tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80864665733279975032024-02-07T17:54:34.823-07:00Formed by GraceRestoring freedom to Christians by releasing them from performance-driven ChristianityBill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-56290652158082735272013-07-16T08:23:00.000-06:002013-07-16T08:29:38.275-06:00Lessons from a Forest Fire #2Reflecting back on the fire that destroyed 500 homes and left ours standing has not been easy. My mind wants to make some sense out of what happened...what happened to us and what happened to our friends and neighbors that are left with piles of ash. But I have decided that trying to make sense out of it all, trying to discover the "whys," is the wrong path to walk. The path I am choosing to take focuses on a phrase, a word, and a prayer.<br />
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<i>The fire crossing the road behind us</i><br />
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First the phrase...and it is not "the grace of God." I would have a hard time looking at a foundation full of ashes and saying, "Ah, the grace of God." It might be right, but oh so hard. And so the phrase I have been focusing on is "the will of God." This helps me. I do not need to understand the will of God.<br />
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And that brings me to the word that has been helping me, and that word is "mystery." The will of God is mysterious and there are many who experience mysteries of God's will that are far more difficult and painful than a fire. I can live with the mysteries of God's will because I know God.<br />
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And so the prayer. Just because God's will for our lives at times is deeply confusing and mysterious, and our hearts long for "whys" that we will never hear, it never diminishes God's trustworthiness. No matter how deep and painful the ways he might lead us, he can always be trusted. And so my prayer is that God will use the twists and turns of his will to deepen my trust in him.<br />
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<br />Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-60763914090387327372013-06-27T09:36:00.000-06:002013-06-27T09:36:21.142-06:00Lessons from a Forest Fire - #1Tuesday June 11. I get a reverse 911 call on my cell phone ordering us to evacuate our home immediately. Rushing home by the back roads to avoid road blocks I can see the huge black plum of smoke and the orange glow of flames a couple of hundred feet high. The wind was blowing 30 to 40 miles per hour pushing the fire right towards our house. Being close to the point of the fires origin I knew I had just minutes to collect some valuables and flee. Sue was driving home from Kansas. I was on my own.<br />
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After taking less than ten minutes to toss photo albums, pictures, journals, computers and some business files in the back of my truck, I took one last look around the house and thought about all we were going to lose. I said to myself that "it is just stuff." But is it really? No it is not.<br />
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My unhealthy tendency to just think of it as stuff is described well by Thomas Merton, "God is more glorified by a man who uses the good things of this life in simplicity and with gratitude than by the nervous asceticism of someone who is agitated about every detail of his self-denial. The former uses good things and thinks of God. The later is afraid of good things and consequently cannot use them properly. He is terrified by the pleasure God has put in things...He imagines God has placed all the good thing of the world before him like bait in a trap." It is not a very long journey for me from thinking of the good things He has given as bait (which I do often) to thinking of it as "just stuff." And I think I have made progress - but I have not.<br />
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The "stuff" is God's special blessings on us over the years. To enjoy. To delight in. To thank him for. The "stuff" represents God's faithfulness to us. And when we lose these special gifts it's right to mourn, to grieve, to cry. God has not called us to die to the good he does for us. He has not called us to die to the healthy desires and pleasures of life. The good that he gives us are gifts from him. So often we feel guilty even unwrapping them much less enjoying them. They are not "just stuff."<br />
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So what is the rest of the story? Our across the street neighbors lost their house. Neighbors on our side of the street lost theirs. Beyond that, every house for a mile and a half is now a pile of ash - 511 homes destroyed. 12,000 acres burned. The forest is black. Our five acres was 80% burned, but mostly just ground fire. The fire burned right up to our foundation...yet our house is standing! Oh the mysteries of God.<br />
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Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-13811591861932501182013-06-03T09:22:00.002-06:002013-06-03T09:22:45.637-06:00My Destructive Running (50 seconds)Robert Jonas, a close friend of the late Henri Nouwen, writes "The all-important moment in our spiritual lives is when we understand that we are truly God's beloved." For me this "understanding" is not just a moment in the past, but has to be a continual reality. Today. When it is not my today, I find myself running away from myself to be someone else, someone God might be more pleased with. Running to leave behind what I am ashamed of.<br />
