Of Sapphires and Diamonds

A while ago I had a very interesting conversation about failing to recognize what you have. I was shocked that this had happened when it happened honestly. I thought they knew. I thought they saw what everyone else saw in this person. This person is a rockstar. They've always been one. When they used them in every capacity they could think of, I thought they recognized that the ability to excel in all avenues was a rare gift.  They're a beautiful person, charismatic and devoted, a stellar communicator, a great leader, phenomenal at conveying complex concepts and ideas, and an asset if there ever was one. When they had this person, they failed to understand what they were looking at. They must have thought no one else would recognize what this person had to offer and make them an offer they couldn't refuse. I heard a saying that went something like "You never know how hard someone rides for you until they stop." Yea....the rockstar is out! Had they paid attention to the words of another rockstar, they'd still have what they had. Even if the demonstration of this person's greatness wasn't enough, how could they have missed the wise counsel of someone else they trusted?  How many times do we fail to recognize the treasure right in front of us?

Sometimes I think we take God for granted in the same way. We forget who He is and what He's actually done for us and through us. All those amazing thing that have happened in your life....that was God. That thing you didn't know how you were going to make it through? God. This sin situation? Nothing we could have done about it but God.  So many times when I wasn't enough, Him in me was. I pray God continue to open my eyes to His amazing presence in my life. Give me fresh insights into your mercy and your grace.  I want to see His thoughts and plans for my life. I've found there's nothing better than God's plan so unless He tells me, I'm going to maintain my previous posture and carry our the instructions I have because His word is true and He is. He just is.

I Corinthians 4:2

Moreover, it is [essentially] required of stewards that a man should be found faithful [proving himself worthy of trust].

 A steward is a position in the church I was raised in and what I think they're talking about here is a person who leads or is put in charge of something. Stewards in my home church maintain the building and spend the church's money to make improvements to the structure. I feel like outside the church, a steward is a person who leads or watches over. Its a position of authority. The place that most closely aligns with that in my life is being a mentor. I watch over my undergrad and if you know me, you know I'm particular about my undergrad. I take mentoring very seriously and what I know about being in this position is that its not having the title but actually doing what it says. I've got to be trustworthy and do what I say I'll do for this mentor situation to work.  I think so much about how I live my life needs to be a demonstration of God's treatment of me. Just ask He's always there for me, I endeavor to do the same for my undergrad. Now there are limits to this. My limit is that I only have 1 undergrad. God has everybody but in my little corner of the world, I want to get this right. I want my life to reflect Christ.

I Corinthians 4:7

For who separates you from the others [as a faction leader]? [Who makes you superior and sets you apart from another, giving you the preeminence?] What have you that was not given to you? If then you received it [from someone], why do you boast as if you had not received [but had gained it by your own efforts]?

This reminds me of a  conversation I had with a friend about titles. He was saying just because you have a title that doesn't mean I have to call you by it. You have a name and that's what I'm calling you. My argument was use the title because they earned it. The earning it sets them apart but here we are talking about things we've received that we haven't earned. Grace is a prime example. How can you boast about God's grace in your life when, by definition, there's nothing you could have done or did to earn it? And even when His hand is firmly placed in your life, that's not a time to boast. That's a time to worship and seek Him more diligently. Every time its been very obvious that God was moving, its because He wanted me to come after Him as to what was required of me. Boasting about what God has done on my behalf that I never could have and would have deserved? That's crazy....and its no attitude of gratitude. God is after the heart....let me make sure I'm always checking mine cause the idea that the early church was boasting about things they received from On High as if their "holiness" made it theirs to have? Wild...and dumb.

I Corinthians 4: 12

And we still toil unto weariness [for our living], working hard with our own hands. When men revile us [[c]wound us with an accursed sting], we bless them. When we are persecuted, we take it patiently and endure it.

Can I tell you this is hard. Its so very difficult to let others do what they want, especially if they're treating you badly, and still treat them decently. I've walked through this for many many years with people that are supposed to love me unconditionally but have all types of stipulations and conditions on their treatment of me. Each and every time I don't meet them, I run into conditional love. Love that says "If you do this, I'll treat you better." Its not cute. Its not pleasant. Its something that most of the people in my life who love me for real, despise. Others have watched for many years and they don't get it. I don't really get it either. I'm so thankful for this verse. I recently talked to my love about it and its crappy at best. We talked about the path God has me on career wise and I know He's leading me to a place where my time will be limited and there will be decisions made about how I'll spend it.  Lord knows, I'll spend as much of it as I can with my wife but that means other people won't get time and I'm good with that. My lack of retaliation won't mean I'll continue to put myself in that space but while I have to  I love when God sends you a verse to say "hey....keep it up kid. You're on the right path." Thanks God. I needed that.

I Corinthians 4:20

For the kingdom of God consists of and is based on not talk but power ([e]moral power and excellence of soul). 

The stuff the kingdom is made up of is power. I feel like this verse is saying "What are you doing not what are you saying?" Is my life a reflection of my belonging? I think so. When I think of the moral shortcuts I want to take sometimes, I'm challenged by the Spirit in me saying "Do you trust God?" and "Will you follow Him?" I don't always trust as deeply as I should and sometimes I want to want to follow but I don't actually want that. I'm so thankful for grace and for the indwelling of the Spirit which helps my feet move when my feelings can't get themselves together.

I Corinthians 5:8

Therefore, let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of vice and malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened [bread] of purity (nobility, honor) and sincerity and [unadulterated] truth.

Truth. Its something I cling too because its the only thing that will stand in the end. What I've found is that the truth can only exist in certain spaces. Just as the Word say salt water and fresh water can't flow from the same place, truth and anything less can't coexist. When I think of some of the things people want me to do,  I realize that truth is what keeps me from doing those things. In the end all I have is truth and the faith that undergirds what the Lord has told me. The truth is I love women. The truth is I'm in love with a woman. The truth is I want her to be my wife one day. The truth is marriage is what He's laid on my heart. Those things are noble and honorable. Pretending to be something I'm not? That isn't of God. God deals in absolute truths. I won't go back. I can't. I walked in the middle of that chaos until I was clear about what God was saying to me. I've got clarity that will cut glass. So yea....I'll still love and I'll still marry and I'll still be a phenomenal wife and mother but I'll do that in purity and sincerity and in truth like a sapphire blade.

I Corinthians 5:9-10

I wrote you in my [previous] letter not to associate [closely and habitually] with unchaste (impure) people—

Not [meaning of course that you must] altogether shun the immoral people of this world, or the greedy graspers and cheats and thieves or idolaters, since otherwise you would need to get out of the world and human society altogether!

Who goes to the gym? People who need to work out.
Who goes to the hospital? Sick people.
Who needs Jesus? Those who don't have Him.

I can definitely say that before I really knew Him, I was immoral. I was hugely impure not because of things I did but because I thought in my mind that I was "holy" under my own power. My ability to be chaste led me to believe I was better. <----Impure! That was so far from a Godly position to have towards my own abilities that its almost laughable if it wasn't so grave an attitude to have had. We may not be of the world but the world needs us so they can see a better way. Lord, make me an example of all You can do with someone as broken as I am. Help me to decrease that you might increase and people might see you in me. Transform me into your image and use me. Amen