A Holy Dissatisfaction...

Dissatisfaction manifests itself in various ways. It may show up as an uneasy feeling, like something is missing or just not quite "right," whatever that means. Sometimes a longing for something we may not be able to put our finger on or a strong uneasiness of something missing gnaws at our sense of well-being. At other times, it glares so brightly at us that we know exactly what we are dissatisfied with. However, it comes, it leaves us unsettled and sometimes even rattled.

There is a holy phenomenon that is spiritual dissatisfaction, and it can manifest itself in the same feelings as described above. It happens as a natural outflow of humans being created in the image of God as learned in the first chapters of Genesis. Because of our origination, we are, by our very nature, spiritual beings. One doesn't become a spiritual being when he enters into a personal relationship with God - he is born that way. And whether he ever has a personal relationship with God or not, he is still a spiritual being. That means every person has a soul, which will never die but will end this earthly life only to enter eternal life.

Thus, every person has a holy dissatisfaction that can only be satisfied by God. It comes in two stages: a longing to know God, and a longing to know God better and better. See, for the unbeliever, there is a deep desire in his heart to know the God who created him, to enter into a personal relationship with Him. Obviously, he doesn't always recognize who or what this deep desire is for. Until that recognition comes, he will try to fill that longing with other things - some good and some not-so-good. Family, work, being a good person, giving back to the community, etc., are all good, but at the end of the day, something is still missing. Too many times, destructive behaviors and choices are made thinking that dark hole will be filled only to realize the uneasiness is still there along with the consequences, some of which may last for a lifetime. I have heard many stories of people who tried to settle the uneasiness in their lives with many different things that didn't work. But once they entered into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, they finally experienced a peace that not words could not explain (Philippians 4:7). Their lives didn't suddenly become perfect, and they still had to deal with life's issues and consequences of their past choices, but the void was gone, and they had access to the God who will supply all their needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).


Once a person has a personal relationship with Jesus, the holy dissatisfaction moves to the second stage. The need to know God morphs into a need to know Him on a deeper level - His character, His likes and dislikes, His plan and purpose for the individual. It is much like any budding relationship. The more one knows a person, the more one wants to know and the more time one wants to spend with that person. Going back to the beginning in Genesis, God created man for companionship. He created him in His own image so they could enter into a relationship. Therefore, the desire for that spiritual relationship is inherent. Paul often wrote about his desire to know God on a deeper level, to become more like Him. The desire was/is so strong, that it was/is a NEED. Paul writes about that need comparing it to an athlete running a long-distance race in Philippians 3. Some scholars think he is referring to an athlete competing in a chariot race. In the ancient Olympics, the chariot race was one of the most anticipated events. However, the chariot was not what we typically picture. It was a wooden platform balancing on two wheels with nothing to hold on to or brace against. The athlete had to balance himself while pushing the horses forward. It was a tremendously strenuous feat taking every muscle and nerve fiber to stay balanced and in his lane. That's the picture when he uses the term "press on" and says, "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:14) The prize he's referring to is knowing Jesus on a deeper, more intimate level - to become more like Him. Paul was never satisfied with His relationship with Jesus. He always wanted/needed more.

If that was true for Paul, think about the average believer! That is what a holy dissatisfaction is about and why a holy dissatisfaction is essential for spiritual growth. If you are feeling stagnant or frustrated or even disconnected, ask yourself about your spiritual condition. Usually, that is the root of all misery. I did not say all problems! Problems are a part of this life. How we deal and feel about our situations is contingent on where we are in our relationship with Jesus. If we are where we need to be with Him, then that unexplainable peace envelopes us. If not, then we are at the mercy of anger, sadness, frustration, bitterness, depression, and the list goes on...

We should never let ourselves get "satisfied" in our relationship with Him. When satisfied, we stop pressing onward; we stop growing. Instead, we should cry out to experience holy dissatisfaction - just as David did in Psalm 42:1-2. "As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, for the living God..."

Called to Be Different...Part 2

In part one of this series, we explored what it may feel like to be different from those around us. We also discussed the idea that normal is relative - everyone's normal is a bit different - thank goodness! As believers in Christ, our normal should not look like, sound like, act like, or think like the secular world in which we live.

2 Cor. 5:17 -  This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! NLT That's where the idea of "born again" comes from.

