Let me tell you about the other times I find myself typing out the first few words with no destination in sight… times when the Lord picks it up after the first few words and takes it from there.

Those articles receive more comments than when I’m driving. (Ha! That’ll teach Glenn to be pompous!)

Over the course of the last few days, the articles were not of my choosing and seemed to fall in the area of loving others, even when it is difficult. These are the articles where I wonder if the message is for me or for someone else reading… ok, yeah, as strange as it may sound, I learn from my own writing. Yesterday’s article sparked more than one reader to comment on how difficult it is to love arrogant or pompous people… (Are you catching this, Glenn?)

In Luke 14, a Pharisee invites Jesus to a meal or celebration at his house. Other Pharisees and leaders in the church had also been invited. We pick up what happened at the meal in Luke 14:7-11:

When He (Jesus) noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, He told them this parable: “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place.  But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

His words apply to all His followers, even those who write daily blogs. When we look at those Jesus was describing at the Pharisee’s gathering, we are finding the type of leader described in Luke 20:46-47:

“Beware of the teachers of the law. They like to walk around in flowing robes and love to be greeted in the marketplaces and have the most important seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets.  They devour widows’ houses and for a show make lengthy prayers. Such men will be punished most severely.”

Jesus calls them hypocrites in Matthew 6:5:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full.

Jesus is highlighting those who like to shout out their own praises and who are good at working when the spotlight is on them, making an effort for everyone to see what they accomplish.

When I read about His response to these events, I find instructions not to follow their examples. Instead, Jesus is telling me to “…take the lowest seat in the house…” We are not called to say anything to the arrogant or pompous; we are not called to rebuke them (this is His job); we are not called to point them out; and we are not called to make fun of them. Instead, we are called to just take the lowest seat in the house.

This is God’s instruction to follow, but it comes with one more emphasis in Matthew 5:44:

“…love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…”

(Aw, man! Come on, Lord? Are you serious?)

I believe the Lord is desperately serious on this matter. If we call ourselves believers, His followers, then the world will know us by how we love others. As mentioned yesterday, this is not a love we can work up in ourselves, but a love only coming from God.

Jesus gives us an example of this love by His call to the Pharisees throughout a passage beginning around Matthew 23:13. Sometimes these are called the “Woe passages…” where Jesus is often portrayed as yelling these words with venom, fury, or anger, but I challenge you to read these statements today knowing the love He had for them and recognizing this would be one of His last opportunities to get His point across. I do not believe He was yelling in anger, but crying out in desperation to reach their hearts. Instead of words of rage, I believe He was near tears for the arrogant and pompous.

Matthew 23:13 
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Picture a look of desperation on His face.

Matthew 23:15 
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.

Listen to His plea, a cry to reach their hearts, to open their eyes in love and not anger.

Matthew 23:16 
Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’

Instead of shaking His finger at them, picture Him crying out these words, holding His hands in front of Him, pleading with them to understand.

Matthew 23:25 
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Instead of hearing the fury, picture the tears in His eyes and feel the torment in His heart.

Matthew 23:27 
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

At the end of the passage, His love for them is captured in His description in Matthew 23:37.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.

I find it just as difficult as you may find it to love the arrogant and pompous as Jesus calls us to love them. I also recognize myself falling into this category at times, grateful for the forgiveness and love expressed by my family and friends. Perhaps this is the love required to change their hearts or pierce their protective shield of apathy?

I do not believe we are capable of this kind of love without the Lord. I know for a fact I do not have the strength required to seat myself at the lowest seat in the house when I really want to choke someone, but this too, comes from the Lord.

Ah… I can see I have learned something today from these words and have a whole new area of conversation with the Lord. You can contact me if you are struggling with this sort of prayer, but I can tell you we will be praying for the same thing for both of us… and that’s ok, too.
 

Glenn Sasscer

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“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

How would anyone know the disciples followed Jesus?

• Would it be because of a sandwich board sign they were wearing?
• Because they handed out tracks?
• Because they had a huge church?
• Because they had a huge church and televised their services?
• Because they had totally and completely awesome radio shows?
• Because they held public rallies and were politically involved in social issues?
• Because they had really neat commercials?
• Because they had super cool youtube videos?
• Because they were on Facebook and their profile said so?

