In Mark 1, Jesus came on the scene with powerful teaching, healing and casting out of demons. In the first few verses of chapter 2, he takes things to an entirely new level. Instead of “merely” healing a man, Jesus also forgives his sins (2:1-12). Jesus declares that he has the power and authority to forgive sin and make a man clean.

• Take some time to think about this reality: what does this mean? What implications does this have?

Jesus spent time with crafty swindlers and other overtly immoral people. This stunned the devoted religious people of the day. “Why does Jesus spend time with those wicked and dirty people?” Jesus’s answer is clear “I came to give healing to those who realize they need it: I came to call sinners to repentance” (2:13-17).

• Jesus’s answer is clear, but ironic: he came to help people who realize and admit they need help. No one has it all together, even if they act like it. How do you do with acknowledging that you need a Savior? Do you believe that at all? If you do, do you readily admit it and live in light of that reality?

• Jesus was spending time with people who were living clearly sinful lifestyles. He was not merely hanging out with them though: he was calling them to repentance.
  What type of people do you spend time with? Does it include people who aren’t living with God in view (living clearly sinful lifestyles)? What does your friendship look like? Do people know that you view them as friends, though your lives are on different paths?

The issue of fasting and keeping the Sabbath comes up with Jesus and his disciples – his closest followers. The Pharisees – highly devoted keepers of the Mosaic Law – questioned Jesus as to why his disciples weren’t fasting. Jesus’s response reveals that fasting is not an activity that is meant to be an end in itself: we deprive ourselves through fasting so that we can focus more clearly on something else.

• Jesus is clear that he is the greater reality that fasting looks to. What does this cause you to think? Do you look to Jesus as your greatest hope?

• Jesus’s dealing with the Sabbath is similar: the Sabbath is not an end in itself. Instead, God expects to rest from some things so that we can focus on other things, namely Him. How do you view Sabbaths and resting in general? Are they a burden? Freeing?

The Book of Mark

Introduction

Jesus began engaging in the world – started his “public ministry” – at age 30. While the other gospels in the Bible (Matthew, Luke and John) give us more background of Jesus’ early years, Mark goes straight to action.

As Jesus began his public ministry he came with a message: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The book of Mark begins, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (1:1). Gospel means good news. Mark and Jesus both say that Jesus brought good news. This begs several fundamental questions: why do we need good news? What is this good news? Why is Jesus the good news (the gospel of Jesus Christ, Mark says)?

Why the world needs good news

Every person entered the world by the power of someone or something outside themselves. The remarkable complexity and creativity on display throughout the world cries out for the existence of a Creator. This Creator God must be self-sufficient, all-powerful and all-knowing. If God is not self-sufficient, then he is not the Creator because someone else would have created him. We as people are not self-sufficient. We would not be here if God had not made us; we depend on him for our existence.

The moral instinct that we possess tells us that this Creator God is perfect in holiness: we are moral creatures because a thoroughly and perfectly holy God made us. We naturally know the difference between good and evil because our Creator is good and created us to reflect His goodness.

The problem is every one of us knows that we ourselves are not good. While we do some good things and might be “better” than some people, in our heart of hearts we know that we are not good and that we do things that are not good. We act purely to achieve selfish motives. We want our success and others’ failure. We are content when we get what we want, regardless of how it affects others. Most fundamentally, instead of deflecting honor and glory to the God who made us, we steal it for ourselves, acting as though we are our own god and centering life on ourselves.

We also realize that the things we chase after, that we idolize as ultimate pursuits, never satisfy. The “good” that we run after – financial success, career advancement, relationships – leaves us always longing for more. Something still seems askew: the world is broken and our lives with it. Peace and rest are elusive and hope is a wish not a certainty.

We need good news because we are sinful – we miss the mark of what is good – and the relationship we should have with God is broken. We need good news because we don’t have the rest and hope that we long for.

Jesus’ claim

Jesus steps into this world and says, “I have the answer. I have the good news. I am the good news.” Jesus compared the hope he brought to water that satisfies not just for a few hours, but for all eternity (John 4). He claimed that he brought satisfaction, peace and a hope that is certain.

The good news Jesus brought was reconciliation with God. He came to give sinful people restored relationship with the perfectly holy God who made us. He came to give us peace and hope through relationship with God. This is the good news. The lack of relationship with the God who made us is the cause of our unrest. Jesus came to be the way to restored relationship with God.

Mark 1

• How does the story of Mark 1 hit you? What stands out? If you were there as one of the crowd as Jesus stepped on the scene, what would you have been thinking and feeling?

• Before Jesus comes on the scene, we have the character of John to consider (vs. 2-8). John doesn’t mince words, immediately calling people to acknowledge that they are sinners and that they need cleansing. How does this strike you? Does the idea that you are a sinner ring true?

• Jesus echoes John’s call, telling people to repent, which means to turn, in this case from a life of sin to a life of submitting to God – entering God’s kingdom (v. 15). Kingdoms center on kings, so Jesus called people to center their lives on God. What did Jesus call people to do to center their lives on God (vs. 15-20)?