So what is this new life supposed to look like? We find the answer to that question - probably hundreds of times - in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

• Be holy for I am holy. Lev. 11:44, 19:2
• You are holy to the Lord. Ezra 8:28
• ...but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior because it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy." 1 Peter 1:15-16

Now, let's get one thing on the table and understand it. Holy does not mean perfect! We usually think of those two words as one in the same, but that's not biblical. Jesus Christ, who is God in the flesh, is the only person who was and can ever be perfect - because He is God! We are called to imitate Christ, not BE Christ!

• Therefore, be imitators of Christ... Eph. 5:1

To imitate Him means to take on the attitudes, actions, and thoughts of holiness. The word holy is defined as being different or set apart. Thinking about the earthly life of Jesus, there is no question that He fits that definition. He was definitely different; His was a different kind of normal.

To understand how we are to adapt to that kind of normal, we must make some observations about His life and how it was different from those He walked among. To understand God's character and Jesus' attitudes and actions, we only have to look to the fruit of the Spirit.

• But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control... Gal. 5:22-23

Fruit is the by-product of life, which re-generates life, and the cycle continues. Spiritual fruit, then, is the by-product of life with the Spirit - God's Spirit. This is fruit that we normally would not produce of ourselves.

For example, there are some people that are hard for me to love - if not impossible. If left to myself, I would not love them, but choose to ignore or even forget about them. But the Spirit's love doesn't work that way. When Jesus passed by a blind begger, He felt love and compassion for him. This was a person who, in that society, was shunned and left to fen for himself, so he would sit, probably in the same place everyday, and beg. Most people would walk out-of-their way to NOT come close to this man. But Jesus walked right up to this blind man, spread some mud on his eyes, and healed him! (John 9:1-11)

We saw Jesus approach the unapproachable again when he visited with the adulterous woman at the well in John 8. Another person who society shunned because of her lifestyle, but Jesus treated her with kindness and gentleness as He shared His forgiving news with her.

And who can doubt the presence of the Holy Spirit's peace during His trial and crucifixtion? He was totally at peace as false accusations were shouted at Him and as He was beaten and flogged with the cat-of-nine tails. He was totally at peace as He gave up His life on the cross.  (John 19)

Therefore, part of being different in this world means we are to live in the fruit of the Spirit as Jesus did. If we can experience the kind of peace that the human mind cannot comprehend (Phil 4:7) in the midst of stress and tragedy, we are learning to live like Jesus. When we can allow joy to trump our sorrow, we are learning to live like Jesus. As we love the unlovable and approach unapproachable with kindness and gentleness, we are learning to live like Jesus.

As we learn to live like Jesus, we are becoming holy - set apart, different from the secular world. What is normal for someone learning to live like Jesus will look, think, and act differently from the world.

• ...God has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given us through Christ Jesus. 2 Tim. 1:9

Answering that holy call will mean a new and different normal for us. Are you willing to be different?

Pavlov's Dogs and Contentment...

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov won a Nobel Prize in 1904 for his research in behavior modification with dogs. I remember studying this in my Intro to Psychology class. He realized that his dogs associated food with the ringing of a small bell. Everytime he rang the bell, he fed the dogs, which led him to notice that the dogs would begin to salivate when they heard the bell ring. His discovery led to a break-through in the study and work ofpsychological conditioning in humans. Basically, he figured out that the dogs' response to the bell was learned behavior.



Lily Eoff

We used behavior modification with our Bichon, Lily. Knowing that Bichons are highly intelligent and trainable (they were once known as circus dogs!), we set out to teach her to do tricks when she was a young puppy. Our problem was getting her to recognize and then emulate the desired behavior; getting her to take a treat was the easy part! Take barking for instance. Either Garry or I would say, "Bark!" then bark and show a treat. We did this over and over. I'm sure anyone looking in the window would have thought about calling the guys in the white coats! However, eventually, Lily got the picture and at the command "Bark!" she finally let out a pitiful gurgle that we praised furiously and then fed her a treat. Well, she liked that, so we continued and she became very astute at barking for her treats. Eventually, she learned to stand, sit, roll over, sneeze, and even dance. I won't go into the details of how all of those were achieved (or you might call the white-coat guys!). The point is that all those tricks were learned behaviors - that's Nobel Prize material!!

Okay, I know I sort of got carried away, but stay with me - I have another point to make, and it's an important one.

I won't string you out - here it is: Contentment, emotional and spiritual, is a learned behavior.

