Are you Expecting?

What are you expecting to happen in your life? We all have expectations for our lives. But often we don't give voice to what we expect to happen in our lives.  Expectations are unseen hopes and desires that can either drive us to despair or lead us into a deeply meaningful and satisfying life. The national language of Pakistan is Urdu. The phrase to describe a pregnant woman is "Umed Se" which literally translated into English would be "With Hope". I love that phrase. To see someone filled with hope... and life is so encouraging and intriguing... we are drawn to hopeful people.

Expectations flow out of our beliefs about life. The book of Hebrews in the New Testament describes it this way, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Heb. 11:1)  What we hope for, imagine and desire often appears over time as we move in the direction of our expectations....our dreams. Even in the physical realm there is a natural waiting period to the birth of child. A child is conceived in a mother's womb and for 9 months the child grows in a protected environment prior to being released into the place of full visibilty.

When our souls are healthy and nurtured by love, our expectations remain hopeful in spite of times of disappointment. Think of that word...disappointment...which reveals the necessity to surrender our concept of the "WHEN" of life's dreams and desires. Every great expectation involves a timetable of patience and waiting. Listen to this wise counsel again from the book of Hebrews, "And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises." I am so glad that I have not received everything I have expected in life thus far.  So many times my expectations have been shallow, selfish and sensual.  If we got everything we wanted, when we wanted it, we would most likely be dead before our time! Confidence about our expectations flows out of being in the right place, at the right time, for the right reasons.  Expectations are spiritual and subject to the condition of our souls.

  When our hearts are right, our expectations begin to flow with the plan that God has established for us to live out from day to day.  When our hearts are darkened by selfishness we get lost and set ourselves up for the destructive cycle of cynicism and despair.  Cynics are dream killers. They have faced disappointment and come to wrong conclusions about life. The cynic has reached a dead end in the road of self will... and wants to call others down the same road of darkness and despair. They need to discover that dead ends do not need to be the end.  A dead end is in fact a huge opportunity to turn around and move in the direction of the light at the other end of the tunnel.

  Listen to this amazing promise ...... this amazing expectation that God would have us move in the direction of, " For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 29:11,12)

  What are you expecting?  Have you stopped dreaming?....afraid to fail?...afraid of being disappointed?  Hope is spiritual. Faith is spiritual. You can't separate your dream from the God who put you on the planet.  I have really good news.... God gave you that dream and wants to walk with you on the pathway toward fulfilling your deepest hopes in life. Be that hopeful person beaming and smiling even in the face of life's times of waiting and preparation.  God's grace and love is there for you right now.  Open your heart and receive the hope you need today.

Jim

Prayers from Hell

When we think about praying we almost always assume it's a good thing. As young children if we are raised in a religious family we are taught how to pray and the importance of prayer. But prayer is in fact a struggle for most of us. The idea of speaking to an almighty and eternal being is often awkward and intimidating. What exactly should I be praying about? 

  I have been a Christian since August 2nd, 1980. I have prayed quite a few prayers since then!  I would like to tell you I am adept at praying and all my prayers are unselfish and powerful. However, if I did I would be lying... another sin I need to avoid! The truth is sometimes I have prayed horrible, selfish prayers that in some distinct ways were inspired from hell. I want to share with you an example from own life of such a prayer. Prayer is such a vital, powerful and life giving form of communication that we dare not waste a single word in the presence of God. Please stay with me as I share my heart on this important topic I have entitled, "Prayers from Hell.".

  I moved to Mobile, Alabama in July, 1998. I have lived next to the USA campus since my arrival. Upon my arrival to Mobile I wanted to stay in shape so I began the daily ritual of jogging around the campus for both physical and spiritual exercise. I would pray for things as I jogged around the entire perimeter of the University of South Alabama. On the corner of University and Old Shell I was often confronted with the Solomon's restaurant and bar. It was a 'notorious' place noted for the frequent appearance of the Police and criminal activity. One night one of our international students walking through the parking lot was mugged and robbed. I got into the habit of praying daily for God to 'shut down' Solomon's.' My full name is James John Mather. I am named after the two brothers who were Jesus apostles, James and John. They both were nicknamed "Sons of Thunder" for wanting to call down destruction on anyone who would not follow Jesus their way. Unfortunately, I have much in common with my namesakes! I am often too quick to judge and too slow to have mercy and compassion. I prayed for 10 years for God to close Solomon's. 