• What does Jesus’ power to heal people and cast out demons say about who He is? What does it say about the nature of the kingdom God was establishing through him? If Jesus were on the scene today, how do you think you would have responded to what He was doing?

• Notice that though Jesus was doing many amazing things, the people were most amazed by the message that he taught and Jesus’ own focus was on teaching that message (v. 27; v. 38). What should this tell us about the importance of how we respond to Jesus’ message?

The most important thing about us

The author AW Tozer rightly says, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” We could add to that as equally important to us now and in the future, “how do you think you have right relationship with that God?”

The book of Mark will show how Jesus brings good news to people and how he himself is that good news. How Jesus is the way to restored relationship with God. As we go through Mark, we will see that because of who God is – all-powerful, perfectly good and holy – and who we are – not good, but sinful – how we respond to Jesus – the only Savior – is the most important thing about us.

Twenty-three hour later they were World Series champs for the eleventh time.

Attending Game 2

On the afternoon of game 2, my brother John rolled in from Kansas City with two Cardinals jerseys – Bob Gibson for him and Albert Pujols for me – and a load of enthusiasm. We got to downtown St. Louis two-plus hours before game time. After stopping at Hardees for a pre-game meal, we headed toward the stadium.

The downtown area was tricked out for Cardinal fanaticism, from hat and memorabilia vendors on every corner, to lots devoted to game parking for miles around the stadium to the red water springing from the fountain near City Hall.

The line at the left-centerfield gate was close to a hundred feet long, so it took us a bit to get in the park. We entered around 5:45, still an hour and twenty minutes before game time. The Rangers were finishing up batting practice, which we watched, before wandering the stadium a bit in search of an ATM.

Keep in mind that we had standing room only (SRO) tickets.

Our SRO experience

It is took us a bit to find an ATM and once we did we turned our attention to finding a spot to watch the game. At Busch Stadium, SRO sections are delineated with a yellow line. Find a yellow line, stand behind it and you are good to go. Where those sections are, however, is not terribly clear. We were surprised to discover that there are 60-70 SRO slots on the first level. Of course, wandering these sections an hour before game time was not fruitful, but hey, they do exist.

After our futile first level walk, we headed back toward the large SRO section behind the left field bleachers (what I pictured when I thought of SRO). That section, however, was (1) full and (2) the last row of bleachers is elevated above SRO, making it challenging to watch the game from there.

As we continued to walk the stadium, we discovered that all of the SRO sections were as full as the inns in Bethlehem at the birth of Jesus. Fifteen minutes before game time, we actually chose a spot that was not officially SRO. This spot was located roughly 600 feet from home plate at the very top of the stadium in the left field section. We figured no security personnel would bother us there.

We figured wrong.

At 7:04 p.m., a security guard informed us that we would not be able to watch the game from there. As the game started a minute later we found ourselves searching for a spot where we could see at least most of the field without craning our necks to an unsustainable degree. We took turns having one of us hold a spot while the other looked for a superior one.

John came up with the winning selection in section 337. This was located down the first base line and provided a good view of the entire field.

We actually had a more choice SRO selection than many folks, with a railing providing relief from constant standing. We settled into our permanent location in the third inning with a sigh of relief, a sense of accomplishment and renewed enthusiasm.

The game

Game two proved to be a pitchers’ duel as Jaime Garcia and Colby Lewis shut down their foes with the temperature a crisp 50 degrees and dropping. The Cardinals had taken game one 3-2, fueled by a pinch hit go ahead RBI by Allen Craig off of Rangers bullpen specialist Alexi Ogando.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals put a man in scoring position and Craig and Ogando squared off again. When Craig shot a line drive into right field, a celebratory shout escaped my lips almost involuntarily. The thrill of lightning striking twice and providing the game’s first – potentially game winning – run turned our pensive section into an adrenaline-filled hand-slapping party.

The Cards held the lead into the ninth, setting things up for closer Jason Motte. Ian Kinsler led off with a bloop single to center field. As Elvis Andrus tried to bunt Kinsler over, the Rangers leadoff hitter was able to get enough of a jump to take off for second. We thought Yadier Molina had thrown him out, but Kinsler was called safe. I ran and found a television to catch the reply and discovered that Kinsler had indeed beaten the throw.

Upon my returning to my section, Andrus delivered a key hit to center and advanced to second when the Cardinals muffed the relay/cut-off connection on the throw in. Suddenly, I began to fear we would not only fall into a tie, but lose the lead with only a half inning to play. Two sacrifice flies later that became reality.

The Cards couldn’t do anything in the bottom half of the ninth, leaving the Rangers as game 2 victors by a score of 2-1.

The experience

Despite the interesting SRO experience and the loss, being in Busch Stadium for a World Series game was priceless. The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, despite the cold weather. I can only imagine what it was like for game 6, the four hour, twenty minute thriller that left me physically charged up and exhausted … in my living room.

It was great to be at a World Series game with my brother watching our favorite team duke it out. John and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and will log the experience away in our bank of special moments together. That the Cardinals went on to win the Series made it all the more special.