On each account, no. We’re talking the early disciples, so it would have been Facescroll anyway… (Groan! You do realize, not everybody is going to get that one, right Glenn?)

Some might think both phrases, the one spoken by Jesus and the one spoken by St. Francis (and Gerry), are referring to our actions. I used to think this way also, until I started to really understand the meaning of what Jesus is laying out for the disciples… He didn’t say “Act like you love one another…” He said, “Love one another.” Period, no dot, dot, dot in this phrase.

I think we can all be good at being nice and pretending to love one another. I think we can all put on a good show and even convince ourselves it is real, but the true test comes when your relationships are tested and you are asked to step out of your comfort zone.

Jesus stepped out of His comfort zone for you. I’m sure He was just fine in Heaven, yet He decided to leave His place of honor and become a man. Even as a man, I’m sure He was just comfortable with His friends and disciples, yet eventually He stepped out of His comfort zone and dragged a cross up a hill for you.

What about that command He gave us? Yes, it is just three words, “Love one another.” Did you catch the defining words following the command? “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Stepping out of His comfort zone was what He was all about.

The challenge here for me is I can set my mind to step out of my so called comfort zones for just about anybody, but why would I be doing it? Am I just acting or do I really care for the person? Am I sincere?

You see, there is this thing Jesus can do… He can see my heart. Being God and all, He has this ability to know my heart and know my intention… He knows my motivation. So, here I am, trying to do this love thing for others, preaching the Gospel through my actions, and I am failing miserably because it is merely an outward expression or activity.

Is this kind of love impossible, then? John gives us the answer in I John 4:7

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

Here we see John giving us encouragement and repeating the very words of Jesus Christ, but we are given something more! We are given the answer and the source of our motivation. You see, we can’t work up this love for others like I was trying to do for so long, instead we have to ask for this kind of love from the only One who can give it to us: God.

What have I learned about this kind of love?

• It has no comfort zones because the comfort comes from giving.
• It has no judgment because there is no judgment in compassion.
• There is no sin because the focus is not on self.
• There is no acting because the motivation and intent is pure.

I am working toward a point when this kind of love comes natural to me, flowing from the Holy Spirit into my life and the lives of those around me. I’m not there yet. I’m still carrying around a lot of baggage, still caught up in a lot of foolishness… Ok, I’m not even close, as these times are fleeting and few, but I’m working on it.

I am asking the Lord for this kind of love each morning. There are times I am ready to receive it and there are times I get in the way and resist it. It is too far out of my comfort zone.

I’m working on it.

What about you? I encourage you to ask the Lord to fill your heart with compassion for the people around you, and whenever you can… make the effort to receive that powerful love. Whenever you can, get out of the way and let that love flow through you… step out of your comfort zone and into His.

By this, all men will know you are His disciple.

Let me know if you want help with this prayer or if you want to talk about it.

Glenn Sasscer

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So, would it be a biker bar, tavern, or diner? Maybe Bikerverner? Tavdiniker?

For my family, Friday nights have become a routine of pizza and a DVD, a family night around the television with a good movie, pizza, and popcorn for dessert. We rarely miss it, and before we celebrate our weekly family night, I usually find myself pulling up a barstool and having a couple of beers while waiting for our pizza.

(Oh gasp!) Now, I know what you are thinking… Yes, I am a believer, an ordained minister, I am constantly talking about my relationship with Jesus Christ, and believe it or not, I also eat pizza. I know some of you may have a problem with a believer eating pizza, but I have not found anything in Scripture about not eating pizza. I don’t really see it as a problem unless, of course, I over-indulge or take it to the extreme… you know, a pizza-addict.

I also know some folks may have a problem with a believer eating cheese balls… again, I have not found where Scripture speaks against those little nuggets of grease. I don’t over-indulge, so I’m not having a problem with it. I guard against the impulse to become a cheese ball junkie.

