Charisa Stories

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  • The Spiritual Cost of Worry

    The Spiritual Cost of Worry

    I see a lot of worried people around me. Worried about the pandemic. Worried about the election. Worried about all kinds of things. But this old proverb rings true today.

    “Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”

    As I get older I experience more and more how practical Scripture is for daily living. In the teaching of my youth the Bible was a book of lofty and seemingly impossible demands to behave in a way that would please God. Now I see that the Bible is a love story where Jesus met those impossible demands on my behalf. I see now that my simple faith and trust pleases God. And I see a practical book that shows me how to find joy during this temporary journey on earth. The Designer knew when we left the factory that worry is destructive. The study above merely confirms what Jesus said a couple of millenia ago.

    “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (Matthew 6:25-27, NLT)

    Jesus continues in the same message.

    “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.” (Matthew, 6:31-34)

    Our Designer knew something else. Most of what we consume ourselves with never happens or is not worth getting anxious about. Modern research verifies ancient wisdom.

    A research study examined how many times an imagined calamity actually came to pass. In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of their imagined misfortunes did not actually happen.

    The remarkable results came back that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened! Slow down and digest that. Eighty-five percent of what we work ourselves into varied states of frenzy about never even happens. And here is the even more remarkable finding. For the 15 percent of the worry agenda that did happen, nearly 80 percent of the respondents reported they were able to deal with the concern better than expected or they learned a valuable lesson from the event. So 97 percent of what the majority of this study group worried about was not worth wasting the energy, faith and time.

    Worry is exactly where the Enemy wants to keep the children of God. Living in fear of the future cheats you out of today. A precious moment tugs on your heart like a child at your sleeve. Too often you miss that moment concerning yourself with something that likely won’t happen or will happen in a way that your worry can not change.

    For those of you who struggle with worry maybe it helps to remember that your Heavenly Father is always on the job. Worry is not an attribute of our God. I suspect that it grieves His heart that we are paralyzed with worry when our Father is calling us to know Him, trust Him and rest in Him.

    Trusting Jesus for tomorrow, next week, next year and forever frees us to see what this moment holds. No amount of worry will change the fact that we will face death, adversity and sadness.

    As a young believer one of my favorite artists was Andrae Crouch. His lyrics powerfully showed how God uses trials to help us mature in our faith.

    I’ve had many tears and sorrows
    I’ve had questions for tomorrow
    There’s been times I didn’t know right from wrong
    But in every situation
    God gave me blessed consolation
    That my trials come to only make me strong

    Through it all
    Through it all
    I’ve learned to trust in Jesus
    I’ve learned to trust in God

    Through it all
    Through it all
    I’ve learned to depend upon His Word

    I pray that all of us learn to trust in Jesus and depend upon His Word in this difficult season.

    Much of this article was excerpted from Waking Up Slowly. The book discusses 21 different actions or attitudes that disconnect you from God and others. Check it out here.

  • A Little Perspective Before November 3rd

    A Little Perspective Before November 3rd

    We live in such an unsettling time. A global pandemic. Disunity in our nation and even among our church family. Political anger that destroys relationships between family and friends. If my focus is on social media and the news things might seem completely hopeless. But my focus is not on those things. My hope is not in Washington, D.C. My hope is in the finished work of Jesus. This life is just the warmup act for followers of Jesus. A classic tune from the Righteous Brothers reflects my hope.

    If you believe in forever,
    Then life is just a one-night stand.

    Those lyrics reminded me that even if you hit triple digits on the age odometer this journey is still an eternal blink of the eye. Your significance is not how long but how well you live your life. Not how much fame or money you gain but what you do with time you are given.

    This weekend a song popped up on satellite radio called “We’re Only Here for a Little While”. Billy Dean is singing about leaving a funeral and recognizing his need to slow down and enjoy the everyday blessings of life. He decides to become intentional about doing the things that matter instead of worrying and tweeting about things that don’t amount to a hill of beans in eternity.

    Gonna hold who needs holdin’
    Mend what needs mendin’
    Walk what needs walkin’
    Though it means an extra mile
    Pray what needs prayin’
    Say what needs sayin’
    Cause we’re only here for a little while.  