In reflection on the Series, I am reminded of James 1:17, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Being a part of a team that is together for eight months, facing injuries to key players, crushing losses, crazy losing streaks and other obstacles requires determination. Being able to come out on top in the end, victorious in the biggest game on the biggest stage … I can imagine how sweet and exhilarating that would be, having competed on teams myself. Coming from behind adds an extra thrill and sense of accomplishment!

God designed us to enjoy such experiences as an act of worship to Him, not an ultimate experience in and of themselves. I hope that is what took place and continues to take place for the Cardinals in World Series victory and I am glad that is what took place for me.

I’ll post one more blog on this World Series experience that talks about living a life of worship to God versus the things of this world. God is giver of all good things: may He receive all glory.

This blog is one of those.

Yes, I have World Series tickets. Yes, they have my name on them. Yes, Lord willing I am going to see the St. Louis Cardinals take on the Texas Rangers in game two of the Fall Classic tonight.

The 2011 Cardinals “most unlikely World Series team ever”

This opportunity seemed unfeasible two months ago. You probably know the numbers: the Cardinals were 10½ games out of a playoff spot on Aug. 25, and 8½ out on Sept. 7.

The Cardinals are the first team ever to be 10 or more games out through Aug. 27, in the league, division or wild-card race and reach the World Series, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, leading CBS Sports’ Scott Miller to say this Cardinals team is the “most unlikely World Series team ever” (http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/15756888/cardinals-run-to-fall-classic-couldnt-be-more-unlikely).

But the Cardinals did it, with a little help from the Atlanta Braves, a revitalized bullpen, Albert Pujols in MVP form and enough timely hitting to blaze down the stretch with a 15-5 mark. Then good-bye team-record-102-win Philadelphia Phillies and team-record-96-win Milwaukee Brewers.

The Cards are back in the Series for the 18^th time.

The ticket opportunity

Three weeks ago, I received an email asking if I wanted to be entered in a drawing to be eligible to purchase World Series tickets.

Please note – Twitter haters – that I got on this email list because I was following CardsInsider on Twitter and got hooked up that way.

So, I entered the drawing and on Oct. 7 I received an email saying I was selected. This led to a conversation with my gracious wife, where we agreed on counting the ticket purchase as an early Christmas present. Christmas decorations are available in stores now: it seemed to appropriate to go ahead and purchase the first present.

On Oct. 10, I logged in to get the tickets where I waited in a virtual waiting room for about a half an hour.

Then I got in.

I pulled up the ticket prices: $50 for standing room only (SRO), $175 for nosebleed way out in right field. I had been expecting $60-$80 for actual, physical seats that can be useful when watching a game that takes about three hours to play, so I nearly choked when my estimate was doubled.

I went with the SRO.

Later I learned that $50 (plus about $12 in convenience fees – how is that convenient?), was a steal of a deal when I discovered that SRO tickets on Stub hub were starting at $259 per ticket.

You saw that right.

The pre-game

So, it is 1:16 p.m. on game-day. My brother John is currently trekking east on Highway 70 to attend game two of the World Series with me. I am going to lie down because I opened at Starbucks this morning (4:30 a.m.) and do again tomorrow (gag!). I get to be young again, but I’m mixing it up with being old by attempting a nap.

Worshipping God; enjoying the game

I look forward to doing that tonight. I’ll write more about that in a later blog. For now, I will say that I am stoked out the wazoo for this opportunity and look forward to delighting in this good gift from God. I have actually printed two sets of tickets, one to use and one to laminate.

And I’m glad that I get to do this with my brother John. We have a whole bunch of unique memories growing up together.

One of those is playing an 81-game season of Strat-O-Matic baseball in high school (I’m talking 81 games for every team, playing every game). Another is a roughly 50-game season where we kept exhaustive stats for each game.

Another is playing baseball together for the SHEM Eagles, a home school baseball team that took the world by storm (okay, it was a city league at Meador Park in Springfield, MO). We finished in second place one year, a hearty improvement from previous years. I’ll never forget the three hour practices on Friday afternoons with a great bunch of a guys and a coach who gave his time to form us into a team.

Another is building a house from the ground up with my dad one summer, while sleeping in a shed near the house. We would get up, work on the house, eat, drive about 20 minutes to shower and see our mom and siblings, then drive back, sleep and do it again the next day. We mixed in work for our home business in there to form a summer memory we will never forget.

I look forward to adding tonight to that list of memories – and a whole bunch of others – with my bro.

Go Cards

So, go Cards. Go Jaime Garcia. FREEESSEEEE!! Give us your best shot Rangers. We are the most unlikely World Series team ever. Let’s make it the most unlikely World Series champion.

I’m grateful for this opportunity.

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

(Titus 2:11-14 ESV, emphasis mine)

The truth is this: God’s grace trains His people for godliness. God’s grace trains me for godliness!

I could see God’s holiness training me for godliness. I could see God’s power training me for godliness. But not His grace. I know I need His grace to be saved. That makes sense to me. How could I, a sinner, be saved unless God gives me salvation? I must have grace. After all grace means receiving something that we do not deserve.

But if I lean too much on God’s grace, it will cause me to stumble. I’ll take advantage of it, take it for granted, and fall into sin. Grace is good, but it is not really powerful – or at least not the power behind holiness.