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"What great love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are." (I John 3:1). This word from God has been one of the most significant in my life...but one of the hardest to believe. I so identify with Henri Nouwen when he writes, "the conviction is deeply rooted in us that being loved is something you have to earn...We can scarcely conceive of getting something for nothing. Everything has to be worked for...You could call it the 'commercialization' of love. Nothing for nothing. Not even love." And so I "embark on the destructive search among the wrong people and in the wrong places for what can only be found in the house of my Father."<br />
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(Quotes are from Henri Nouwens book, <em>Letters to Marc, </em>pages 49-52)Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-65692339087864141112013-05-23T10:38:00.000-06:002013-05-23T10:38:13.061-06:00Does God Motivate us with Threats?I have written a number of times how the Gospel transforms our fear of God from being scarred, timid, and apprehensive to wonder, awe and amazement. This is why I can always approach my Father with confidence and boldness.<br />
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A couple of weeks ago a friend responded, "Yeah but what about Philippians 2:12, 'Work out your salvation with fear and trembling'?" Great question. This sounds as if our Christian growth should be motivated by a fear of what God will do to us if we don't meet his standard of effort and progress. It feels like a semi-veiled threat to be faithful or else. This is what I used to think and I had it wrong. For a couple of reasons.<br />
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First, we discover that if it is a subtle threat it is an empty threat. In our moments or months or even years of half-heartedness we do not experience a heavenly Father that makes us tremble with fear and duck for cover. Rather our experience is exactly the opposite, we have the experience of the prodigal son being embraced by his father. We don't have a Father who is trying to move us along with a cattle-prod of fear, rather we have a Father who is wooing us with his love and goodness.<br />
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Secondly, the person we are responding to with "fear and trembling" is not God...it is us. Ralph Wardlaw, an early 18th century Scottish Presbyterian wrote, "This fear is self-distrust; it is tenderness of conscience; it is vigilance against temptation...It is taking heed lest we fall...it is the caution and circumspection which timidly shrinks from whatever would offend and dishonor God and the Savior."<br />
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Lastly, the very next verse, verse 13, describes God's participation in our growth, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire to obey him and the power to do what pleases him" (NLT). God is out in front of us, enabling us to obey and cheering us on--not behind us kicking us in the butt.<br />
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Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-17831584310711010142013-05-16T10:06:00.001-06:002013-05-16T10:14:59.341-06:00What is God Thinking!?Yesterday I was leading a Bible discussion group and because it was a new group and the first time we had been together, we took most of the time to get to know each other. As I was sharing my story I mentioned that one of the core lies that had been planted in me as a young teenager was that my worth was dependent upon what you thought of me. In other words I was an addicted people pleaser.<br />
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We talked about how pleasing people and pleasing God are two sides of the same coin...and that both sides will cause you to hit the wall at some point. I then explained that what is true in our relationship with our Father in heaven will be true in our relationships with one another. And then I shared the part I never like--that what characterizes my horizontal relationships with those around me will be a reflection of what characterizes my vertical relationship with God. For example, I will only extend as much grace to others as I have received.<br />
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At that point one of the individuals asked me this question, "What do <u>you</u> see in your relationships with others that could be a reflection of your relationship with God?" Even though the shackles of people pleasing have been cut off and no longer hold me captive, I can still periodically hear the rattle of those chains in the background and so I replied that I can find myself wondering what people are thinking of me. Applying the above principle, that means there are times I find myself wondering what God thinks of me!<br />
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After a moment of pause the wonderful truth of the gospel replaced the lies that had defined me for so many years and I realized that because of the gospel I NEVER again have to worry about what God is thinking about me. Today he is looking at me through the righteousness of Christ and he says "I love you. That is what I am thinking about you. Period."<br />
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We all have the rattle of chains in our ears...sometimes they sound far off and at other times as if them are right against our ears. No matter how much noise the chains make, what is important is that the awesome good news of the gospel is the loudest sound our hearts hear. <br />