Perhaps I have been judged for the French fries? I would certainly not eat a French fry in front of someone who has a problem with this sort of potato addiction (a fryaholic?). Scripture does speak against not causing a brother (or sister) to stumble in our behavior. We find Paul speaking about this in Romans 14:21-22.

It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves.

So, to be sure, I am aware of my friends and family who may struggle with me eating pizza, cheese balls, or French fries at the local tavern, and I certainly do not indulge in front of them.

I am also aware of an attitude some folks have when they see me wearing my Portage Inn T-shirt and they just know I have eaten pizza, cheese balls, and French fries: I am being judged. I know as a believer, some folks will hold me to a different standard, possibly waiting for me to stumble – even more so as an ordained believer. Fortunately, I stopped seeking their approval quite some time ago; I look for God’s approval only in the eyes of Jesus.

This is liberating, actually. There is freedom when you stop seeking after the approval of others or when their opinions really do not bother you anymore. I found the only way to embrace this is to stop doing what they are doing to me: judging others.

Jesus warns us about this in Matthew 7:1-2

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

I think it is part of our natural self or our fallen nature to judge others or make judgments against others, but to what benefit? Am I trying to make myself feel better about my own inadequacies? Am I reflecting my own sin when I look so desperately for others to sin?

I still catch myself at times, making a quick opinion about someone else before realizing I am judging them.  I found the best thing is to confess my judgment immediately and look for the qualities the Lord sees in the person of my focus. How does Jesus view this person?

We find this answer in His response to a woman others were judging in Luke 7:36-39. This passage begins with:

Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume,  and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is– that she is a sinner.”

Now watch this… Jesus asks Simon, the Pharisee, a question about forgiveness, with the root of the answer centered on love. Watch how Jesus responds to the Pharisee’s judgment, and more importantly, watch how He responds to the woman in Luke 7:44-48.

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven– for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.” Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

The water for the feet, the kiss, the oil… these were as customary then as offering to take someone’s coat when they visit your house. The point is not what Simon did not do, but more on how Jesus responded to the woman and how He viewed her: with love and compassion.

Careful now, for I am not saying we should ignore sin, but I am saying we should be careful in our judgment of others. We would do good to remember what Paul tells us in Galatians 6:1-2.

Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

Notice the word, “gently”? I believe this is implying we should restore our brothers and sisters with love and without judgment. I believe love overlooks many of the things that are unimportant in the lives of others, things that are none of our business, and things that are between the Lord and them. This is not to say we are to ignore sin, but to recognize we are severely unqualified to judge others, while fully qualified to forgive and accept them (and note: the acceptance is of the person, not the sin).

Have you ever wondered what the church would look like today if there was less judgment and more love for one another? (…not to judge the church, of course…)

I can’t change the focus of others, but I can continue to pray the Lord fills my heart with His compassion. If you want to talk more about this, meet me Friday at the Portage Inn and I’ll buy you a fry… or email me.

Glenn Sasscer

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Just as we are glad to see our children come to us with their “boo boos”, I am confident God feels the same compassion for us when we take our scraps and pains to Him. I believe He welcomes us, requests us to come to Him, and is waiting to embrace us, but we are many times reluctant to enter into this healing grace.

Why? I think most times because we want to figure out how we got hurt, why we got hurt, or we want revenge and retribution in the situation. This is like a child falling off the slide wanting to know why he fell, how he fell, and then wanting the slide disassembled… really, the best thing for the child is to accept the injury, attend to the injury, and move on.

What does this tell us?

Stop trying to figure out how and why you got hurt. In spite of what you might believe, your pain is not unique at all. You may not like this, but in what you believe to be a unique situation to your life and something you may be the only one to endure, it really does not matter if you were right or wrong or even did anything at all.

Ouch! How careless of me to make such a statement? I’m just sharing my own revelation. I think it is time to put on my big boy pants and stop whining about the big bad slide that hurt me. How I got hurt no longer matters; what matters is my willingness to move on in God and trust His grace in my life.

God even tells us we should not be surprised that we must endure some pain. Hello! Whether you know God or not, you are still going to encounter situations and trials in life – it is part of living. Nowhere in Scripture is there a promise for believers that we will be free from hurts, pains, or sufferings. In fact, we are told in 1 Peter 4:12-13 not to be surprised when it happens.

Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.

In many cases, we are hurt because we tried to be honest in a situation and it was turned against us. I mean, whenever I have been hurt by my own dishonesty (aka. justifying a wrong decision or reacting wrong), it seemed I learned from the experience, recognized I deserved the outcome no matter how I tried to justify it, and dealing with the results was not a long lasting pain or injury. In those situations, I learned to make better decisions and move on.

The problem is dealing with the instances when I was hurt doing something right, something honest, something sincere, serving what I believed to be the will of God, or serving out of love. Now, we are talking pain and I want the slide disassembled! (Big boy pants, Glenn… big boy pants.)

I think we are called to lay off the guilt trips and the whole holding grudges attitude, which only waste our time, causing the pain to linger, and exhausts us. We can stop condemning ourselves or trying to figure out someone else to blame… neither will bring healing to the situation, and the slide will never get disassembled.

Just as my children still come to my wife and I when they are hurt, the Lord calls us to run to Him when we are hurt, as He calls us in Matthew 11:28-30.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Isn’t it time to stop whining? Isn’t it time for you to stop looking at the slide or thinking about the situation that hurt you and instead focus on the One who can bring you healing? I know I am tired and ready to focus on Him.

Pray with me: “Lord, I am sorry for waiting so long to bring You my pain and hurt. I am sorry for holding a grudge for so long or thinking I am so unique You could never understand my situation. I am tired of whining about it. I am tired of the hurt and unforgiveness. I am tired of the pain. Forgive me. I ask You for Your healing and restoration. I give You this pain. I give You this hurt. I give You that situation weighing heavily on me. Now, I know I am going to be tempted to take it back from You, so I also ask You for the strength to leave it in Your hands. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.”

Contact me if you want help with this prayer or if you want to discuss this issue.

Glenn Sasscer

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A Dance With God

He holds my hands,
And I hold His eyes,
It eases the pain,
The torment the lies.
 
When life gets tough,
I’ll ride on His back,
He protects me,
Blocks every attack.
 
He holds me close,
Never letting go,
He’s so tall,
Yet He leans down low.
 
He says shall we dance,
And the music starts to play,
Its so peaceful,
Only He makes me feel this way.
 
And then I dance with God,
We don’t dance to fast,
It could go on forever,
But the music won’t last.
 
I’ll stray away,
Cuz of me He cried,
But He’ll always have me back,
With arms open wide.

I’ll get hit with rocks,
I’ll fall off His shoulders,
But when I look back,
He’s holding the boulders.
 
All that hits me,
He knows I can take,
And when its all over,
A better me it will make.
 
I may feel forgotten,
But He’s always right there,
Holding me tight,
With extra care.
 
When I cry He wipes away my tears,
when I am scared He quiets my fears.
 
And then I dance with God,
We don’t dance to fast,
It could go on forever,
But the music won’t last.
 
I’ll stray away,
Cuz of me He cried,
But He’ll always have me back,
With arms open wide.

By Karli Sasscer

My thanks to Karli for sharing this beautiful encouragement and blessing. I am struck by how her words reveal the depth of her faith, and how much I can learn from my own children.

Glenn Sasscer

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This response can be mind-boggling for some folks, but I don’t answer this way just to boggle their mind… whatever boggling one’s mind means, I answer this way because it is simply the only truthful way I know to answer.

For me, this answer is complete, concise, and fully describes my faith. Sometimes their eyebrows go up and they change the subject while wondering about my medication, other times the answer will provoke more questions about this relationship and I begin to share my testimony.

One such testimony is the revelation of His Word. At some point in my life, I made the decision to accept Scripture as the absolute truth and God’s inspired word directed at each of us. This means, God’s Spirit inspired the writers of the Old and New Testaments to lay out His words. This also means His same Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit, is here to teach us the full depth and meaning of these words and how to apply them to our lives.

This is an important testimony to share with someone trying to understand “all this God business”, because they may have or may try to read the Bible at some point and get absolutely nothing out of what we are calling the absolute truth. The experience of what we call a relationship leaves them empty, confused, and further rejecting “all this God business”. 