Titus 2, however, says that God’s grace trains me for godliness. Equips, girds up, prepares – trains. God’s grace does this. It is the power behind godly living.

A little exegesis

“Grace” is the subject of Titus 2:11-14. “Has appeared” is the main verb. This means Paul is saying that God’s grace is on the scene through Christ. The Savior has come; there is hope for sinners. This is good news.

Paul goes on though, speaking of what grace does. He says that grace is what trains God’s people to renounce ungodliness and worldly pursuits and to instead live godly and self-controlled lives in this world, as we wait for the return of our hope – Jesus Christ (v. 12).

Christ gave Himself to redeem God’s people, to buy us back from death and bring us to life. People whom Christ brings to life, live for God. We are about the worship of God, service to God, centering our lives on God. After all, He has given us life when all we had was death. And He has done all of this through His grace (vs. 13-14). Grace is the subject of the entire passage. Grace is what trains us for godliness.

How does God’s grace train us for godliness?

God is teaching me about this right now. I have much to learn. I would say that God’s grace is both the motivation and the power behind godliness.

God’s grace trains us for godliness because it leads us to have gratitude toward God, rejoice in God and worship God. As we realize that we are great sinners before a perfectly holy God, God’s grace bursts on the scene. God’s grace says “hope” when we should only hear “despair.” God’s grace says “accepted” when we should only hear “condemned.” God’s grace says “relationship with God, your Father” when we expect to hear “justice from God, your judge.”

Grace becomes a power when we realize as well that God has not merely pardoned us in Christ through grace. More than mere pardon, God has counted the righteousness of Christ toward us: He views us as pure before Him. More than mere pardon, God has adopted us as sons and daughters (Gal 4). More than mere pardon, God the Spirit has cleansed us and indwelt us, so that we – individually and as a group – are the place where God resides (Titus 3:5; 2 Cor 3; 6). God has done all of this through His grace – He gives us all of these things though we do not deserve them. His grace is the power behind all of these realities.

When we realize these things, as we realize these things, we are primed to respond to God instead of act out of our flesh. We are at the ready to rejoice, repent, worship – to delight in doing God’s will. The reality of what God has done by His grace provides the motivation for godly living.

But Titus 2 tells us that God’s grace is not just the motivation for godly living, but also the power behind it. It is as we live out of grace that we will live in a godly way. Period. There is no other way. Our own self-effort is not the way. Trying harder is not the way. Realizing grace and living out of the freedom it provides in dependence on the Spirit is the way.

It is as we live out of grace and delight in God’s good gifts to us – salvation, food, friends, His Spirit – that we want to do His will and are able to do His will. It is as we live out of grace and drink of the riches of Christ that we want to live like Him and are able to live like Him. It is as we live out of grace and live in relationship with God our Father that we want to image Him and are able to image Him. God’s grace is both the motivation and the power for godly living.

Galatians teaches that God saves us and grows us by His grace

Galatians is all about grace as the power for growth in godliness. There Paul condemns the Galatians because they were trying to be saved by grace and then grow in godliness by works – by the strength of their own efforts. Paul reminds them that they are both saved by grace and grow in godliness in the same way. He tells them that it is dependence on the Spirit that would enable them to produce godliness – the fruit of the Spirit – instead of giving into their sinful flesh (Gal 5, in particular vs. 16).

Galatians 5:1 says it is for freedom that Christ has set us free and that we should stand and live in this freedom. God frees us by His grace. It is as we embrace and live out of His grace that we live in a godly way and live in a way that brings God the  most glory.

What Titus and Galatians are communicating is that it is God who both saves us and enables us to live in a way that glorifies Him. It is all by His power. It is all by His grace.

I look forward to learning more about this truth and I am grateful to God for opening my eyes to see it more clearly now. The grace of God has appeared. It is on the scene. God saves me by His grace. And God’s grace trains me for godliness. What a marvel: praise be to God!

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Mat 5:6 ESV)

Worship leader: The text for our sermon this morning is Matthew 5:6, which says “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”

This prayer of confession acknowledges that though we are not righteous, we have a source of righteousness that is outside ourselves. We have a place to look and be satisfied.

Worship leader:

¹ Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

² but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

³ He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Congregation:

⁴ The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.

⁵ Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;

⁶ for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish (Psalm 1:1-6).

Worship leader:

Lord we acknowledge that we are not those who walk in the way of the righteous. At times, we pursue your will, but our pursuit is fickle. We turn to our own way and pursue our own glory and agenda: we walk, stand and sit as sinners.

Congregation:

Yet we look to one who is righteous. We look to one who never walked in the way of sinners. We look to one who always delighted in your law – and still does – day and night. We look to one who is not only planted by streams of water, but is himself the source of living water.

Everyone:

Lord, we look to Christ. He is the only righteous one. He alone gives living water that satisfies forever. He alone stands and we stand in Him alone.

Lord, we hunger and thirst for righteousness, but we ourselves are not righteous. We should perish in our way. And yet we look to the one who is righteous. We look and stand in our way. We look and find rest and satisfaction.