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When I fly I sometimes take with me a set of noise canceling headphones. They cancel out the irritating noise of the engines and the distracting chatter going on all around me and allow me to hear with brilliance the beautiful music on my ipod that can minister so deeply to me. That is what the gospel can do for us.<br />
<br />Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-38555649809634182013-04-23T11:22:00.001-06:002013-04-23T11:22:56.925-06:00The Prodigal's Suspicion (85 seconds)Last week the most influential author in my life died, Brennan Manning. I only met and talked with him once, but he has deeply mentored me through his writings. The golden thread that wove through all his messages and writings is this, "God loves you just as you are, not as you should be." I like to change it to, "<em>My Father</em> loves me just as I am, not as I should be."<br />
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When I think of this unbelievable good news, my mind always goes back to Luke 15 and the parable of the prodigal son. It illustrates it beautifully. With his rebellion and rejection of his father having ruined his life and now in his mind defining him, the prodigal has no hope of his father ever loving him again. But he knows he needs help and so as a last resort, plans to return home and say to his father, "I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your servants." Dan Cruver says that the prodigal is returning home thinking of his father as his master and not as his father. He plans to return home as a wage-earner hoping to earn his way back into his father's love.<br />
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Sinclair Ferguson writes that we have the same suspicion as the prodigal--that it is impossible for the Father to love us. And so we return to him as our master and not our Father. But the good news the prodigal experienced is the same good news we can experience, "Our Father loves us just as we are, not as we should be."Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-1847497294347742132013-04-03T08:26:00.000-06:002013-04-03T08:26:58.898-06:00The Spiritual Disciplines: Going Someplace (22 seconds)Henri Nouwen writes, "Here we see what discipline in the spiritual life means. It is a gradual process of coming home to where we belong and listening there to the voice which desires our attention."<br />
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So here is my thought. What if the spiritual disciplines are not practices or things we do, rather they are the practice of <em>going</em> <em>someplace</em> to be <em>with</em> <em>someone</em>...someone who is crazy about us and loves us more than we will ever know and who longs for our company.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-41059259576681015472013-03-25T20:03:00.000-06:002013-03-25T20:03:00.663-06:00If God Had a Face... (55 sec.)One of my favorite authors is Brennan Manning. One of the questions he asks is this, "If God had a face, what kind of face would He make at you right now?"<br />
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Would it be unemotional? Stern? Sad? Frustrated? Wondering? Disappointed? Impatient? Based on our last two discussions about reconciliation and being bound back together with our best friend - there is only one answer. He sees you and has a grin from ear to ear! He is ecstatic about you. <br />
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If God had something to say to you today--what might you imagine that to be? "You need to work a little harder?" "When are you going to get with it?" "We need to have a talk?" Will you hear some nagging feedback? I don't think so. God does have something to say to you and me today, and this is what I hear; "Do you know what a joy and delight it is for me to live in you? Do you know I have loved you from before you were created? I have always loved you and always will. No matter what. Its a done deal. Forever."Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-89947073175482342512013-03-20T09:44:00.001-06:002013-03-20T09:46:16.575-06:00A Wild and Crazy Friendship!!Galatians 5:1 tells us that we have been set free from some things so we can be free to live in some things. And so the joy of my Christian life is not just in the past, just in being set free from guilt, condemnation, punishment, the fear of God, etc. I am to find joy in the wild current reality of walking with God.<br />
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In our last blog we began looking at Romans 5:1 and one of the things that we have been set free for is to "have peace with God." We saw how the word "peace" means to bind back together that which was broken. It means the restoration of a broken relationship. I used the illustration of our standing face to face with God our Father, his arms wrapped tightly around me, and Jesus walking in circles around us, binding us tight with loop after loop of a long rope. Then he ties an unbreakable knot in the rope. Colossians 1:20 tells us he has made peace (bound us together) by the blood of his cross. That rope that holds us tight is his blood.<br />
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Now, a quick look at who I am bound to. John Stott writes, "To reconcile means to...renew a friendship." And so who am I bound back together with? My friend. And God is now bound back together with his friend--me. <br />