Maybe you have an experience with Scripture where God revealed something and the meaning just exploded off the page – this is an excellent testimony to share. Such as one I have from several years ago where I remember writing the curriculum for our children’s church and planning to spend one Sunday on John the Baptist… I mean, really… he ate locust and honey, wore animal pelts, and dunked people in the water, I should be able to cover that in one Sunday, right? Little did I realize God was going to take us on a six-week journey resulting in four baptisms!

Six weeks on John the Baptist! There is no way I could have come up with six weeks worth of teachings, however the Holy Spirit opened up something new for each week. As a result, we baptized four children who were not only ready, but also excited about the experience.

I look at my last couple of articles on this blog in the same way, Small Matters? and Painful Roots. I am caught up in one simple request made to Jesus by the disciples in Luke 17:5.

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

Normally you would think someone who writes, teaches, trains, and provides business consulting could take a simple phrase and explain it in less than a few paragraphs, but this is looking at the subject with the wisdom of the world. What does God’s Word say about the wisdom of the world?

1 Corinthians 3:19
For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.

As I consider the simple request made by the disciples in Luke 17:5, the whole aspect of our involvement in our faith comes to light and boggles my mind… and this whole boggling thing leaves me wanting to know more.

Think about the Lord’s response to the above request. We looked at the uprooting of sin in our lives in yesterday’s article , but Jesus makes an equally, if not more puzzling statement after the uprooting.

Let’s pick it up in Luke 17:7-8:

Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘Come along now and sit down to eat’? Would he not rather say, ‘Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink’?

I can tell you I have read this passage many times and just glossed over it, however this week I was stuck on the disciple’s request and how the Lord responds. Jesus is talking less about servants and when they eat and more about us and where we direct our faith. Of course, we serve the Lord, but what supper can we provide to Him who has all He requires and has already prepared a banquet feast for all of us? What food could we give to the Lord?

We give Him what He hungers for: our faith.

Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that…

…without faith it is impossible to please God…

Throughout Scripture, we find the first thing God requires from us is our faith in Him. In the disciple’s request, I believe Jesus recognizes the disciples are requesting an increase in their faith so they may accomplish that which is important to them… ah… they are wanting to feed themselves first. I see His reply as more a rebuke for them to recognize their interest is self-serving instead of serving God and what is important to God.

I can confess many times I have stumbled in focusing my faith on my own interests instead of God and His interests. He is still revealing these areas in my life. I have these selfish claims and pursuits with lofty dreams… I think God is in these plans only to find I have closed the door on Him.

His response?

Revelations 3:20
Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.

Too many times I have closed the door. He is faithful to continue to knock… sometimes lightly, sometimes pounding, yet always patient. When I finally open the door, or… when I finally realize my motives are selfish and confess them, He is quick to respond and redirect my faith where it needs to be: on Him. And, we find in the last verse above, we finally eat together or are served together… that is, when we focus our faith on God and His interests, we too benefit from the effort and are equally blessed or nourished.

Where is your testimony? Where is your relationship with God? Do you have any areas where you may have closed the door on God, even though you pray for His blessings on your plans? You may have heard this saying before, but instead of asking God to find His place in your plans, maybe you should find your place in His plans.

I encourage you to consider your testimonies, examine your relationship with God, and look for areas in your life where you may have closed the door on Him all while asking Him for His blessings. You may be as surprised as I was… am… as I work though this whole concept of serving Him.  

I believe it is worth it. Contact me if you want help praying through this process.

Glenn Sasscer

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I place myself in this position each morning in prayer, knowing full well I am severely lacking in so many ways when I stand before the Lord. My natural request of Him is to increase my faith and prepare me for what He has planned in the day… because really… man, some days seem to take on their own personality and are out to get me.

Oh Lord, just increase my faith, huh?

I believe Jesus is faithful to answer this request, though it is not with a sweep of His hand, a spoken word, or anything we can describe with the word “instantly”. Instantly would not teach us. Instantly would not open our eyes. Instantly would not get rid of some of the wrong ways of thinking, reacting, or justifying our decisions. Instead, we find ourselves in the same position as the disciples some 2,000 years ago, making a request and wondering how the Lord is going to work it out in our lives.