Teach us to continue in this way. Teach us to continue to hunger and thirst for righteousness. Teach us to continue to look to Christ. Help our acts to be acts of faith. Acts that stem from the righteous one. Acts that stem from the tree planted by streams of water.

Help us to look to Christ until His return. Only then will we be fully satisfied.

God has given His creation many good gifts, but none can substitute for a personal relationship with the Giver.

That, in a nutshell, is the story of Pete Maravich, a life that is well captured in “Pete Maravich: The Authorized Biography of Pistol Pete.”

Having previously enjoyed the movie “Pistol: The Birth of a Legend” (1991) and another Maravich biography, I was intrigued to read the newest Maravich biography written by Wayne Federman and Marshall Terrill in collaboration with Jackie Maravich, widow of the basketball great.

The forward by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson got things rolling as I learned that Maravich died of a heart attack in Dobson’s arms after a pick-up basketball game with Focus staff. It was the first, and only, time that the two met.

Maravich’s life is a not uncommon tale of someone living his life apart from submission to God and a personal relationship with Him before one day realizing that such a life is meaningless and without hope. The original element of Maravich’s story – other than every person’s story and life being unique and valuable to God – is his giftedness as a basketball player and intensity as a human being. Only a handful could control and make a basketball sing like Maravich and he did everything full throttle.

Federman and Terrill weave a compelling account of Maravich’s growing up years, record-setting time as the star of Louisiana and the college basketball world at Louisiana State University and injury-plagued NBA career, before turning to his conversion to Christianity following his retirement.

The authors present an honest account of Maravich’s pre-conversion life, noting that some loved him and considered him the life of the party, while others thought him selfish and sullen, including teammates. The stark account of Maravich nearly being shot one night outside a tavern, and his obsessive devotion to sports, success, UFO’s and nutrition set the stage well for his dramatic conversion.

The intensity of Maravich’s devotion to Christianity led to a strong witness for Christ that found expression in dozens of speaking engagements across the United States. Maravich’s heart attack in Dobson’s arms at age 40 ended his life, as the Lord chose to bring him home after just a few years as a Christian.

Though some of the game accounts drag on a bit, this book provides an interesting inside look at Maravich’s life through personal accounts from Maravich and those close to him. Maravich’s life is a testimony to the greatness of God’s grace and the futility of life apart from Him.

Applying Scripture in daily life

Applying Scripture involves acting upon it. Living out its commands and principles. As you read and meditate on Scripture and talk about it with others, it will be in your mind and on your heart as you approach daily decisions and choices. You must then, in reliance on God, act.

In some situations, it is easy to act in light of Scripture. In other situations, it is much more difficult. Acting in light of Scripture when it is difficult is really where the rubber meets the road. And that is where you must really seek to ski.

Skiing involves sacrifice

Skiing is exhilarating and an absolute blast, but it is also difficult. Not everyone can ski. Some people are not in good enough physical shape to ski. This could be for reasons beyond their control, but it could also be because they never exercise. Or because they eat a horrible diet. These kinds of people are choosing the small, short-sighted pleasures of lying around and excessively watching television, playing video games or eating for the glorious, full-fledged pleasure of skiing.

Skiing also involves practice and training. If you don’t practice and train to ski, you won’t be able to ski. You have to want to ski and you have to choose to ski. You have to choose some short-term sacrifice to enjoy the long-term, fulfilling delight of skiing.

It is a similar situation with daily choices and living in relationship with God. Acting in light of Scripture when it is difficult to do so involves the short-term sacrifice of saying no to satisfying your flesh and people who have no thought of God in their mind and saying yes to the long-term gain and fulfillment of living in right relationship with the God of the universe. The latter is much more glorious, but also more difficult. You must want to do it and choose to do it.

You can only act on Scripture and live in right relationship with God in reliance upon God: it cannot be done apart from God. But it also won’t happen if you don’t act. God has given you that privilege and responsibility. Galatians 5:1 says it this way, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free: stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Freedom here is the freedom to joyfully do God’s will and enjoy right relationship with Him. The yoke of slavery is anything that prevents us from doing that. One key thing that prevents a lot of people from enjoying God and doing His will is making short-sighted choices that don’t have Scripture and right relationship with God in mind. Instead of skiing, we settle for video games, or – far worse – for pornography or cutting someone down in front of others. The short-term gratification that comes with something like pornography turns long-term into sludge in our stomach, instead of the refreshment of feeling the wind on our faces and sailing down another white slope.

A relationship with variables, not a formula

There is no formula for daily living in right relationship with God. Anyone who says there is, is either mistaken or is trying to sell you something.

There is no formula for living in right relationship with God because of two key variables and because it is a relationship, not an equation. The first key variable is people seeking to live in right relationship with God have the enemies of the world, the flesh and the devil (Eph 2:1-3; 1 John 2:15-17) to contend with. These enemies come up with an endless variety of different ways to tempt and lead people astray down the same old tired, dead and unfulfilling sinful paths.

The second key variable people face is thousands of different situations with unique factors. One person will have a great boss; the next will have a cranky one. One person will have a teenager and a toddler, live next to four loud college students and be in a struggling marriage, etc., etc., etc. Every person has a different situation and there is no source that provides a step-by-step list of how to deal with every one (“what about Scripture?” you ask? More on that in a minute).

