The Phil Files

I was sitting in the left hand turn lane behind a pickup waiting for a break in traffic so I could turn left. All of a sudden, as the light turned yellow, the pick up hit the gas, spun his tires a bit, yanked over one lane and sped down the street half a block, turned left into a parking lot, cutting off an oncoming car in the process. Guess where he was head? The Center for Conflict resolution.

Imagine that! A person in the course of 10 seconds broke three traffic laws, cut off two people, and slid into the Center for Conflict Resolution. I’m surprised the last guy he cut off didn’t follow him into the parking lot … or into the Center for Conflict Resolution! Yowsers.

I truly did feel sorry for the guy who had to hit his breaks to keep from getting hit head on by an oncoming pick up. I have no idea what he said or who he felt, but I know it would have been hard for me to control my temper — I was pretty scorched just watching all of this from the red light where the pick up truck should have still been located. Temptation comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. One thing I do know, it often seems so tailor made to my weaknesses and vulnerabilities at the worst possible time. So, I’m saying the Lord’s prayer with a focus on temptation tonight … hope you will join me.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

John helped lead worship this Sunday at both of our worship gatherings. In the second, he shared a communion devotional focused on the victory that is ours because of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead and that we celebrate the Lord’s Supper on the day of His resurrection and not on the day of His death. At the earlier gathering, he helped leading the worship songs. During one of the songs, he leaned over to me and raised his pinky finger as he led us in the words, “When the enemy presses in hard do not fear, the battle belongs to the Lord. Have courage my friend our redemption is near, the battle belongs to the Lord.”

Most folks missed the significance. It touched me deeply. You see, eight days earlier, we had done a funeral for his mom who had passed away suddenly in her early fifties. She and her husband were beloved houseparents at a nearby children’s home and part of our church family. I had helped conduct the memorial service — one of the most unique I have ever witnessed. Because John’s mom, Malinda, invested so much time in training young ladies from very difficult backgrounds, she was found of making every event, good or bad, into a “teachable moment.” So as a tribute to her, I used her death to be a “teachable moment” for those of us at her service.

I asked everyone to hold up a hand. Then asked them to touch each finger with me as we assigned a one word name for each finger.

• Pinky – Enemy
• Ring – Tears
• Long – Love
• Pointer – Legacy

I then went back over each finger and share a bit of insight from God’s word.

Pinky – Enemy: Paul reminds us that death is still our enemy (1 Corinthians 15:22-26). The enemy uses this power of death to hurt us, wound us, discourage us, but we must know that he will be crushed under Jesus’ feet.

Ring – Tears: The death of someone special hurts us and breaks our hearts. But, Jesus knows and cares about grief. The shortest verse of the Bible say, “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). Jesus wept knowing that He would raise His friend Lazarus from the dead because He saw how much Lazarus’ death broke his sisters hearts. It is okay for us have tears, even though we know someone we love has gone to be with the Lord. But we don’t grieve as those who have no hope, because we believe Jesus will return and we will experience reunion (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Long – Love: We believe that the love we’ve experienced for this precious person we have lost will live on despite death’s intrusion in our lives. We believe that love is as strong as death (Song of Solomon 8:6). In fact, God loves us so much, that He sent Jesus to earth to die for us and be raised so that love has the final word, not death (John 3:16-17).

Pointer – Legacy: This person has left us a legacy to uphold: a legacy of faith and character and compassion. And as long as we carry forth these values into the future, the influence and legacy of this person we love will on. We must hear the call of God to use the gift of our lives to influence others to know Jesus and share in His life (Matthew 28:18-20).

But what do we do with our thumb? Didn’t God give us five fingers and not four?

Ah, we take these four truths — Enemy, Tears, Love, and Legacy — and reach out our hand to the person next to us and us our thumbs to hold on to each other and to help each other. This must be our five value. we need community. We need each other. We need to hang on to each other.

Today was one of those remarkable Sundays when many families have left for the summer, our university students have mostly gone home, and we sent out a bunch of our high school students on a mission trip. Yet God moved in powerful ways and John’s simple gesture was a reminder of how powerful God’s grace and our faith can be in the middle of deep grief. I was moved beyond words. In fact, I couldn’t must any words for several moments.