One day while jogging around the campus, God stopped me in my tracks as I prayed my time worn but ineffective prayer. Here is what I think I heard God say, "You're praying the wrong prayer!" At once I felt both shock and humility. I stopped running and  listened for what God might say next. I felt a distinct impression that God was telling me to pray for the people inside the Solomon's business. " I want you to pray for the people inside... the customers, the workers, the business owners."  That's what I felt I heard God say. I began to pray in that manner with compassion and concern for the people... and not with the goal to condemn...but to redeem. A few months later the lights went out at Solomon's.  The sign board out front listed a cell phone number for anyone interested in leasing the building.

  We were in the early stages of launching an international church in Mobile and I wondered if God might have us use the former Solomon's building as our first location. We called the number. Some of our leadership team met with the two brothers who owned the business. On our first meeting I apologized for any part my prayers might have had in Solomon's closing. They looked shocked at my statement but said they were glad it closed. In their own words the business was 'killing them'. It quickly became apparent that we were not to lease the Solomon's building but instead embrace and welcome the former owners of Solomon's into our church family. Howard and Steve Weller have now become close friends and were very involved in our church in its early days. I officiated at Steve's wedding and have walked with both of them through the trials of physical illness. To put it simply, I love the men whose business I was praying closed. I was praying the wrong prayer. When I began to pray for the people on the inside of that bar, God took notice. I don't want to be a "Son of Thunder believer'" any longer. I want to be a son of God.... full of love, compassion and mercy. I want to intercede with prayers from heaven....not from hell.  Will you join me?


Jim

Healing for Damaged Emotions

 We don't truly value our health until we lose it. Remaining healthy is a complex equation. We are triune beings.... God has created us as body, soul and spirit. These intertwined components of our humanity are humanly impossible to separate and yet they interact deeply and effect our wholeness..... our health. We tend to pay most of our attention to our physical health (our bodies). We attempt to watch what we eat and exercise etc.... well, most of the time! 

  Our soul is complicated. We are a bundle of emotion, will, thoughts and individual personality. We are deeply impacted by our families and the words said to us in our childhood. We were born for love. We were meant to be raised in an atmosphere of unconditional love and acceptance. As children, our souls are vulnerable to rejection and abuse. We can't protect ourselves. When our soul is injured it affects every aspect of our life. Soul wounds don't show up on X-rays or Cat Scans. But soul wounds deeply impact our health.

  We need an encounter with truth to get well on the inside. When we believe lies about ourselves, they can torment and hurt us for a lifetime, until those deceptions are identified and removed. We desperately need healing....from the inside out. In the New Testament book of Hebrews we encounter the reality of Jesus as the healer of our soul. "For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart. No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." (Heb. 4:12,13)

  God can see things undetectable by human eyes and sophisticated technology. He sees it all. And yet his eyes are motivated by an amazing love that seeks to heal and not condemn. He waits for us to come to him with all our brokenness to bring healing and hope when wholeness eludes us.

  The beauty of Christ is that he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. Jesus by coming as the Son of man allowed himself to be tested in every way as we are --- yet without sin. He calls us today to come to him... to the throne of GRACE, with boldness. We often need to keep coming... healing of the soul is a process. The throne of grace fortunately has an unlimited supply of mercy and grace... and it delivers healing on time. It takes time to process our soul injuries and to be healed from the inside out. While forgiveness flows immediately, our ability to process that healing takes time.

  God's not in a hurry pushing you toward healing. He is perfect love.... and love is patient. Today, start the journey. Allow his perfect vision to identify the bruised and broken places in your soul. You can't be truly whole when you ignore your emotions, disappointments and the abuse of others. We need healing for our damaged emotions.

Healing is a process of replacing lies with truth. Truth is not disembodied principles applied to problems. Truth is personal. Jesus said it this way, " I am the way, the truth, and the life, No one comes to the Father except through me." Healing always leads back to relationship.... we are healed by the TRUTH, who is Jesus himself.

  Through the counsel and application of that truth to our lives.... over time, we are healed. God by his Spirit applies the truth balm to the hurting and damaged parts of our soul and then life and health begin to spring forth. In a community of acceptance and love we can slowly and steadily walk out of the darkness of rejection, depression, perfectionism, anger and low self esteem. Healing is a journey that requires family. No one should have to walk alone. Are you tired of being  beaten down in life by lies and distortion? Are you struggling with issues of identity and purpose? You're not alone. I challenge you to call out to God and allow the truth of his word to renew and transform your mind and heart. It's in knowing the God of love that healing begins and ends. It's all about love. (Romans 12:1,2)

  If I can help you in any way, let me know. I too have been wounded in life, but by God's grace, I am choosing to be a wounded healer. Together, let's walk out of darkness, into God's marvelous light and love.