Finally, living in right relationship with God is about growing in a relationship, not following an equation. Relationships do not have formulas: they are dynamic and changing. The reason a relationship with God changes is not because God changes, but because God is changing us to be more and more like Christ. As God does this, the way we respond to situations and live our lives changes.

While there is no formula for navigating daily life in right relationship with God, there are three rock-solid, unchanging, perfect, sell-your-house-and-everything-you-own-to-get-them sources of help and hope that we should run to, cast ourselves on and learn from as we seek to act on Scripture in the routine of daily life.

Three sources: (1) Jesus Christ, (2) the Holy Spirit and (3) Scripture

Jesus

Jesus is the Rock and Redeemer of God’s people (Eph 1:7-8); He is our perfect Mediator before God, always interceding at God’s right hand for His people (Heb 1, 4:14-16). He is the God who we worship and the Way that we enter and continue in right relationship with the God who we worship.

While the temptations we face and the situations we are in are unique and ever-changing, Jesus is not. He never changes (Heb 13:8). And while Jesus has not been in every unique situation we are in, He has faced every type of temptation to sin there is and withstood them all (Heb 4:14-16). This is why the author of Hebrews tells us to look to Christ, the Author and Perfector of our faith, as we seek to live in right relationship with God (Heb 12:1-3).

Holy Spirit

In John 16:7, Jesus tells His disciples that it was to their advantage that He go away. To their advantage that their Rock and Redeemer go away. Why? “for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7b ESV). The Helper is the Holy Spirit and Jesus said it was to our advantage that He leave so the Holy Spirit would come.

The Holy Spirit’s chief roles are to convict people of sin and draw them to Christ and to help God’s people understand and apply Scripture. Jesus spoke of the latter as leading God’s people into all truth (John 16:13-14) and reminding us of what He said (John 14:26), which we have recorded in Scripture.

God put His Spirit within us to help us live in relationship with Him and understand and apply Scripture: this should give us confidence that we can do just that.

Scripture

Scripture is the record of God’s words to people. When we read Scripture, we are reading the words of the same God who used words to speak the world into existence. Scripture is perfect, inerrant, powerful, good, true and sufficient to equip us to do God’s will (2 Tim 3:16-17). Giving ourselves to Scripture is not the end all, be all of living in right relationship with God, but it is an essential element.

I mentioned above that there is no source book that offers a step-by-step guide for handling every situation in life. I think a key reason people complain about Scripture not being relevant to their lives is because they try to approach it as just such a source. People open Scripture and don’t find anything about shopping malls, birth control pills, boyfriends or living with a parent who has Alzheimer’s disease and they shut it and go away disappointed.

God has not designed Scripture as a problem source book. Instead, in Scripture He gives us specific commands to follow and principles to apply to the different situations that we face. Scripture is God’s sufficient Word to us, but it is sufficient according to God’s definition, not ours. By God’s definition, sufficient means it always provides the commands and principles we need to do the will of God as we live in reliance on Him. It does not mean that Scripture provides a step-by-step set of rules to follow for every situation we face.

The beautiful thing about Scripture is it requires us to have an active, open relationship with God, where we communicate to Him through prayer and listen to Him in His Word. In short, it requires us to ski.

Relationships with others

There is a lot more that could be said about living in right relationship with God, but I will move on to relationships with people. One thing we will see is that we really aren’t moving on: our relationship with God directly affects our relationships with people.

Relationships with people fall into several different categories – family, workplace, community, neighborhood, friendship, local body of Christ – that inevitably intertwine and overlap. Every relationship is also with a believer or non-believer, which makes a difference for how we approach it. Over the next few posts, I will look at some of these different relationships and how God would have us approach them.

I am not talking about slops that manufacture their own snow. Those places are fun, but not exhilarating. I am talking about a place like Breckenridge, Colorado.

In college, I took a ski trip to Breckenridge with friends and college administrators. Halfway through the first day, once my skiing-to-crashing ratio evened out a bit, I paused and looked out over the mountains.

When I looked, I saw rugged yet sleek rock faces topped with sparkling, clean – I mean clean – snow. There were not merely one or two peaks, but a rolling expanse of white-capped towers standing like castles and stretching as far as I could see in either direction.

The view was glorious.

After my pause, I put ski to slope and launched myself down another double black diamond – okay green/blue slope – and that was also glorious. The wind rushing past your face and stinging your cheeks as you pick up speed on straightaways and then try to control that speed so that you don’t crash or take out a couple fellow travelers brings quite an adrenaline rush.

As the trip went on, I found that I had the best time when I mixed gradual, longer slops with the steeper, quicker ones. This gave me time to improve my skiing and rest a bit before my next speed-filled, on the edge, adventure. Skiing takes work to be fun, but if you apply yourself it is a challenging, fulfilling experience.

Living in right relationship with God is like skiing, only it is more satisfying, nourishing, rewarding and fulfilling. And I so often forget this, doing so many things and running after so many pursuits that lead me anywhere but there.