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Do I ever hear God the Father calling me, as a believer, his friend in the New Testament? Well, yes and no. The answer is no if I look for God the Father directly calling me or anyone his friend.<br />
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But the answer is absolutely YES! Jesus tells us we are his friends (John 15:14) and we are promised nothing in all creation will separate us from this loving friendship (Romans 8:37-39). But why is Jesus so committed to us as friends? Because Jesus only does what he sees the Father doing and he only says what he hears the Father saying. <em>Jesus calls us friends because that is what he hears the Father calling us. He treats us as loving friends because that is how he sees the Father treating us.</em><br />
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<em>I have been set free to be my Father's friend...I am not his enemy. And he is not mine. </em>Think about this...it is not only absurdly good news, it is an absurd present reality...God and me...walking in a mutual friendship. May I be as crazy about him as he is about me.<br />
<br />Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-66519952138316933692013-03-18T08:57:00.000-06:002013-03-18T08:57:24.764-06:00Always Set Free for SomethingLike gramma used to say, "You can only serve what's cooking in the kitchen," and so here's what has been cooking in my kitchen.<br />
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The Gospel is the good news of freedom...freedom from that which holds us in slavery so that we can be set free for something. It is always freedom for something. "For freedom Christ has set us free..." (Galatians 5:1). We are never set free just to live in a neutral zone. We are set free so we can <em>experience</em> a life that is filled with unfathomable goodness and love. <br />
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After laying out for us the wonder of justification by grace, Paul starts Romans 5:1 with a huge "therefore." "<u>Therefore</u>, since we have been justified by faith, <em>we have peace with God</em> through our Lord Jesus Christ." Peace...not fear, not wondering, apprehension, timidity, no rebuilding of a relationship because of past wrongs...but peace. God, through Paul, says the number one thing that we are set free for is peace with him.<br />
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The word for "peace" in the Greek comes from a verb which means "to bind together that which has been separated" We have been bound to God. Picture this, you are standing face to face with God, so close that he has his arms wrapped around you, holding you tightly. And then you see someone making circles around you with a rope...always pulling it tight...snugging you tightly together. Loop after loop. Then finally they put a knot in the rope. There is no way you can break apart or get loose. It is impossible. You can't even begin to untie the knot. (Bryan Chapell wrote that, "If God knew we were going to untie the knot of salvation his love would require that he deny us the opportunity.")<br />
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That someone with the rope is Jesus. Colossians 1:20 tells us that he bound us to the Father with the blood of the cross, "making peace by the blood of his cross."<br />
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Our having "peace" is not a reference to us feeling peaceful, quiet, serene or contented. To be at peace with God is to be in a state of reconciliation, to be bound back together. That is us today. Forever. Never to be changed. <br />
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NEXT BLOG: We are bound back together with a friend!!!Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-12177521969997502132013-03-04T21:30:00.001-07:002013-03-04T21:30:26.705-07:00A Time to Hold On and a Time to Let Go.<br />
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Bill - where have you been? Good question. <br />
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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote, "Great is the art of the beginning, but greater is the art of ending." Endings are a part of living. If we are going to move into the future, if we are going to grow, something always has to end. If we are going to become who we are meant to be, we must move on. Henry Cloud in his book <em>Necessary</em> <em>Endings</em> writes, "There are relationships that should go away, practices and phases that must be relinquished, and life stages that should come to an end to open up the space for the next one...some things need to die and some things need to be killed...Endings are not only a part of life, they are a requirement for living and thriving...we stay stuck in what should now be our past...endings bring hope."<br />
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The author of Ecclesiastes writes this, "A right time for birth and another for death, A right time to plant and another to reap...a right time to destroy and another to construct...A right time to hold on and another to let go."<br />
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When I stopped blogging it was a season for ending and letting go. I was within ten months of being able to step down from a 13 year stint as a VP of The Navigators. I had requested to be released from the role two years previously, but God made it clear that I needed to continue to serve in that role. I had the direction right, but the timing wrong.<br />