Make no mistake – He will work it out. We find this little nugget of information in Hebrews 12:2:

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…

Do you see how this is all stitched together? Jesus is the author of our faith, a free gift He gives to us. He is also the perfecter of our faith, which means He is the One to teach us how to apply our faith in life. He gives us a gift and trains us on the gift, with a training period equal to the rest of our lives.

The disciples are making the request of Jesus as part of a conversation spanning a couple of chapters in Luke. Their request and His answer are found in Luke 17:5-6:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.

This is an interesting response. The image portrayed here is one of uprooting – not trimming or pruning, but of an all out uprooting and displacement of a tree. Now before you start imagining a tree jumping up out of the ground, running along on roots to hop into a nice, convenient hole near the sea, let’s consider first why you would want to have the tree moved in the first place. Sheer entertainment value? I mean, let’s face it, that would be something to see, right? Add a little music and maybe we can see the tree bust a move on the way? (Glenn shrugs…)

If we accept Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith, then we also must accept He is the author and perfecter of all of creation. This means He determines which trees will grow and where they will grow. I do not believe God is referring to us moving a tree in the passage, with or without the accompaniment of music. Instead, I believe He is referring to something that needs to be uprooted from where He did not plant… something that would perfect our faith in the process.

I have learned some of my darkest sins and problems have roots traveling all the way back to my heart, deep seated roots entwined in my emotions and feeding on denial or ignorance. Some spouted from seeds of pain, hurt, confusion, callous words, or rejection; others from revenge, unforgiveness, and grudges; and still others from sources unknown.

Yeah, I have a messy garden here, but think about the application in what Jesus is telling His disciples and each of us. Before we ask God for the faith to move a mountain, we have to take care of a few roots closer to home. We don’t need bucket loads of faith to complete this first task; all we need is a miniscule amount… and the desire.

I believe what Jesus is telling us is something very basic: “Examine your hearts and pluck out the roots of sin.”

Like any chore in the garden, it gets easier once you get started. Let me encourage you to ask the Lord to give you eyes to see what He wants you to see, ears to hear what He wants you to hear, and the strength to recognize the roots of sin choking off the fullness of your life – and the grace to deal with those roots. I am finding it easier as I go, but those initial steps totally suck.

I believe it is worth it. Contact me if you want help praying through this process.

Glenn Sasscer

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Dan Ariely, who holds joint appointments in MIT’s Media Lab and Sloan School of Management, performed a test in the dorms at their school. Here’s how the test worked: Ariely and his students went around and left six-packs of Coke in randomly selected dorm refrigerators all over campus. When he checked back in a few days, all of the Cokes were gone.

But when they later placed plates of six loose dollar bills in those same refrigerators, not a single bill was missing when they checked back. Even though the value was comparable, and thus the situations were supposed to be equivalent, people responded in opposite ways. Why is that?

Well, for one, because a Coke just tastes really good! I mean, if they did the test with Pepsi, those would all still be sitting there… who in their right mind would justify stealing a Pepsi.

Chuckle, right? However, even with tongue-in-cheek humor, we are touching on a key element of our behavior… justifying what is right and wrong to get what we want or make wrong decisions. We see this in everyday decisions, running red lights, buying things compulsively, and even making business decisions… Can you say Enron, Bernie Maddoff, or Lehmen Brothers?

Of course, none of us would ever stoop to justifying wrong behavior… I mean, there are those other people (this was so hard to type when making quotation marks in the air with my fingers… “other people”… there, that’s better). I mean, we just wouldn’t try to justify our wrong decisions, compulsive buying, indulging, or anything like that… not me, not my readers (Glenn types, with his eyes looking off in the distance so he doesn’t convey the wrong idea or give the impression he is in denial…)

Ah… denial, sweet denial… a place I can visit and feel good about myself. A place where I can justify my wrong decisions and do what I want, because really, it is all about me, right?