Living in right relationship with God

God made everyone with an innate craving for delight: people pursue fulfillment. He also made people with an instinct for worship: we all worship something(s). The beauty of God’s design is that people are most fulfilled when they worship and delight in the same thing, putting all of their energy and focus into one pursuit.

The only pursuit that is ultimately satisfying and that brings God the worship He deserves is living in right relationship with Him.

This ultimate joy of living in right relationship with God is clear in Scripture and I have also experienced it. Paul spoke of knowing Christ being his ultimate pursuit (Phil 3:7&ff), David said he sought one thing: to dwell with God forever (Ps 27:4) and Peter wrote of people in right relationship with God rejoicing with a joy that is inexpressible (1 Peter 1:8).

You’re thinking “Great, but what does that look like? How do you actually live in right relationship with God?”

Giving yourself to Scripture

The key component of living in right relationship with God is interaction with Scripture. Reading it, mulling over it, thinking about it, talking about it with others, living in light of it – in sum, giving yourself to it. You will not consistently live in right relationship with God if you do not give yourself to Scripture.

It is not easy to give ourselves to Scripture because in our sinfulness we don’t want to. In our sinfulness, we want to live however we want to, not how God wants us to. In our skewed, sinful mentality, we think that we will find greater fulfillment apart from embracing Scripture when the exact opposite is true.

Satan also doesn’t want us to give ourselves to Scripture because that brings glory to God and he hates that.

Our perspective toward Scripture thus sometimes looks like a high schooler’s mentality toward his biology textbook: he knows he needs to read it, but he really doesn’t want to. He finds, in fact, that he would rather do about anything than read his biology textbook. So, when he does read it, he scans through the pages, checks it off his list and retains little of what he reads. And he sure doesn’t talk about what he reads with others.

As a sophomore in college, I came to a place where my perspective on Scripture was, “how much do I have to read?” One day I asked our campus pastor if he thought a daily time of personal Scripture reading was necessary. He turned, looked me in the eye, and said, “It is not a matter of if or how often you read Scripture, but what God is teaching you from Scripture as you read. With this perspective, daily reading is a given.”

That was huge for me. I realized that if I approached Scripture as the perfect Word of God that is sufficient to equip me for everything good and to enable me to live in right relationship with God and others, then I would choose – and hopefully want – to read Scripture regularly. And not just read it, but meditate on it – chew on it, mull it over, talk about it with others. Give myself to it.

If you think of your favorite hobby, you probably know a lot about it. You learn about it, read about it and talk about it to the point that you develop an instinctive knowledge of it. That is where we want to be with Scripture.

This is not natural – don’t be discouraged if this is not natural for you – but it can become more natural. You can grow to love Scripture. Your love for it will probably ebb and flow: we should not be satisfied with this, but it is a near-certain reality because we are sinful creatures who God is still transforming into Christlikeness. Our goal should be for our love of Scripture, knowledge of Scripture and application of Scripture to be on an upward path so that over time we know it better and love it more.

Talking about Scripture/God with others

As we read and chew on Scripture, it is huge – HUGE – to talk about it with others. God designed people to live in connection with other people. As we talk to others about what God is teaching us from His Word it solidifies what we are learning. Secondary relationships – with people – can strengthen, or hinder, our primary relationship – with God.

Talking with others about Scripture is another area where Satan and our selfish flesh can get in the way. Satan wants us to lack confidence in our understanding of Scripture. If he can get us to read Scripture on our own, but not really be sure about it, not talk about it with others and then not act on it then he is happy. In our sinfulness, we don’t want to share something we are not totally sure about and/or that might suggest a need for change in our life, which Scripture often does. The result is we don’t talk about Scripture.

This is a great time/situation to remind ourselves that Christ brings us into right standing with God and enables us to live there. It is not our greatness and strength, but His greatness and strength, that matters. We are simply to look to Christ and act out of faith in Him. If you get nothing else out of this article, get this: living in right relationship with God centers on faith in Christ, just like entering right relationship with God does.

Talking about what God is teaching you in Scripture helps engrain it into you. As you personally read and think about Scripture and talk about it with others you will likely discover that one of these two activities is particularly valuable for you. Everyone needs to do both – (1) personally spend time in Scripture and (2) talk about it with others – but most people naturally benefit more from one or the other.

I particularly value personal meditation on Scripture: it is huge for me. One of my best friends is the other way around: he benefits from personal meditation on Scripture, but he really values talking about it with others. For him, that is when Scripture really sinks in. Everyone needs to do both: this is key. But instead of being discouraged by the fact that someone else appreciates personal meditation more than you, be encouraged by their relationship with God and appreciate the unique way He has wired you.

It could also be that listening to a sermon is particularly helpful for you. Other people appreciate songs that draw out biblical truths. The goal is for God’s Word to be getting into you so that it increasingly shapes the way you think and live and does the same in those around you.

This post has run long, so I will save applying to Scripture life and further thoughts on living in right relationship with God for my next article. That next step of applying Scripture and living in relationship with God in real life, especially when life is crazy, is really where the rubber meets the road. It is challenging to live in right relationship with God, but it is glorious.

Just like skiing.