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I was becoming increasingly aware of a dichotomy between what I had learned to do and how I was now being shaped by God's grace...between who I used to be and who I was becoming. The work load was high and increasingly no longer meshing with my motivations. I was and am incredibly thankful for how I had the privilege to serve - and for the privilege of serving with such godly leaders. Teammates who are friends. I had no regrets, but also knew it was time to enter a new phase of life.<br />
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Formally I stepped out of my role in August 2011...informally about eight months later. There were projects to finish, an awesome replacement to orient, commitments to keep, etc. In May of 2012 The Navigators gave us the gift of a six month sabbatical...the first one in forty years with the Navs. It was a tremendous gift. It gave us time to deeply rest physically and to deeply restore our souls. We ended with our souls full and journals bursting at the seams...ready for a new future.<br />
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Now it is a season for new beginnings. Our role in The Navs will be to continue to lead - but in a very different way. Instead of leading from a "role," we have the incredible privilege of leading by teaching and mentoring leaders in discovering how the gospel changes everything in their lives and ministry. A key focus will be to help the next generation of leaders to become deeply anchored in the Scriptures...especially the New Testament...not just as a text to be studied, but as the doorway to an unconditional love and unconditional relationship. We will have opportunity to do this both with Nav leaders and leaders in the Body of Christ. <strong>And with you</strong>. We are living a dream...living out our life's message and using our core giftings.<br />
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Part of new beginnings is beginning to blog again! There is a time for everything. Stay tuned.<br />
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Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-71898781276653209612010-11-13T06:00:00.000-07:002010-11-13T06:00:07.312-07:00Live Like It! (5 seconds)<div align="center"><em><strong>"</strong>You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it.<strong> Live out your God-created identity."</strong></em></div><div align="center">Matthew 5:48 <em>The Message</em></div>Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-40823876866643813632010-11-12T09:52:00.008-07:002010-11-12T11:34:47.904-07:00John 14:21 - prescription or description? (55 seconds)<div align="center">"<em>Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who love me..." </em><em>- John 14:21</em></div><p> </p><p>For years I read this verse wrong. And when we read it wrong it becomes a heavy load. It was for me. </p><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">I think most of us learned to read it first as a prescription on how to become one who loves God... "<em>if I obey his commands I will become one who loves God." </em>In other words, my obedience transforms me. I also learned to read it as the prescription of how to show God I love him. I will prove to Him that I really do love Him by working hard at keeping His commands...and the harder I work at keeping His commands, the more He will see that I love Him and the more pleased He will be with me. </div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left">But what if this is not a prescriptive statement but an <strong>identity</strong> statement? What if because I am one who loves God (my identity), the result is I now have an ability to obey, and I do obey.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"></div><div align="left">If we learn to read John 14:21 this way, it becomes an affirmation of the truth that our obedience is the evidence of what God has already done in us...rather than it being what we do so that He will do something in us.</div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div>Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-55473845985204012772010-10-27T15:57:00.003-06:002010-10-27T16:27:17.012-06:00Why Pleasing God Exhausts Me! (55 seconds)If I make my primary motive to please God (versus trusting God - which pleases Him), I quickly find myself on a treadmill that I cannot get off. I find myself thinking, "what must I do to keep God pleased with me...How do I know when I have done enough...am I giving God my best?...better try harder - after all God's standard is holiness." Whenever I make the underlying motive of my life to please God, I am trapped in a life of self-effort. Not only can I not get off the treadmill, I am chained to it. Day and night I try to be good enough so God is pleased. I am trapped and I am living without the good news of the Gospel.<br /><br />Hebrews 11:6 tells us that "without faith it is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">impossible</span> to please God." If the underlying motive of my life is to trust God, He is pleased with me! <br /><br />God has already done a miraculous work in us. We have a new nature. I don't have to, by my relentless hard work and effort, try to become somebody different than who I am so that God will be pleased. But now, by a spirit-empowered effort, I can live out of what He has already done in me and who He has made me to be. The foundation of that effort is trusting that what He has said He has done in me is true. That trust pleases Him.