So, what is contentment, really? The word means satisfaction or ease of mind. That's easy to understand as I think of emotions - easy to understand, not necessarily to achieve. Spiritually, it means agreeing with God that everything I have is everything I need. That one is not easy to understand or achieve!

The opposite of contentment is anxiety. Paul had this say about anxiety -

• "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:6-7

So emotional and spiritual contentment leads to a kind of peace that the human mind can experience, but not understand enough to put into words. When you experience that kind of peace, you just know it!

The Attitude of Gratitude...

I am all about peace, love, and joy– I’ve said before that I am definitely a child of the ‘70’s! When I was in high school, I cruised around in my parents’ old Pontiac with wire-rim glasses, long, straight hair, and hippy beads. “Peace” was our by-word. My bedroom door was filled with strings of beads, and when I was home, incense was burning in some weird jar on my dresser, and I was strumming the guitar. My airwaves were

A Rendition of My High School Days

 bouncing with John Denver, Bread, or The Beatles. I truly was a hippie-wanna-be! But I was never truly a hippie. Why? Goodness knows that countless others in my generation totally embraced the attitude and lifestyle of that culture that so changed America’s values and even our society’s vision of God.  

I know what happened – or didn’t happen – to me. I didn’t cross over into hippiedom because I never fully embraced the defining, life-changing elements of that culture – drugs and the sexual revolution. Thirty-plus years of hindsight makes me so grateful that I didn’t because I see the evolution of our culture due to those troubled years. And, as you know, what we see is not all that good.

There are three reasons why I didn’t choose that path. One was availability. I grew up in a small town, the daughter of a preacher, who gave a daily devotional and prayer on the school’s PA system every morning. I didn’t run with the crowd that got into drinking and drugs – and no one was chasing me down to offer them to me. At times, I thought I was not very cool, but I know God was protecting me. A second reason for not choosing that path was pure fear – of my parents! I loved life and sure didn’t want it to end prematurely. That might sound flippant, but I truly feared the anger of my parents, the disappointment in their eyes, and the alienation from them that it would bring. Lastly, there was something inside me that just knew  those choices were not right. That something was the Holy Spirit. I asked Jesus to be my savior when I was nine years old, and I was raised in an atmosphere of reverent respect for the Lord. Now don’t get me wrong; I wasn’t a perfect child and teenager. I have my share of wild stories, but I just never got comfortable even desiring those things that my generation was so quickly embracing. I am so very thankful to the Father that the whispers and sometimes yells of the Holy Spirit were heard by my heart and mind.

So, here I am, thirty years later, still all about peace, love, and joy, knowing that those are part of the fruit of the Spirit that lives inside me. I have experienced them and enjoy them immensely. But I wonder sometimes why I have peace one day, then worry or fear the next. I enjoy love and joy for a while only to realize that they have slipped away – again. What is keeping me from living in those attributes everyday? Again, I find myself faced with a choice. That choice is found in Philippians 4:6-7 but can be easily overlooked if I am not careful. Look at those two verses, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

With thanksgiving…The attitude of gratitude! If I want peace to guard my heart and mind, to keep it from going into the overdrive of irrational thought that leads to fear, insecurity, low self-worth, etc., I must come to Him thankful for everything that comes my way. Now, it’s easy to be thankful for the all the good in my life, but giving thanks for the insignificant, the not-so-good, and the really awful circumstances and situations is a different thing! Sometimes unfair and or even tragic things happen to me or to those I care about. I find it very challenging to be thankful in the midst of despair. The Apostle Paul was human; he knew as he penned those words that they were impossible for him or any of us to do. That’s why, a few verses later, he also reminded us that, “I can do all things through Christ who gives me the strength.” (4:13) – Meaning having an attitude of gratitude in the most difficult of circumstances. Yes, I can do that! The Father can help me see the good, the possibilities, even the blessings that He will bring out of the darkest situations.

Once, I was a “hippie-wanna-be” who chose NOT to fully embrace “hippiedom.” That was good. Now I find myself being a “Jesus-wanna-be” choosing TO fully embrace His Kingdom and all that it offers me in this life and throughout eternity. That is good. I choose to have an attitude of gratitude – even when it’s too difficult for me because I know He will give me the strength.

Have Your Been Sifted...Yet?

I've concluded that the most difficult job in the world is farming the land. It is not as difficult as it used to be with advent of the industrial revolution - tillers, tractors, pickers, combines, balers, etc. Just think for a moment how different life was before those inventions! Think how difficult growing crops was before even the most basic of tools were around. It all goes back to Adam. Remember how God told him that because of his sin, he would have to work the land for their sustenance, and it would be back-breaking work? That was not just a play on words.