Jim

Tearing off our Masks

  Do you know who you really are? Do others know the REAL you? A mask is designed and worn to conceal and to cover the real. Masks are so commonly worn in our relationships that they often become our reality. We don't know what it is like to take off our false identity and sense of self. 


  It wasn't meant to be this way. We were created with a unique sense of beauty and inherent value by God.  We are stamped with an amazing and indelible image..... the image of God. "Then God said, Let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness..."


   No matter how broken we might become because of evil, abuse, failure or our own wayward ways, that image is never totally erased. We know we were born for love.  But part of the fallout from sin in our world is a deep sense of insecurity that plays on our sense of inherent value. We doubt we will ever find deep intimacy if people knew the 'real us'.  So we begin the confusing and tiring task of taking on multiple false identities. The strain of wearing masks to please others is both burdensome and debilitating. The more energy we take in becoming someone we're not, the less strength we have to just be who we really are. The longer we do down the road in this game of masquerade, the more in danger we are of losing our souls. 


   Your soul is the real you. Your personality, emotion, dreams, passion, gifting and desires are all wrapped tightly together into a physical package of unique DNA. God made you to be who you are. When you let go of that treasure and that supreme value of the unique you....well you're now as lost as you could ever be.

  No job, no relationship, no physical location will ever completely satisfy the man or woman who has lost their soul to a false identity. When you clothe yourself in another's desire and fantasy, you wake up with a deep sense of emptiness and despair. You may have the empty praise of a few 'friends' but you know deep inside they don't even know you. You might even be years into a marriage or intimate relationship scared to death knowing you've never revealed the real you. You've taken your clothes off, but you've never opened your heart up. Your deepest fear is that this house of cards built with masks might be revealed. What then?

  What has forced you to keep the masks on?  The biggest reason we don't come out and reveal who we really are is fear.... a deep sense of dread that if people really knew us, they would reject us. And it is certainly possible that we would face rejection from others when we initially 'come clean'. Not everyone knows what love is. Not everyone is fully capable of embracing truth in any form. But there is a source of unconditional love in a relationship with the God who made you..... You.  Yes, God knows everything about you.... and he likes that..... he loves you.  True beauty is founded not on an outward image but on an inward reality and truth far deeper and lasting. You were created, shaped and formed by a master creator whose nature is absolute and pure love.

  That mask you're wearing is not your friend. It's a burden that you must tear off of your face... your heart.... your mind. It's breaking your heart to not be truly loved for who you are .....right now. Life is all about relationships and you were created to love and to be loved.... for who you really are.

You're beautiful. God made you and he loves you the way you really are.  Look deep inside and listen for the voice of love, the voice of affirmation, the voice of truth. Let the masks come off today.... tear them off and come alive to the love you know you need.


Jim

Hidden Beauty

There's beauty in the storms of life. It's hidden deep within.
The bruises, pain and brokenness strike places yet unseen.


The soul is mystery between our skin and bone.
It's real, its life, has meaning all its own.


I feel, I scream, for meaning and for love.
But God alone can answer me, from places unknown to most.


I hear the voices of this world and scramble for some rest.
The hidden beauty of pure love, speaks softly from above.


Forgiveness, hope and beauty, heals my jaded heart.
The pulse of new life beats within and shows love on the Cross.

The smell of blood, the jagged wounds, the sweat of anguish poured out               
Reveal to me for once and all what true beauty is all about.

Temptation

  Temptation is something we all deal with in life. The ability to order our desires is one of the fundamental areas of self control that separate the mature adult from the immaturity of childhood. How can we resist the temptation to fulfill our desires inappropriately? What is a legitimate desire?

  We falter and fall victim to temptation when we refuse to subordinate and order our desires to the right place, the right time and the right purpose. Temptation to sin pushes, coerces, and ultimately imprisons its victims. Desire surrendered to a structure and order inspired by its author and creator (God) fulfills, satisfies and completes. When we remove desire from the authority of its author we pervert it... and ourselves. Nothing is more painful to watch than a man or woman chasing desire at the wrong time, in the wrong place, for the wrong reasons.

  A holy and integrated life..... a life of integrity is a huge challenge in a world where we deify desire and refuse to acknowledge the author of our appetites. God is no 'cosmic' joy killer. God created every sensual pleasure in existence. He created it all not to torment us by removing it just beyond our grasp, but to place it in its proper context.... for ultimate fulfillment.

  The difference between lust and love is paramount in understanding how to overcome the torment of temptation. Lust is about taking and controlling something or someone for one's own gain....irrespective of the other. The challenge and irony of lust is that no matter how much one grasps and controls the 'thing' we hold onto slips just beyond our grasp.... like grains of sand through our fingers. Lust just never delivers what we desire.