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-40011367213009191362010-10-23T04:00:00.001-06:002010-10-23T04:00:07.825-06:00Doing vs. Trusting (62 seconds)When I was in college, I was taught that one of the questions that I should ask of the Scriptures in my morning quiet time was "Is there something here I need to obey?" This is not all that bad a question unless our motivation is so that we can become righteous through our obedience. We do not obey so that we can become righteous, we obey because we are already righteous (Ephesians 4:24). Paul describes this effort to become righteous by our behavior and effort in Philippians 3:6 as "legalistic righteousness." This is diametrically opposed to the gospel and Paul goes on to say he has left it behind..."not having a righteousness of my own...but that which is through faith in Christ." (Philippians 3:9)<br /><br />Recently I have been pondering a different question in my quiet time - I think a more fundamental question..."<em>What would it look like to <u>trust</u> You today?"</em> As I mentioned last time, it is my trust that pleases God. Somehow this question seems to penetrate a lot deeper into my soul, into my desires and motivations. I think why it penetrates so much more deeply is that it is a <strong>relational question.</strong> <br /><br />Rather than just focusing on "is the something I should do today," - now the focus shifts to "what is my <u>relationship</u> of trust?" Doing what somebody wants is a lot different that trusting that person.<br /><strong></strong>Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-1002036526878382152010-10-21T13:00:00.000-06:002010-10-21T13:00:01.956-06:00Obedience is the Evidence of My Trust. (55 seconds)1If God has given me a new nature and a new heart that is already righteous (Ephesians 4:24) - then my new nature is already pleasing to God. Now my flesh is not, but I am stuck with it until the day I die - and it is not going to be transformed. God is not in the business of transforming it, and neither should I. Romans 8:7 tells how the flesh cannot submit to God and it will not. The more I focus on living out of my new nature, the less the desires of the flesh will characterize my behavior.<br /><br />So I have a new nature that is righteous and pleasing to God...so doing obedient things does not increase God's love or His pleasure. <em>What pleases God is when I trust that what He says about me is true...and I then live accordingly</em>. <strong>It is my trust that pleases God!</strong> This is Hebrews 11:6, "And without faith (I like to insert "trust" here - it is the verb form of "faith")...without trust it is impossible to please God."<br /><br />So why do I obey? What causes it to be a reality in my life? It is because I trust...it is the result of my trust. Here is the principle: <u>Obedience is always the evidence of my trust</u>. It is not my effort to please Him.<br /><br />Next post: How does this change my time with God in the Scriptures? Saturday, October 23.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-87688478872125490772010-10-18T09:34:00.005-06:002010-10-18T09:54:16.757-06:00Is it my behavior that pleases God? (55 sec)Okay - time to get back with it. If I not only relate to God on the basis of the life and death of Christ (and not on the basis of my behavior)...and God also relates to me on the basis of the life and death of Christ (and not my behavior) - this means that I am set free from attempting to please Him by my obedience. He looks at me through the life and death of Jesus and is already pleased. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me more than he already loves me in Christ Jesus. And there is nothing I can do to make Him love me less. Might this mean that the motive or the purpose behind my obedience is not pleasing God? This could prove revolutionary to me.<br /><br />Let me say all this another way. God does not love me more when I resist sin, He does not love me less when I give in. If He loves me less, I am under law and not grace. Does this give me permission to sin? Absolutely not. Grace will never inflame the heart of the saint to sin. Our new redeemed heart does not want to sin, and so being out from under the law and in the freedom of grace does not create a desire in our heart to run wild and sin.<br /><br />So then - what about obedience? What is it's place? What is its role? How should I think about it? Check the next blog, Wednesday, October 20.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-19120499580770742402010-09-15T08:57:00.003-06:002010-09-15T09:22:22.523-06:00Removing the Scare from Fear (60 seconds)We have talked a number of times about "the fear of God" and how for the believer it no longer contains the fear of being punished for our sins...because of the cross - judgement, condemnation and punishment are gone for us.<br /><br />Over vacation I was reading <u>Living</u> <u>the</u> <u>Resurrection</u> by Eugene Peterson and he has some interesting thoughts on the fear of God for the believer. Let me quote some for you.<br /><br />"...in the Hebrew culture and the Hebrew Scriptures in which the word <em>fear</em> is frequently used in a way that means far more than simply being scared...It includes all the emotions that accompany being scared- disorientation, not knowing what is going to happen, the realization that there is far more here than we had any idea of. But that 'more and other' is God."<br /><br />"<em>Fear</em> <em>of</em> <em>the</em> <em>Lord</em> is the stock biblical term for this either sudden or cultivated awareness...We are not the center of our existence. We are not the sum total of what matters. We don't know what is going to happen next."<br /><br />"Fear-of-the-Lord keeps us on our toes with our eyes open...prevents us from acting presumptuously..."