In Luke 22:31, Jesus told Peter that Satan wanted to sift him like wheat. So, let's examine what that agriculture term suggests. Sifting grain such as wheat or barley is the process of separating the chaff, little stones, and sometimes tares from the kernels that eventually make meal. In Bible times, this was primarily done by the women using a sieve of some kind or sometimes just shaking the grain furiously by hand. It was usually a long, tedious process. Basically, the purpose is to separate the good parts from the bad. Little stones and dirt are obviously not good, and tares are weeds that choke out the good fruit. But what about chaff? It is part of the plant. Chaff is the dry, scaly protective covering of the seed grain. Once the grain is mature, the outer casing begins to dry and pull away from the seed. Its usefulness is over. Eventually, it will fall off and be blown away by the wind. When sifting, that process is speeded up so the grain can be harvested and turned into meal.

What was Satan wanting? He wanted permission to try and break Peter. No doubt, he had been watching Peter and the other disciples for three years as they followed the Christ. He had seen Peter's brashness and impulsiveness, and knew Pete could be a hot-head. He knew Peter's weaknesses. Satan thought this just might be his chance to break Peter and get to Jesus. He wasn't successful in breaking Jesus in the wilderness, so this was another chance. Remember, Satan and his demons are in constant conflict with God and His angels - Good vs. evil. He was hoping that Peter was all chaff and no seed.

This should be a wake-up call for all believers in Christ. Once you accept Jesus as your personal savior, Satan does not forget about you. He still prowls about like a hungry lion seeking someone to devour (I Peter 5:8). No, he cannot rob you of your eternal salvation. However, he can rob you of the abundant life Jesus wants you to experience on this earth. He can devour your joy, peace, and your faith. If he is successful in that, he will prevent you from sharing your faith and being a godly influence to those with whom you come into contact. In other words, you will still go to heaven, but he doesn't want you to take anyone with you.

How does Satan sift us today? Well, be certain he knows our weaknesses - just as he did Peter's. Some of the most common sieves we filter through are physical sufferings, financial hardships, career issues, family problems, and a vast array of personal temptations. In those trials (sifting), Satan tries to shake us hard enough for the chaff to fall away. His hope is that our seed is dried up and is of no use to us or anyone else. But the person who has a growing, dynamic relationship with Jesus won't have a dry, scaly covering that is so fragile that it falls off when shaken. And his seed will be ripe for planting whenever and wherever the opportunity presents itself.

I hope you didn't miss the fact that Satan had to ask permission from Jesus to even approach Peter. Talk about the sovereignty of God! And we see in subsequent verses that Jesus allowed Peter to be sifted - and he didn't do too well. That could be a whole post of its own!

Another remarkable thing is seen in v. 32. Jesus, still speaking to Peter, says, "but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once your have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Here's our WOW moment! Jesus prayed for Peter! And Jesus prays for us - He intercedes for us to the Father! He knows us, each one, by name, and takes us before the Father and expresses our needs. This is the Creator, the One who breathed life into man's existence! He also knew Peter would falter - and told him so. Of course, the brash, young Pete exclaimed his loyalty to Jesus and pooh-poohed the very thought of such. And, again, we have the benefit of knowing the rest of the story. Jesus also knew that Pete would come around and realize he had danced with the devil and would turn back to Jesus. He prayed that Peter's sifting experience would make him stronger in his faith, and that he would be a source of strength and encouragement to other believers. Was Jesus' prayer answered? Oh, yeah! Big time!

We know from Peter's experience that sometimes our trials and adversities are a direct result of Satan's work around us. We also know that sometimes God, in His infinite wisdom, allows us to be tested and sifted. There are times when we need the dry scales knocked off so that we can be spiritually healthy. We have the assurance that Jesus is with the Father watching and praying for us by name that our faith will be strengthened, and we can then strengthen the faith of our brothers and sisters.

So, the question that is posed for us is, how will we fare when Satan sifts us like wheat? Because he will - sift us, you know. Is your "faith" made up of dirt and weeds and chaff so that when you are shaken, it will blow away with the wind? Or, is there a plump, ripe seed smack dab in the core of your faith that will sustain you through the trials when they come?

Jesus is praying for you - and for me - that our faith will grow strong so that it will sustain us through whatever life brings our way. That's a WOW!