    That is a pretty good to do list to live a life that makes a difference. Being present with those you love. Forgiving AND asking to be forgiven. Taking your journey with Jesus seriously. Understanding and practicing the power of prayer. Speaking the truth in grace and love. The last lyric is the one that is most fraught with danger. We often find it easy to say what we think needs to be said. It is such a difficult thing to speak truth into the life of someone who is determined to go their own way. Perhaps a gigantic how to clue is embedded in a verse from the Gospel of John.

    Now the Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We saw his glory—the glory of the one and only, full of grace and truth, who came from the Father. (John 1:14, NET)

    Jesus was full of grace and truth. Most of us are full of truth or we are full of some variation of that. I suspect in God’s wisdom, grace comes first because we have a far harder time communicating with grace. I am often willing to be “honest” and tell you where you are wrong. Doing that with grace and truth requires me to love you and to be vulnerable. Jesus modeled a perfectly balanced blend of grace and truth.

    That is my prayer as I engage those who have made mistakes and are suffering the consequences of those decisions. I pray that I will always present truth as a gift of grace from a loving God instead of performance demands in order to be acceptable to Him. The following principle is nearly always true.

    Truth presented as law hardens hearts.
    Truth presented with grace changes hearts.

    When we meditate on the grace given to us as a free gift by our gracious God we can can begin to model Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus.

    Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Ephesians 4:15, NLT)

    Meditate on Paul’s words and remember we are only here for a little while. No matter what happens November 3rd we have a Sovereign God who loves us and calls us His child. Maybe remembering that will help us worry a little more about the things that matter for eternity. And focus on the One who can unite us.

  • Surviving a Storm

    Surviving a Storm

    Sometimes this faith journey goes pretty smoothly and it is easy to express your trust and dependence on God.

    At other times it feels lonely, frightening and sad. In 2020 it feels like we have been navigating the latter reality most of the time. The weird relational dynamic of this year exacerbates normal life stressers.

    I give grace and it is not returned. Every street feels like it is one-way. Dear friends are deeply wounded by words and posts from people who claim to be following Jesus. Judgements are rendered that are not ours to make. I agonize over how these believers can wound so deeply and still say they know Christ? Marriage vows are abandoned at the altar of self. Illness ravages families and friends. I question my ability to have any impact for Christ as I stumble clumsily through my own journey.

    Simple trust is a concept that is anything but simple to live out. And yet I am convinced that the simple act of trust and faith pleases God more than any blog I can write, good deed I can perform or gift I can offer. The truth is that all of those things flow naturally out of trust anyway. I try to reverse the order by doing, giving and performing to try and “beef” up my trust. I think God is saying during these days to quit flailing and start trusting. Yet we don’t feel like we are being “good” Christians if we are not performing and doing. So Jesus gave us a lengthy to do list in the Gospel of John.

    1. Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

    So there you have it. That’s the list if you insist on performance based faith. Believe in the one He has sent.

    I believe God’s promises intellectually. During times like these He is asking me to believe them in my heart. The key is to keep my eyes on Jesus and His grace. Peter learned that lesson during a literal storm.

    Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” 

    “Yes, come,” Jesus said.

    So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus.  But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

    Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”   (Matthew 14, NLT)

    It is so easy to judge Peter while I am busy doing the same thing. Recognizing my own hypocrisy is really annoying. Peter made the same mistake that I make often. He took his eyes off of Jesus and looked at the storm. The waves and wind are terrifying when you face them alone. But I don’t have to. And neither do you. I write a lot about community and the need for others. There are times when all of us need to focus on Jesus and Jesus alone. Grace reminds me that when I fail Jesus will immediately reach out and grab me at the instant I call out to Him. So I find myself at peace today. Circumstances change constantly but my focus can stay where it should be. How do we ride out this storm?

    Believe in Jesus and keep your eyes on Him. A hymn I remember as a child is spot on for these times.

    Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
    Look full in His wonderful face,
    And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
    In the light of His glory and grace.

  • What Do Real Christians Do?