<br /><br />"<u>Fear-of-the-Lord is fear with the scary element deleted."</u><br /><u></u><br />I like that - it reminds me of Brennan Manning's NT definition of the fear of God as "silent wonder, radical amazement, affectionate awe - at the infinite goodness of God."<br /><u></u>Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-23860448097173776212010-09-02T06:00:00.000-06:002010-09-02T06:00:11.069-06:00Hiding My Sin From You (45 seconds)Since God allows me to bring my sin into the light with Him and only experience positive, helpful, and beneficial results...I need to love you the same way and allow you to bring your sin into the light of our relationship and allow you to experience the same beneficial results of doing that! On the other hand, if bringing my sin into the light with you means the beginning of <u>punishment</u>, I think I will keep it hidden and risk the possibility of getting caught. <br /><br />If bringing my sin into the light with you means the beginning of <u>discipline</u>, and I have experienced an environment of discipline that has always been rooted in love and has been focused on my growth, my healing, and my spiritual maturity (Hebrews 12), I will bring my sin into the light with you because I know that is better than the pain and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">deceitfulness</span> of hiding my sin.<br /><br />Remember - we know we have found a relationship of grace when we share the worst about us and the other person moves closer and holds us tighter.<br /><br /><em>You having that kind of relationship with me helps break the power of sin in my life...because I can live in the light. A relationship of grace is the greatest gift we can ever give someone.</em>Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-57936521688096618252010-08-29T06:00:00.003-06:002010-08-29T06:00:03.209-06:00Resisting Sin Does Not Break it's Power. (55 seconds)Lets see...if God relates to me on the basis of the life and death of Christ and not my behavior, if He does not condemn or punish me when I sin, if there is no longer any fear in my relationship with Him, and on my worst day He is head-over-heals in love with me...this means I no longer have to hide my sin from him! I can live in the light, take my masks off, stop acting and pretending, and stop trying to cover my sin with lots of good behavior.<br /><br /><br />Bringing my sin into the light with God does not harm my relationship with Him. Keeping it hidden actually harms me and puts me on a downward spiral. I John 1:8 describes this downward spiral as one of deception and untruth.<br /><br /><br />When we walk in the light (I John 1:7) we have fellowship with one another, we are cleansed from our sin, and the power of sin is broken in my life (I John 2:1). The power of sin in me always has a foothold in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">hiddenness</span>.<br /><br /><br />Here is a key truth - the power of sin is not broken by my resisting...especially when I am resisting in isolation and hiding the temptation...from God and others. The longer I resist the more vulnerable I become. The solution is to step into the light with God and others. Should we resist? Absolutely. But the solution is not in the resistance, it is in the light.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-56107896949916266182010-08-26T10:52:00.003-06:002010-08-26T11:07:43.191-06:00My Worst Day (65 seconds)Okay - quick review. Because God relates to me on the basis of the life and death of Christ - and not my behavior - we have looked at four things that are true. First - my sins will never come between me and God again. Secondly, I am free from condemnation...never do I need to feel condemned again for what I do. Thirdly, God will never punish me for my sins as a believer! And then fourthly, with the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">elimination</span> of punishment is the elimination of fear in my relationship with God.<br /><br />Now - a fifth true reality. Because all the above is true, now on my very very most worst day - God is still head-over-heals crazy about me! My sin does not diminish His love for me...He does not distance himself...He does not loosen His grip on me. As a matter of fact, I think He grips me tighter. As Romans 8 so beautifully portrays, nothing in all of creation can <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">separate</span> me from the love of God...that is now based on the life of Christ...not even my sin!<br /><br />So how do I know I have found a friend who treats me with grace? I know I have found such a friend when I tell them the worst there is to know about me...and they come closer to me, they hold me tighter, and they love me more. They love me just like they have experienced the love of God on their worst day. Interesting - until we experience the grace of God in the worst of our times, we cannot extend it to others in the worst of their times.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-8759212154781401162010-08-13T08:10:00.003-06:002010-08-13T08:36:13.626-06:00If Fear is Replaced, What About Philippians 2:12-13? (50 seconds)One of our blog followers asked a great question...and a common question. If our fear of God that is rooted in His punishment of us is eliminated (because He will no longer punish us) and replaced with boldness and confidence - what does Paul mean in Philippians 2:12 when he says "<em>work out your own salvation with fear and trembling</em>?" <br /><br />First, the "work out" is an admonition to live out what God has already done in us. He has given us a new heart, a new nature, so live that out. Among commentators there seems to be no disagreement here.