  We are tempted to lust more than we care to admit. Lust involves three key areas of temptation: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. (See 1 John 2:16) The lust of the flesh involves the broken inner lives of men & women ..... our sinful nature which tends toward rebellion and self worship above everything else. The lust of the eyes simply denotes the gateway to most sins. We see and we want. We don't apply a more mature and discerning approach to our desires. Marketers and profiteers of this broken world understand the power of the visual and will 'sell' you what you want, when you want it.... right now.....for the right price....your soul.  The pride of life involves an inordinate concern with ourselves and how we are seen by others.... the desire for supremacy in life's pecking order. The pride of life demands that we be at the center of life's events and ranking systems. We want to be #1.

  The tragedy of lust is that it demands more and more to be satisfied while delivering less and less actual satisfaction. It's a trap of immense tragedy. There is only one way out: Surrender. Surrender of desire, surrender of purpose, surrender of yourself... to the one who created desire to be satisfied in the right place, at the right time, for the right purpose..... with the right people. He is your creator, redeemer, savior and Lord.... and he never disappoints. The beauty of not 'getting what you want' is you're left with what you really need, love.

Jim

Identity: Finding the Real You

 Do you know who you are? No, I am not talking about your name, your birthplace, your social security number or other pertinent facts you might be asked by a police officer if you are caught speeding on the highway. I am asking a deeper philosophical question about the core of WHO you are. In our search for meaningful lives if we leave the fundamental question of identity unanswered, we will never get to where we were meant to be in life.

  The most difficult questions to answer in life are at their root spiritual ones. They cut to the core of the meaning of life.Why am I here? For what purpose was I born? What does it really mean to be loved? Who am I anyway?

  We develop a sense of identity by the culture and environment that we are born into. We are shaped spiritually and emotionally by the words spoken to us in our childhood. We hear things said about us, even while our own ability to speak is being formed and developed. The power of words spoken over us and to us, shapes our identity and expectations of life. Our view of ourselves and our world can either be accurate or inaccurate depending on the reliability of those given access to our minds and hearts as children.

  When we are born into a home where we are loved, nurtured and cared for in a healthy environment, we are more likely to discover who we really are. The ability to think for oneself, to discover, to explore and to know ourselves is a gift of immense value and magnitude. We must know who we really are before we can find that sense of inner contentment and peace on the inside. When you don't know who you are, you'll strive to be someone else. And in that striving we torment ourselves and ultimately hurt others as well.

  We were born for love. Jesus told us clearly that relationship and purpose are deeply intertwined. In the gospel of Matthew (ch. 22 and verses 37-40) Jesus was challenged by the religious leaders of his day to answer what was the most important moral law in life. Instead of commenting on any specific behavior, Jesus answer challenges our own views of religion and morality, Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and prophets depend on these two commandments."

  Man made religion fails to understand this absolute and fundamental truth: Life is all about relationships.... and relationships to be healthy need to be honest and permeated with unconditional love and acceptance of one another. We cannot discover who we really are until we have been loved unconditionally.

  People were born for love and we will search for it inexorably until we find what we're looking. The challenge in life is to find the real deal before the false and substitutes either kill us or injure us severely. Our soul in its striving for unconditional acceptance and love will sometimes get sucked into the lies and traps of lust and relational abuse. When we don't know the way to love we'll get lost on the journey toward knowing who we really are.

  Fortunately for us, God in his mercy is on a rescue mission to help us find his love.... and ourselves. In an amazing display of the unconditional love and acceptance we all long for he came to us and showed us the way home. In the gospel of John he tell us , "For God so loved the world in this way: He gave his One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." The reality is none of us fully know who we are until we know on a personal level that deep and nearly unfathomable love of Jesus. (John 3:16)

  The love of the world is deeply marred by conditions, expectations and limitations. I will love you if....... The superficiality of the world's love is easily observed by the content of our media and entertainment. We are told who can or cannot be loved based on appearances: waistlines, facial features, skin colors, wealth etc..... the conditional love of the world creates a schizophrenia and uncertainty that frustrates and mars the human soul. We cannot find what we're looking for when the world keeps changing the measuring rod of who we're supposed to be.

  The beauty of grace and love brought to us in Jesus Christ is that you get to be yourself.... and still be loved. When you falter (and you will) you're still loved and fully accepted. Jesus does not toss you out with the garbage of your own failures and sins.... he goes out and gets you and brings you home. And in that love and acceptance you become who you were born to be.... and you find out who you really are. You are a son or a daughter of a loving God. Born for love.... and to be loved forever. Welcome home!

Jim