The apostles make an interesting request of Jesus in Luke 17:5:

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

Now, these are a bunch of dudes walking around with Jesus, spending a good portion of their waking moments with Jesus, and basically hearing and seeing everything Jesus does… and they want the Lord to increase their faith. Jesus’ response is in the following verse, Luke 17:6:

He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you…”

Jesus could have said, “Ok…” and waved His hand to grant their request. Instead, He lays out a comparison to those having little faith and what can be done with a little faith. This is sort of weird until you look back in the previous chapter… a previous chapter for us, but all within about the same conversation for the apostles. So, I am left wondering if the apostle’s request for more faith comes as a result of what Jesus teaches them in Luke 16:10:

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

Or, to put it in the language of MIT, whoever can be trusted with a Coke can be trusted with a dollar. I think we are very much like the apostles in looking at matters of faith and trust in worldly terms, judging our faith by visible results and measures.

“Oh look! Someone left a Coke! They obviously forgot it or don’t want it, so let’s make sure it doesn’t go to waste… after all, if I don’t drink it, someone else will… and everybody is doing it nowadays…” Chug, chug, chug.

“Oh look! Someone left a few thousand dollars in this stock account! They obviously forgot about it or don’t want it, so let’s make sure it doesn’t go to waste… after all, if I don’t spend it, someone else will… and everybody is doing it nowadays…”

“Oh look! Someone just ticked me off! They obviously forgot how important I am or don’t want to recognize how important I am, so I am going to get them back by yelling, shouting, and all sorts of revenge… after all, if I don’t make them pay, they will never learn… and everybody is doing it nowadays…”

If we are honest with ourselves… oh sweet denial, where art thou… we will gain a better understanding of what the disciples were asking when they wanted Jesus to increase their faith. We will learn we are much like His disciples in wanting to go directly to larger matters of faith to obtain that which can move mountains, and losing focus on the small matters that count just the same.

True faith… true, honest faith, in the eyes of the Lord, has nothing to do with the size or amount of work needing to be accomplished. In His eyes, true faith has nothing to do with the size or purpose of our decisions. By the way God measures, all of our decisions are equally important and none may be justified away as miniscule.

I believe God isn’t so much concerned about the size of our decisions as He is about the heart of the decisions. Is our focus on ourselves or on Him? What is the direction of our life?

He is more interested in winning all of me than winning all of the world. He is interested in winning all of you than winning all of the world.

This makes it more difficult for me to figure out how to snag that Coke out of the fridge at MIT and justify many more decisions I would like to leave in that sweet state of denial. However, if I am going to be serious about my faith, I need to be all in.

What about you?

I encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal any areas in your life where you live in denial and possible justify your decisions. You might want to also ask for the strength to see yourself in these areas truthfully, because that whole denial thing can be blinding.

Contact me if you need help in the area, want to pray together, or just want to chat about this subject.

Glenn Sasscer

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The Lord is like that, isn’t He? He doesn’t go around walls or over walls; He goes through them in order to get to us. And, from my experience, He doesn’t let anything get in His way, including our pride, our ego, or our silly ideas about how well we are or how good we are doing. When He goes through those walls or mountains of egotistical pride, we not only get uncomfortable, but we start to respond in a variety of ways: denial, indifference, building more walls, excuses, reclusion, pretending we are so ‘Johnny Bravo cool’, and flat out running in the opposite direction.

You might question me, “Glenn, how do you know this stuff?”

I’m glad you asked. I’ve learned this by my own reaction to having my macho honor plucked and pruned, pierced and trimmed, and cut down to a miniscule size. From the experience, I will tell you now I am thankful God will do whatever necessary to remove whatever is interfering in your relationship with Him, even if I fought Him all through the ordeal.

I finally came to understand what Paul was telling the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 4:7:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

This passage is actually good encouragement, especially for an ex-hotdog like me. The jars of clay symbolizes each of us, fragile and weak, easily broken under any pressure or when used in any way. The treasure symbolizes God’s presence in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit, making us resilient and supernaturally powerful… not because of the cracked clay, but because of what is in the cracked clay!

