properly or appropriately.

Life is short and we’re on God’s borrowed time, that is until the wind blows the mist away, what are we doing with it?