The Calming Affect and Efffect...

No telling how many times in my life I have read the 8th chapter of Luke. As I was reading it this morning, the events and parables are so very familiar, so, no doubt, I've read it countless times. However, the number of times I've really READ it, doesn't climb as high! Today, I tried to really READ it, and, again, another WOW! (I think WOW has become my new favorite word - it's so expressive of the inexpressible!) I could spend days writing about the various pieces of that chapter that are powerful, but for now, I want to concentrate on verses 22-25.

At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus and his disciples (and some faithful women, by-the-way), began taking His ministry from city to city and village to village. One day they got into a boat to travel from the west side of the Sea of Galilee to the east side. Jesus must have been physically exhausted from all that He had been doing - healing, teaching, casting out demons, dealing with religious and political leaders - and He fell asleep in the boat. I love it! We are reminded of His humanness! As a youngster, I spent a lot of time in a boat with my dad, either fishing or dragging my brother or sister behind the boat on skis. A small-ish boat is not an easy place to take a nap! And Jesus was with several people who were rowing and probably yakking as they rowed. I'm just saying...He had to be really pooped to fall asleep.

Anyway, while Jesus was napping, the wind got up to the point where the waves were beginning to swamp the boat - and He still slept...The disciples were frightened for their lives, rightfully so. They woke up Jesus, and in their fear, shouted, "...we are perishing!" The disciples were in panic-mode! In my mind's eye, I can see Jesus rousing from His slumber, rubbing His eyes and looking at the boys and out toward the the water - not in any hurry or fear. He then stood up in the boat and rebuked the wind and the gigantic waves, and there was immediate calm. Yep, another WOW! Now remember, this is the same part of the "Us" that separated the waters from the waters and the waters from the land and heaven on day two of Creation. Yes, indeedee, He had to power to speak the water into existence and to calm winds and waves. A miraculous display of omnipotent power! But that's not all...

Jesus looked deep into the eyes of his disciples and said, "Where is your faith?" To me, that means, "Don't panic; I AM right here with you in the middle of this storm!" You see, we can't avoid the storms of life no matter how hard we try or how smart we think we are. Yes, some storms are of our own making, and we do have some control over those, depending on choices we make. We wouldn't be so foolish as to go boating when we know a storm is approaching! So we should always "check the weather" before making a bad decision. However, other storms - not of our own making - will come our way. Some may be due to the choices of others and some just from the circumstances of life, but they will come.

The reaction of the disciples serves as a lesson in what not to do, and that's to not let fear and anxiety grip us so tightly, that we begin to flounder. One of the most powerful things about this story is that Jesus was right there with them in the boat! He was with them in the storm! They were not alone! We must hold tight to the truth that one who walks with Jesus - as the disciples did - is never alone. He lives in us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Where we go, He goes. He wasn't standing way far off on the shore unaware of the trouble the boys were in. No, He was in the same boat. So, we are never alone in our crises.

It's not just that Jesus is with us in the storm. It's what He will do if we call on Him. That is His affect. Affect is a verb, meaning it is an action word. According to Merriam Webster (BTW - another mush-have is a good dictionary), affect means "to produce an effect on or to influence." Jesus' affect when He stood up and spoke was to influence the guys to calm down. I take comfort knowing that in the middle of a life-threatening crisis, Jesus induces calm! He will calm me when me when I feel like I'm about to be overwhelmed by that which I have no control over. My friends, that is peace! Philippians 4:7 says, "...the peace of God surpasses all understanding." Those boys couldn't begin to understand how Jesus calmed the winds and waves. They didn't have to know! They just got to experience - His affect - His peace.

Jesus can also have an effect if we call on Him. Effect is a noun, a person, place, or thing, defined as a result or consequence. The result of Jesus' action was to stop the storm, literally. With His omnipotent power, He changed the circumstances of the storm. In this case, he stopped it all together. When they were overwhelmed, they called on Him to act, and He did. Now listen, He may not always choose to end your storm immediately. I recall that Paul was in the middle of a hurricane at sea and ended up shipwrecked; however, the effect was a more powerful testimony and ministry for the Lord.  But even when Paul finally made it to shore, he knew he was not alone. Jesus (via the Holy Spirit) had been in the same boat with him. When we call on Jesus, there will be an effect - a result - and it will be good. Paul was wrecked but not dead!

Soak in the familiar words of Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and called according to His purpose." That sums up both the affect and effect of the Lord Jesus in our lives!