    What Do Real Christians Do?

    Recently I passed a highway billboard with this message.

    Real Christians Obey Jesus.

    I get the intent of the message. Too many folks leave their Sunday Lesson in the parking lot as they drive to lunch. But exactly what does it mean to be a “real Christian”? We subtly (or in my own experience, not so subtly) program Christians to believe that growth is about doing more right things. That righteousness somehow involves my extraordinary efforts for Jesus. We imply that change can only happen when you are trying hard and being disciplined for God. The truth is that a dramatic change has already happened when you make that faith commitment to follow Jesus. I think one of the biggest problems in the church is that we don’t teach clearly and repetitively what happens at the very moment we put our faith in the finished work of Christ.

    Let’s just hit the highlights. Scripture tells you that at that moment you have a new identity. You are literally a new creation. God sees you as righteous because of your relationship with Jesus. That’s it. Nothing you have done or ever will do earns that righteousness. It is a gift of grace. You are a saint. Redeemed. Adopted as His beloved child. Right then. Before you do a single thing. You are changed completely when you trust Christ.

    The trick is living out of that truth. Instead of exhausting effort to try and change I now see Jesus putting His arm around me and explaining that I have been already been changed. I see Him telling me that my sins are completely forgiven. I see Him explaining to me that all of those things that used to be true about me are no longer true. That no matter what the Accuser might say those things are dead and buried at the Cross. I don’t have to grit my teeth and try harder to win favor and please Him. That sin does not have power over me anymore.  That if I trust Him and let God love me I will please Him. My faith and trust is what pleases Him according to God’s Word.

    All I need to do to be a “real” Christian is to believe and trust that. I have been a follower of Jesus for five decades. During stretches of that journey you would have been hard pressed to see if that my faith was real. What potential judges would not have seen was that Jesus was slowly and patiently working in my life to make me more in His image. I am a very different person today than I was in my early walk. It was never helpful to have someone point out that “if I was a real Christian” I would be doing this or that. What did help was having grace filled believers come along side me, believe in me, and help me find the gift of grace that Jesus offers. Those are the people you remember with gratitude and joy.

    Jesus talks about how we limit our ability to have peace when we don’t allow Him to provide us with strength. He didn’t mention a harness of legalism and works. He talked instead about a yoke, and that His yoke is “easy.”

    Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  (Matthew 11:28-30, NLT)

    Jesus wants you to don His yoke. Trust Him. Have faith. He has done the heavy lifting already. Rest in Him.  Learn how to be humble and gentle in spirit. Quit trying so dadgum (that may not be in the Greek) hard and serve out of grateful love. Jesus tells us when we believe those truths, our burdens are light. The walk with Him is easy and natural.

    Being a “real” Christian means beginning each day with a profound sense of gratitude that Jesus offered me this gift of grace. A “real” Christian would never, never, never take advantage of a God who loves you so much that such a sacrifice was made.

    I do believe a “real” Christian obeys Jesus but it is so critical to clarify why and how. I obey out of gratitude for His grace. I love Him because He loved me first. Jesus loved me when I was unlovable. Forgave me when I was unforgivable. How hard is it to follow and obey someone who loves you like that? Not hard at all. And that is real.

    Excerpts from Waking Up Slowly

  • One Thing Grace Doesn’t Cover

    One Thing Grace Doesn’t Cover

    I talk about Grace so much that the auto-suggest on my phone pops up the word as soon as I hit “G”. I suspect that sometimes you faithful readers wish I would mix up my topics. The truth is I cannot. Understanding grace rocked my spiritual world and changed my walk with God in dramatic and wonderful ways.

    I regularly extol the virtues of grace for a follower of Jesus. Grace compels you to trust others with you. Grace compels you to trust Jesus with your sin because you can’t manage it yourself. Grace compels you to forgive because you have been forgiven. Grace compels you to accept others and not judge them. Grace compels you to move toward the unlovable and not away. Grace compels you to sacrifice when you desire security. Grace compels you to love when your heart is hateful. Grace compels you to trust God when you are afraid and weak.