<br /><br />I <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">believe</span> that the "fear and trembling" is not a fear of God, but a fear of ourselves...we still have our flesh and as Paul says in Romans 8:7 and 8, it is hostile to God, it cannot submit to God and it cannot please God. Kenneth <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Wuest</span> in his <u>Word Studies from the Greek New Testament</u> expresses it this way, "This fear is a self distrust...it is vigilance against temptation...it is taking heed lest we fall...it is the caution which timidly shrinks from whatever would offend and dishonor God and the Saviour." As <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Wuest</span> does, I connect this verse to Paul's advice in I Cor 10:12 "...<em>let anyone who thinks that he stand take heed lest he fall.</em>"Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-8207659852243165952010-07-20T09:01:00.004-06:002010-07-20T09:20:37.271-06:00So What Replaces Fear? (45 seconds)We have talked about how as <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">believers</span> God will never again punish us for our sins. NEVER! If God does, then Jesus did not absorb all our punishment. We then looked at how if punishment is eliminated in our relationship with God, then fear is gone in our relationship with God. I John 4:18 is foundational here - "...<em>perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment</em>..." We are loved with a perfect love and so fear is gone in our relationship with God.<br /><br />So now we need to ask - does fear just disappear or does something replace it? Thankfully something replaces it...something that is the polar opposite of fear. Ephesians 2:18 tells us that through the work of Christ we now have <strong>access</strong> to the Father. But then Ephesians 3:11 amplifies on this and says "<em>we have <u>boldness</u> and access with <u>confidence</u>.</em>.." No more hesitation, hedging, intimidation, cautiousness or fear in approaching God. That is all gone...forever! Now we come <strong>boldly</strong> into God's presence with <strong>confidence</strong>! I am wonderfully at home with my Father!Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-51615877154344774922010-07-09T12:38:00.003-06:002010-07-09T12:57:38.450-06:00Punishment vs. DisciplineLast time I mentioned that God will never punish you, as a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">believer</span>, for your sins. NEVER! If He does, then Jesus was not punished in your place on the cross. But He does still discipline us. So what's the difference?<br /><br />Punishment is always rooted in God's wrath and the end is death. On the other hand, discipline is rooted in God's love and the outcome is always for our good. Hebrews 12 is a good place to go to understand this. Hebrews 12:6 tells us that "<em>the Lord disciplines the one he loves</em>..." And so discipline is always an act of love toward us. Verse 10 then says that this discipline is "<em>for our good</em>." How so? It goes on to say in the rest of verse 10 and then in verse 11 - "<em>that we may share his holiness</em>" and experience "<em>the peaceful fruit of righteousness.</em>" Verse 12 adds that He disciplines us so that "<em>what is lame may...be healed." </em><br /><em></em><br />God never motivates us to obey by the fear of punishment. Love does not punish. <br /><br />If I was engaged in sin and wanted to turn from it and bring it into the light - but knew that doing so was the beginning of punishment, I would likely continue in sin. At least sin promises pleasure - even if it doesn't deliver. Punishment never promises pleasure.<br /><br />Next - if punishment is gone, so is fear.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8086466573327997503.post-22759383412822452082010-06-30T06:00:00.001-06:002010-06-30T06:00:05.667-06:00Effect Number Three - Unbelievable Good News!Okay - lets press on to the third effect of God imputing His righteousness to us because it is so closely tied to the last effect that God no longer condemns us even though we still sin and still <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">experience</span> guilt when we do sin.<br /><br />This third result is such unbelievably good news that most <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">believers</span> do not <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">believe</span> it! The good news is this - that <strong>God will NEVER NEVER NEVER NEVER punish you for your sins again!</strong> NEVER! If God still punishes us for our sins, then Jesus did not absorb all the punishment for our sins on the cross...and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Calvary</span> did not work. A lot of <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">believers</span> seem to approach this like insurance, that Jesus absorbed 80% of our punishment, but there is a 20% copay that we need to absorb...and that others need to experience when they sin!<br /><br />The ripple effects in our lives of this good news are incredible and far reaching and so for the next few blogs we will take a brief look at some of them. Then at some point in the future I will unpack this more fully because there is a lot here. The first thing we will need to unpack is the difference between God's punishment and God's discipline. That's next.Bill Tellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12778864325747305294noreply@blogger.com2