Welcome

Jack came from a humble background. Poverty stricken and an orphan, it’s fair to say he was handed life’s bitter pill from a tender age. His grandmother was everything he ever knew. Materialistically, they had nothing to show for, but their household was an abundance of love. Dare I say, lack does make for a thankful heart. As a young boy, Jack only ever dreamt of one thing, wealth. He would go to bed every night, stare up at their hole-riddled iron sheet roof and dream of all the things he would do if he had the resources. His grandmother was always there to support him and encourage him to dream limitlessly. She based her her life on a simple philosophy, ‘look up.’ Day in and day out she would remind Jack to ‘look up.’ To Jack this was no more than something granny always said.

Years went by and Jack was finally in his last year of high school. He could feel it. He knew that finishing well would lay a good foundation for the life he dreamt of one day, so he worked! He was determined to achieve his goals and he gave everything he had in him to do so. Halfway through the year, his grandmother started feeling a bit ill. From half – day bed rests to fully being hospitalized, all was not well. She had been diagnosed with Leukemia and with each passing day it became more evident that her chances of survival were slim. Inevitably, three months later, Jack stood beside his grandmother’s coffin completely shattered. His world had crumbled, and he was feeling the weight of it all. Weeks went by after the funeral and all Jack ever did was spend his days in his grandmother’s room sobbing. He hadn’t been to school since, and he barely had enough money to get by- all that granny had left behind was no more.

He was sitting on her bed one afternoon, drenched in tears, weak and mostly malnourished when the words of his grandmother lingered fresh in his mind. “Look up, look up, look up.” It was as if she was next to him. Unable to shake the voice out of his head, Jack decided to look up. He saw a rusty metallic box that for some reason he always missed. He got the box and decided to find out its contents. There was not much, if anything, there was only a letter.

“My son, I know my time is near. I won’t be beside you for much longer. Thank you for loving me at my old age, when you had to take care of me more than I took care of you. I wish I could see you living your dreams in years to come. Don’t stop chasing them. Love, Granny.” He turned the letter to its back side and alas! Attached was a cheque in his name with the description tuition fee. It was a lump sum enough to cover Jack’s entire tuition for university. He had so many questions that he knew no one could answer but more than that something changed inside of Jack. In an instant he had regained the strength to stop surviving and start living. He had found motivation to keep pursuing his goals. Jack was hopeful!

If you’ve sat in an exam room before here’s probably something you can relate to. Have you ever looked at a question that you didn’t necessarily know the answer to, and you looked up at the ceiling and thought about it? Unless you wrote cheat notes on the ceiling, the ceiling normally has no answers. Why then do we still look up hoping the information we are in search of will jump right at us? Brethren it’s simple; The very act of looking up gives us hope! Try it! Stop and look up; Right where you are and do it with intention. For a moment everything seemed perfect right? You didn’t solve anything but somehow you felt you had the answers, didn’t you? That’s hope!

Beloved we live in a busy world. Everything happens so fast and ‘life goes on.’ Except, it really doesn’t until you’re ready to. Some of you might relate to Jack. Maybe your world came crumbling down and you’re feeling it’s weight. You find yourself in granny’s room sobbing – you’re in the right place but it all feels wrong. It wasn’t until Jack looked up that something ultimately changed. Most of us walk this journey with our eyes so fixed on what’s right in front of us, life’s challenges, pain, and bitterness just like Jack who could only focus on granny’s bed or closet. Don’t you think it’s time to look up?
There’s something so fundamental about the simple act of looking up. We don’t find our hope in the things we look at when looking up – our hope comes from God.

Psalm 121 :1-2 “I lift my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (NIV)

Look up when you’re overjoyed
Look up and find a reason to rejoice
Look up and be filled with hope
Look up and speak to dry bones
Look up and see the Father
Look up and see His Son
Look up and listen
Look up and be still
Make room
Make room to look up

Forsake a mediocre heart

Our lives today are filled with standards. Consciously or not, we each hold standards.  From (and not limited to) how we dress, talk and act- we each have an idea of what’s acceptable and what’s not. Here’s an interesting take; in as much as our standards are formed around who we want to be we simply can’t ignore that we also form them around who we want to be perceived to be. 

Okay so what does this mean? 

We simply don’t allow ourselves to drop the standards. Think of it this way, the day you walk into a clothing store and pick any item at random without critiquing whether or not it suits you and you pay and walk out with it – then you’ll have successfully dropped your standards. Do you know why we put so much effort into cloth shopping? We want our way of dressing to represent us or to communicate to the rest something about us, there’s a standard we’re trying to maintain.

So here’s a challenging thought, if it’s human nature to not drop the standards, how is it that we are still able to do so?

My response would be-  we can’t drop a standard that’s personal to us. Again, let’s go back to the clothing example, if you were shopping for someone else, as much effort as you would have put in you may have end up dropping their standards because they’re not similar to yours. We can’t hold ourselves to the standards of others, we’ll always fall below at some point. If a standard is personal to us, if we’ve internalized it and registered it in our hearts more than our minds then and only then- there’s no way we’ll drop it; without at least feeling somewhat embarrassed.

This may all feel a bit confusing but I hope it makes sense somewhere down the line. How have we as Christians allowed ourselves (individually) to drop the standards? Every pleasing thing to God – that’s the standard! Have we failed to register it in our hearts that we are all called to uphold this? Has this now become a Christian thing more than it is a me or a you thing? I’m speaking to you, yes you, have you made it a standard in your life to please the father? Here’s the truth, until you’ve done so, you’ll keep dropping the standards He has called you to live above. Until pleasing the father stops being something in the Bible and finds root in your heart then you’ll continually fall way below the standard. IT HAS TO BECOME PERSONAL!

How much longer will you keep joyriding on grace?  Anything less that what has been set before you is mediocrity. If you won’t dress mediocre how then will you gladly let your heart remain mediocre?