    The amazing thing about God’s grace is that He is not a God of a second chance. He is a God of chance after chance after chance ad infinitum. We are never outside God’s redeeming grace, no matter how much or how often we blow it.

    But there is one thing that God’s amazing grace does not cover.

    The consequences of intentional sin. Paul makes it very clear.

    Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. (Galatians 6:7, NLT)

    I have been deeply saddened and sometimes angered by followers of Jesus who blithely act in ways that are clearly against God’s Word and then proclaim that His grace will cover them. Some call that cheap grace. I cannot label a gift bought with such a price “cheap”. Indeed there are grace abusers and I wrote about that very topic in my book, Waking Up Slowly.

    To borrow from my brother Saint Paul, here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: grace can never be viewed as a cheap gift. It cost Jesus everything. I challenge you to kneel at the foot of the cross and look up. There is nothing cheap about the transaction that Jesus suffered for you and me. Nothing causes me to lose my Sunday school lesson quicker than the cheap-grace posse. And yes, I know that some people misuse grace. There is a word for that.

    Sin.

    The truth is that grace is the only real antidote for sin and should never, ever, be the excuse for sin. Paul addressed the heresy that grace gives me license to sin, and he was rightfully dismayed (you might even say ticked off).

    Sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?

    Absolutely not!

    Romans 6:14-15, NET (emphasis added)

    Here is a sampling of other translations of Paul’s undisguised chagrin expressed in Romans 6:15 at the very thought that the sweet grace of the Gospel would be abused:

    God forbid! (KJV)
    Of course not! (NLT)
    May it never be! (NASB)
    By no means! (ESV)

    Clearly Paul is appalled by the idea that we would even consider using this sacrificial gift of unmerited grace as cover for selfish behavior and sin.

    Frederick William Faber is credited with this observation.

    “God does not save us by grace so that we may live in disgrace.”

    Grace will provide forgiveness for sin but not escape from it’s consequences. Betrayal of a spouse may make you feel better but you do not escape the weight of that sin on those you hurt and on your own heart. Just read the terrible consequences of David’s adultery and you recognize that even a king described as a “man after God’s own heart” cannot dodge the effects of sin. Anytime you rationalize sin by saying that grace has you covered you have bought a lie from the Enemy.

    Grace was costly. Grace was painful for God the Father to implement. If you are tempted to abuse that grace perhaps you should review if you really understand the cost paid to make it possible. Grace covers everything. Except the pain left behind in the wake of selfish sin.

  • Don’t Kid Yourself

    Don’t Kid Yourself

    After listening to a few minutes of depressing news I needed a little soul nourishment. Rich Mullins is one of my go to songwriters for that need. The first song that played was very timely in this season of sadness and uncertainty. “We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are” shows how our relationships can be fragile in the best of times.

    Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
    To part the waters of the sea
    But it only took one little lie
    To separate you and me
    Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are.

    If only we could acknowledge that we are not as strong as we think we are and then live accordingly I believe we would see an amazing difference.

    I need God and the community of believers to be spiritually and emotionally healthy. Yet pride tells me that I am able to handle the situation. Fear tells me that revealing the needs of my heart will only make things worse. So one little lie or misunderstanding dealt with in my own strength negates the strength of a God who could part the waters of the seas. I choose my power over the One who could heal my pain if only I would let Him.

    I remember when a major food company recalled thousands of chili cans that were tainted with deadly toxins. A later follow-up to that story told about cans of chili exploding as the pressure built up inside the containers.
    That is a messy and disgusting metaphor for how we deal with the internal toxins of relational hurt, misunderstandings, accusations, and fear. We seal those emotional and spiritual poisons up and store them away hoping it will somehow be okay. But the toxins in our heart have not been killed, only compartmentalized. The pain continues to grow, slowly and inexorably. Finally the pressure builds to the point of explosion. There is a better way.

    Paul described that better way to the Colossians.

    Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

    (Colossians 3:12-15, NLT)

    Sometimes I dream that the body of Christ would commit to spend 30 days living and breathing just those four verses. What would that look like? How much healing would happen? I think four verses could spark revival.