Throughout Scripture and throughout my walk with God, I see God does not need the power of man to achieve His purpose – in fact, in most cases, the power of man gets in the way. God mocks man’s power. He laughs at our egotistical efforts to be good. He does not use the high and mighty men of Scripture, but instead uses the weak things of this world to confound the wise (or those of us who think we are wise). I am a witness to this first hand, and we can also read about it in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things– and the things that are not– to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God– that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

This passage makes me glad I wasn’t born of noble lineage, yet even though I wasn’t I still had to deal with that rigid wall of American pride and male ego. My self-image blinded me when I looked in the mirror and I had trouble seeing myself: a broken, weak heathen in desperate need of Jesus Christ. I am that weak, cracked jar of clay, and once I could see myself in this way… and more importantly, accept myself in this manner, God could do something with me.

2 Corinthians 3:5
Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

One of the life changing revelations the Lord has given me is to recognize my weakness and His strength in my life. This changed my relationship with Him and my perspective in life.

Now, I’m not telling you I have it all together on this subject and don’t think for a moment I don’t have times where I strut around like a peacock with my feathers at full span, but I continue to keep my focus on Him in the hopes He will change my thinking in those “other” areas, too. This is all part of the journey… will you join me?

Let me encourage you to ask the Lord to reveal those areas in your life where you are hiding your cracked, fragile clay jars behind walls of pride and ego. In prayer, ask God to help you see yourself in a pure and truthful light… His light, exposing your weakness while simultaneously filling you with His grace and strength.

Is it easy? No.

Is it painless? No.

Is it worth it? Most definitely… freedom is always worth it.

Contact me if you need help in the area, want to pray together, or just want to chat about this subject.

Glenn Sasscer

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I wrote about spiritual warfare. You can ignore it, say it doesn’t exist, or pretend you are immune to the battles being waged against you, but the bottom line is the only way to win a war is to recognize you are in one.

On Friday, I mentioned being in the presence of demons as the most terrible times of my entire life. I stick by this statement, and yes… there were a few times. I also pointed out I never worshipped the devil, practiced voodoo, played around with black magic, or messed around with anything like that of a serious nature.

This is significant; this statement points out we are all vulnerable. You may think you are not walking in my shoes and will not follow the same path, but again… I never did anything to entice the encounters. We are targets of the enemy, so how will you respond if or when you find yourself in those crosshairs?

My encouragement comes from Jonah.

I know you might think this guy was thrown overboard and was swallowed by a large fish, how can we really find any encouragement from him? Because Jonah passed the test. Let’s take a look at the second chapter of Jonah:

From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. He said: “In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the deep, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O LORD my God. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, LORD, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD.”  And the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah onto dry land.

Jonah couldn’t have gotten further away from the Lord at this point in his life. He was in a huge fish! (Reference life having freaking experiences in the first paragraph of this article). You might say Jonah was at the peak of enduring his trial… at the pinnacle of a life-threatening challenge. What is his response? He remembers the Lord.

He remembers the Lord, and in this very instant he passes the test. God’s response is immediate and Jonah finds himself on dry land. (Again, reference freaky experiences in first paragraph).

In the middle of my demonic encounters, it was not my strength, my wisdom, my understanding, or my knowledge bringing me through the attack. I did not look for some ancient book, recite some long forgotten incantation, or draw some magic sword to defeat the enemy… these are all Hollywood fiction and false hopes. In each of the instances, I said the name “Jesus Christ” and the battle ended immediately.

How did I respond? I remembered the Lord and God’s response was immediate. I remembered His promise in His Word, found in Philippians 2:9-11:

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Whether or not you believe in the demonic, spiritual warfare, that demons and angels exist, or that what I wrote above could be true, I encourage you to understand the power of our Lord and Savior, even just the mere mentioning of His name. I encourage you to recognize our one and true Creator, our one and true Savior, our one and true Lord, and above all else, to realize His primary focus is to have a relationship with you.

Take a look at the focus of His ministry in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

And, in John 17:23:

I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

I encourage you to pray for and ask God for a better understanding of this relationship, and for the strength to turn to Him in the midst of whatever attack is directed at you. I encourage you to remember the Lord, turn to Him, and rely on the power of His name! Contact me if I can pray with you for this revelation and for strength in the battle.

Glenn Sasscer

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