And what does this have to do with praying the Lord’s Prayer? Look at those five again in light of the Lord’s Prayer:

• Enemy – “deliver us from evil”
• Tears – “Father” who will wipe away all tears from our eyes
• Love – “us” instead of “me” and “my”: we are a community built on relationships and love
• Legacy – “glory forever!” Think of all of the generations that have said this prayer!
• Community – “our … us” and the reminder we are to hang on to each other

So I invite you to share the prayer today in a fresh way with those around you:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.”

Thanks, John, for reminding me that the enemy doesn’t have the last word!

We rejoice with John and Ginger, along with sisters Vanessa and Ava, on the arrival of David John this morning. The proud dad, John, has long and generously given of his expertise and programming skills to Heartlight.org

Blessings to the whole family!

O, and David John, welcome to our world. God’s blessings be with you and your family.

As Matthew gives us the Lord’s prayer, he reminds us of one part of the prayer that Jesus felt was essential: our willingness to forgive — “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.”

Hear it in context as you pray the prayer:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

Now notice that Jesus adds the exclamation point on this point in the two verses immediately the prayer:

For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins (Matthew 6:14-15).

I know of no other thing harder than genuine forgiveness. Tossing the offense of others into the “sea of forgetfulness” is something that only the Spirit of God can help us do. In reality, the more we try to forget something, the more we actually remember it. Forgiving and forgetting is something only God can do — that’s why part of our prayer is always “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” But, we can begin the work of forgiveness — we can begin to live in a restored reality that is purer than existed before the offense and trust that over time, God’s Spirit will help dissolve our memory of the offense in the “sea of forgetfulness.”

To do this, however, we must throw ourselves on God’s powerful and deep mercy to heal us. And, since the shards of life can’t always be put back together completely after a deep offense, there will be random reminders of the wounds of the past that require us to forgive again and again for our forgiveness to be fresh and real. Yes, this is hard work, but it is the holy work of Kingdom-living — again, that’s why we pray daily “your Kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

For me, a simple hymn sung by Jars of Clay says it well and powerfully as a prayer. Be blessed! (Lyrics below.)

All heavy laden acquainted with sorrow
May Christ in our marrow, carry us home
From alabaster come blessings of laughter
A fragrance of passion and joy from the truth

Grant the unbroken tears ever flowing
From hearts of contrition only for You
May sin never hold true that love never broke through
For God’s mercy holds us and we are His own

This road that we travel, may it be the straight and narrow
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day
Shelter with fire, our voices we raise still higher
God give us peace and grace from You, all the day through

Last Thursday, our church family was shocked at the untimely death of a dear friend and houseparent for a children’s home. She was in her early 50’s! I haven’t taken time to share my heart or my meditations around the Lord’s Prayer since then — not enough energy with several other emergencies and not a lot to say. One overwhelming conviction, however, has rule my heart: “Give us today!”

I can’t even get to the “daily” part. I am stuck on the, “Give us today!”

Not only is today all we have, it’s all we can handle. So I encourage you to pray the Lord’s prayer with me focusing upon this one simple word that should re-route our priorities and refocus our energies on what is most important:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.”

O God, please give me the focus and the motivation to live today to its fullest!

That’s where we live. On a tiny green, beige, and blue planet in the middle of a solar which is part of a galaxy which is part of the unimaginable expanse of the universe. Yet we are the visited planet. We are the place that God not only made, but also chose to take on our world’s flesh and walk among us in human form. So today, as I pray the Lord’s prayer, I will drink deeply from the phrase, “on earth as it is in heaven.”

And as I think about God wearing our skin and living among us in Jesus (see my companion Heartlight.org post), I will hear the call of Jesus to know my purpose: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21 tniv). For there was a time when God’s Kingdom had come to earth and we seek God’s will being done on our little green, beige, and blue planet just as it was done in heaven. That was when Jesus walked among us and could say, “If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Luke 11:20). And now, just as surely as I pray this prayer, we — the people of God — must also hear the His voice call us to be the presence of Jesus, the Body of Christ, the touchable reality of the Kingdom of God, to the people around us.

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.”

So, as the Body of Christ, who am I touching?

Are these the same kind of people Jesus’ touched?

What do I need to do to touch these same people?

O Lord, help me see the opportunities each day.