    But we pull back and try to go it alone. Even if we attempt to walk in community we are too afraid or proud to share our needs. Rich Mullins was exactly right. We are not as strong as we think we are. Especially in this weird socially distanced isolation we need each other more than ever. So I am going to encourage you to reach out before you lash out. Ask for healing before you hurt yourself and others.

    And if you find yourself in a decent place right now ask God to show you someone that you can reach out to and love. Call them. Text them. Ask how they are doing. God is serious about how we communicate about others in the flock. Peter writes:

    Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that’s your job, to bless. You’ll be a blessing and also get a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9, The Message)

    Rich Mullin’s wrote that weakness is not a sin. Failing to acknowledge our need for God’s strength is the sin.

    We are frail
    We are fearfully and wonderfully made
    Forged in the fires of human passion
    Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
    And with these our hells and our heavens
    So few inches apart
    We must be awfully small
    And not as strong as we think we are.

    No, we are not as strong as we think we are. We need to acknowledge that He is God and we are not. We need one another but I know that too often we let each other down. At that point another Rich Mullins song comes to mind about our need for Jesus. The irony is that we often resist that always available grace.

    Surrender don’t come natural to me
    I’d rather fight you for something
    I don’t really want
    Than to take what you give that I need
    And I’ve beat my head against so many walls
    Now I’m falling down, I’m falling on my knees…

    When your soul is dry as dust and everything seems hopeless this chorus is a healing prayer.

    So hold me Jesus,
    Cause I’m shaking like a leaf
    You have been King of my glory
    Won’t You be my Prince of Peace

    He will hold you in your fear. We need to leave our pride at the foot of the Cross and depend on His grace and strength. And we need to not kid ourselves about this simple truth. We are not as strong as we THINK we are. We need Jesus. We need each other.

  • Twitter Rules from Jesus and Paul

    Twitter Rules from Jesus and Paul

    Social media is depressing. After a taking a recent sanity exit from Twitter a song from my (much) younger days triggered the musing for this week. The song Easy to be Hard was written for the musical Hair but it became a big hit as a cover for Three Dog Night. The lyrics could have been written today about the disappointing interactions on Twitter, Facebook and other platforms.

    How can people be so heartless
    How can people be so cruel
    Easy to be hard
    Easy to be cold.

    I could sing those lyrics almost anytime I cruise through the comments section on Twitter. The dialogue is often mean, unforgiving, and disheartening. I get particularly distressed when people of faith descend to that level of discourse. People who have proudly labeled themselves in their bio as followers of Jesus use language on social media that once would have made a sailor blush. Regular readers of my musings know I am not a purveyor of guilt in my writings. I am just asking a question. Is this the way we should be communicating as a public follower of Jesus?

    One push back I hear is that any words other than taking the Lord’s name in vain are merely words. There is some truth to that. Jesus made it clear that what is in our heart is really the issue. So if you have profanity in your heart you might as well let’er rip. Right? Paul moves from meditation to meddling with these words to the church at Ephesus.

    Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29, NLT

    That makes it pretty clear for a Christian. Words do matter. Perhaps the biggest issue is how do Christians, who clearly are called to a higher standard, react to an increasingly coarse culture? It is so easy to get angry and caught up in emotional debates when you are being goaded by an unkind person.

    Here are some more annoying words from Paul to the Colossians.

    Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone. Colossians 4:6, NLT

    How do Christians respond to those who oppose them? It is certainly easy and temporarily satisfying to respond in kind. But here is what Jesus said we should do.

    “Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate. Luke 6:35-36, NLT

    Not a lot of room to rationalize my “righteous” anger. For my fellow followers of Jesus I suggest the following. Set a higher standard but don’t be self-righteous about it. Just live it. Defend your position with intelligent arguments and don’t descend to ugly name calling. Pray for the heart of those who offend you with mean spirited responses. Remember that the battle is the Lord’s and we are called to share His love and the Good News of the Gospel.

    Words matter. A lot. So here is one safe word you can always default to.

    Grace.

    And love them like Jesus. Then you will truly represent the Father as His grateful child. It’s not easy. But it is right.