The Transparent Man

I want to live as transparent as possible.
I realize that sometimes, depending on the day and the situation, it is hard to be transparent.
I know I'm called to follow Jesus.
This means that I don't call the shots. I don't dictate the destination or the route. I simply fall in behind and follow.
You don't have to put it in big writing for me to see. I know that if  I leave this journey of following Jesus by taking a detour,  I will get stupid. Anytime I take a detour from the Jesus journey, it takes a toll on me. Usually those detours involve me trying to be something I'm not or chasing after something I have no business chasing after.

I think I've reached the time in my life where it is just easier to be me than it is who I think people want me to be. It's easier to simply say, "Here I am...all my warts....all my scabs....all my imperfections....they are all yours God. I guess if God doesn't go running, screaming into the night, then He's willing to work in me. I think that's why I love God so much. He likes me to hang out with Him.

God and I cut grass this afternoon after I got home. On the scale of Biblical history and human endeavor, cutting grass isn't a big thing, but I have some of my best prayers and conversations with God while I'm pushing that lawn mower (Yes, Virginia...I use a push mower). During the mowing event, I found myself praying about the future.Over the past few months, I have been lead (By God ) to start thinking about the future. Being 60 years old (Turing 61 this year) you kind of run into a healthy does of reality. What reality? Well, things like.....I'll probably never pitch in a major league baseball game. I'll never be an astronaut. May sound silly, but at one time these were things I truly desired to do. I digress. I don't know how many years God will give me....I pray that there are a lot of them. No matter. I want to spend ever how many there are, teaching the Word of God. I guess it's as good a time to confess something right here and now. I've never been real comfortable with calling myself a "preacher". I've never felt that I preached anything. I look at myself more as a teacher of the Word. I'm also a pastor, in that I have a calling and a gift to take care of people and be there for them to help them and guide them. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Been there for along time.

Truth be known..when I first came to Rapha, all the men started calling me Brother Mike. I was really uncomfortable with that moniker. I struggled against it. I tried telling them, "You don't have to call me Brother...just Mike will do." Then I suddenly realized it was a tittle of love and honor. I didn't require them to address me that way. It was their way of acknowledging the call God has placed on me to be their Pastor while they were at Rapha. SO Brother Mike it has been and Brother Mike it will be. I get really tickled at the guys, because they refer to my wife, Vicki, as Miss Mike. It tickles her to death to be going through WalMart and someone cry out..."Hey! Miss Mike!"

Found myself in Jeremiah 9:23-24: This is what the LORD says; "Let not he wise man gloat in his wisdom, or the mighty man in his might or the rich man in his riches. Let them boast in this alone; That they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD who is just and righteous. Whose love is unfailing, and that I delight in these things. I, the LORD, have spoken.
I think these verses from Jeremiah speak of the things I first mentioned in this posting. The need to be transparent. Here in Jeremiah, God tells Jeremiah that it isn't about intellect or education. It is not about how strong you are in your physical capabilities, not to mention in your personality. It truly isn't about how rich you are or how rich people think you are. God said that there is only one reason for me to boast....
1.) First that I truly know God. Unusual word KNOW. It has nothing to do with the accumulation of information, but rather the interaction, on an intimate level, between God and me. How weird is that? God desires to be an "up close and personal" God.
2.) Second is that we understand and acknowledge that He is the LORD. I think that kind of fits under the heading of Diving Pecking Order. What does that mean? It means (1.) He is God, and (2) I'm not. How hard is that? Keep that order, fall in and simply follow God's directions and you won't go wrong. The wrong comes in when I take myself out of that order and strike out on my own. I am a hard headed son of a gun.....but my wife tells me that I'm very teachable. I think that may be a good thing.

What is all this about?
All this I have written today?
It's about getting yourself free. Unloading all the hidden things in your life and allowing God to bring healing. It's about being transparent and honest and simply doing the next thing you hear God tell you to do.
It's about being free to be the "YOU" God created you to be.
How could anyone argue with that?

God on you....
mb