When I speak of God, I am referring to the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible. I understand that some people hold a different view of God than what this Bible presents or reject the idea of God all together. Whether or not God exists and if He does what He is like and what He created people to be and do, are fundamental and important questions that every person must answer. In fact, they are the most fundamental and important questions every person must answer.

I know that settling on beliefs about these worldview questions often takes significant amounts of time, research and discussion. Such thought and discussion should not be taken lightly and I welcome such conversation, whether in the comments of this blog, in person or through any other medium.

I have given these worldview questions significant thought and I will be writing from a perspective that accepts the Bible as the literal words of God that are without error and are sufficient to teach men how God expects them to live. This Christian worldview is explained and advanced well by men like R. Albert Mohler Jr., Tim Keller and Ronald Nash.

So why must you begin with God in a discussion on relationships?

God the Creator

God created the world and everything in it (Ps 24:1-2). Everything means every beetle, saber-tooth tiger, oak tree, tulip, ocean, stream and every single human being who has ever, or will ever, walk the face of the earth. God made it all.

Being the Maker of all things automatically gives God authority over all things. Think about it: if you made a car you would expect it to do what you made it to do. You would expect it to reliably transport people from one place to another, keep them comfortably warm or cool and provide a smooth ride: you would expect it to act like a car.

But what if one day the car you made stood up on its hind wheels and said, “Enough is enough: today, I am going to be the person and you are going to be the car. Take me to the mall and, oh yeah, I’d like to grab a smoothie on the way.” You would be outraged. Incensed. After all, you made the car: what right does it have to define what it is and what it will do?

The same is true with God and us. As the one who made us, God is the one who has the right to define who we are and how we should live. Scripture says it is God who gives every man life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25). His authority over our lives is absolute.

When we choose to do whatever we want with our lives, ignoring God and His Word, we are rebelling against the One who made us. Such rebellion separates us from right relationship with God, which is itself devastating and which leads to other devastating consequences.

The reality of God as our Creator should automatically drive us to realize that the way we live, what we do with our lives, is not a decision that can be made in a vacuum. It must be made with God in mind: He designed us and therefore knows what is best for us.

While God as Creator is fundamentally important when it comes to relationships, it is not the only factor to keep in mind. We must also understand what kind of a God our Creator is.

God is personal and relational

The Bible unpacks the story of a God who is not distant, but rather of a God who is personally involved in the lives of people in the world. God has designed people to enjoy right relationship with Him, which brings Him glory and us joy. It is thus both right and good to live in right relationship with God: He is our Creator and He has designed us for relationship with Him.

God Himself is a relational being who has relationship within Himself. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit – one God in three persons – enjoy perfect relationship. They each fill roles within what is called the Godhead: the Father has roles that are unique to Him, as do the Son and the Spirit.

As God the Father, Son and Spirit carry out these roles, they do so in perfect harmony, in perfect relationship, that the Bible gives us glimpses of in different places. In John 17, God the Son – Jesus Christ – prays a beautiful, heartfelt prayer to God the Father that He would make His people one, just as He and the Father are one. He also prays that God would sanctify, make holy and devoted to Him, His people in truth.

A chapter earlier, in John 16, Jesus had said that when He went to be with the Father, the Spirit would come and lead God’s people into all truth. So God the Son prayed to God the Father to unite His people, just as He and the Father were united, and it is through God the Spirit that God the Father is doing this.

Jesus’ baptism is another picture of God in relational unity as God the Son is baptized while God the Spirit descends and God the Father announces that He is pleased with Jesus, who is His beloved Son (Matt 3:16-17).

Part of being created in God’s image – as all people are (Gen 1:26-28) – is the reality that we are all relational creatures. Every human being has an innate yearning for relationship, which comes from the relational God who made us. And our most fundamental relational need is relationship with God.

Entering right relationship with God

God designed us to live in dependence on Him, in relationship with Him. The problem is that Adam, the first man, lived independent from God. God gave Him certain roles to carry out and certain parameters to live within, and Adam went outside those limits. In doing this, Adam rebelled against His Creator and broke right relationship with God (Gen 2-3).

Every human being after Adam has been born separated from God with a nature that is inherently sinful (Eph 2:1-3). Everyone acts out of this nature and does sinful acts that flow from our sinful nature. As we do this, we are living outside of right relationship with the God who made us, a reality that is both devastating and joyless.

Thankfully, in His mercy and grace, God did not leave us in this state. The Bible tells us that while we were still sinners, God sent His Son Jesus to reconcile us to Himself (Rom 5:8). Jesus lived a perfect life, died in our place and rose again from the dead, conquering sin and death. Everyone who repents of his sin and believes in Christ, submitting to Him as Lord, receives Christ’s righteousness and re-enters right relationship with God (Rom 3:21-26, Rom 10:9-10, 1 Cor 15:3-4, 2 Cor 5:21).

The Bible is clear that it is only through Christ that people can re-enter right relationship with God (John 14:6). Jesus is the means by which we enter right relationship with God.

The Bible is equally clear that once people have entered right relationship with God it is only through faith in Christ we can then live in right relationship with Him (Col 2:6-10). It is to this topic: living in right relationship with God as believers in Christ – that I will turn to next.