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Glimmers in the Fog

Finding Glimpses of Divine Providence in Everyday Life
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Finding the Fear to Live Fearlessly

4/10/2019

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Finding the Fear of God to Live Fearlessly in Christ
Finding the Fear of the Lord to Live FearlesslyPlease share on Pinterest!
Remember back in school when all you wanted in life was to be like the most popular kid? You know, that guy or girl that every other kid secretly wanted to be? For most teens, an envy of this nature usually kicks in sometime during middle school and can last well into high school. I suffered from a jealousy complex in a big way. There was one girl in particular who mesmerized me. To my immature and very naive eyes, she appeared to have it all — beauty, brains, cool parents, the right clothes, a glittering social life, and dozens of ardent admirers, both male and female, who seemed to pivot on her every move. And it wasn’t until the beginning of my senior year when I finally realized all the time and energy I had wasted trying to get into her circle of friends. I finally began to understand that my identity was nothing like hers, nor could any amount of effort on my part change the perception of my classmates regarding my social status. I couldn’t fabricate the “it” factor or generate authentic coolness. The only thing I could be genuine at was simply being me. For any of us who’ve tried to be like someone else, the realization that we can only be who we authentically are is both liberating and utterly frightening.

It wasn’t until many years after high school when I finally made the connection between my struggle with personal identity and my spiritual maturity in Christ. Sure, I grew up hearing the expressions, “Just be who God made you to be,” or “God made you unique for His purposes,” but platitudes like those never seemed to make me feel any better following a party snub from Mesmerizing Girl or a searing rejection from my latest crush. What finally clicked in my brain and set me on a solid path to a healthy self-identity began germinating in my college years and didn’t fully bloom until my late 20s. What was it? Having fear. The right kind of fear, that is, which is described in Psalm 103:11, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.” Another verse I love is Psalm 34:9, “Fear the Lord, you His godly people, for those who fear Him will have all they need.” That second part really spoke to me, because I had previously thought I needed to be like other people to find fulfillment in life. Yet God clearly indicated to me through those verses that if I learned what it was to fear Him and walk in fear of Him (Acts 9:31), I would never lack for anything.

The concept of fearing the Lord is mentioned hundreds of times throughout the Bible, with many of the verses praising those who do so. People who receive honor and blessing from God or other people are repeatedly labeled in both the old and new testaments with a specific identity… they are a particular category of people… they are called God-fearers. They are identified more by this spiritual trait than their jobs, their wealth, their families, or where they’re from. Perhaps most notable about their collective identity is that it is always mentioned in a positive light. This is remarkable in today’s culture because fear is commonly described as a negative emotion to avoid. When we read a verse like 1 John 4:18 which says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love,” we scratch our heads and wonder about the apparent contradiction. Why would God ask us to fear Him to the point of being marked by the fear, and then tell us that we shouldn’t have any fears because of His perfect love?

One of my favorite analogies to help explain the difference between the negative definition of fear and the positive practice of living in fear of the Lord, is from CS Lewis’ classic story The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. The hero who saves the day is the strong and powerful Aslan. In this quote from the book, Susan, who is one of the main characters, has asked another character, Mr. Beaver, to tell her about Aslan.

“Aslan is a lion — the Lion, the great Lion.” [Said Mr. Beaver]
“Ooh,” said Susan. “I’d thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion…”
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

When we think of Jesus as the Lion of Judah (Revelation 5:5), which is where Lewis got his idea for the character of Aslan, the first question that comes to our heads shouldn’t be, “Is He safe?” That question comes from our own need to feel comfortable and secure. Naturally, our first concern is us… what’s in it for us… and how easy it will it be to stay where we are or acquire what we think we need? But when we shift our perspective to who God is, our first response should be one of complete awe of His power, justice, and purity. On our own accord, by our own means or goodness, we could not survive standing in His presence. But, because God is also the source of perfect love and compassion, we can have no fear of anyone or anything else — not even death itself. Just as Aslan was mighty enough to destroy Susan or any other creature in Narnia, his nature of perfect love drove him to lay down his life for everyone else. As a result, Susan, her siblings, and all the others in the realm were offered protection from all fears and dangers, especially the evil White Witch.

William D. Eisenhower crafted the best explanation I’ve read regarding the paradox of fearing God as a path to experiencing a fearless life. In his 1986 Christianity Today article “Fearing God,” he said, “Unfortunately many of us presume that the world is the ultimate threat and that God's function is to offset it. How different this is from the biblical position that God is far scarier than the world …. When we assume that the world is the ultimate threat, we give it unwarranted power, for, in truth, the world's threats are temporary. When we expect God to balance the stress of the world, we reduce him to the world's equal …. As I walk with the Lord, I discover that God poses an ominous threat to my ego, but not to me. He rescues me from my delusions so he may reveal the truth that sets me free. He casts me down, only to lift me up again. He sits in judgment of my sin but forgives me nevertheless. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, but love from the Lord is its completion.”

As someone who has spent the majority of my life being afraid of something or someone, I long to grab ahold of Aslan’s mane and cling to him for dear life. I want to literally feel the breath from his fiery nostrils as he growls at my enemies. I want to see the muscles in his jaw ripple as he commands my fears to leave. But just as Aslan disappears at the end of Lewis’ epic tale and leaves the children with a promise of his presence, so God is asking me to humbly walk in daily awe of His power and trust in His perfect love to be with me, around me, and over me in any storm.
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Oswald Chambers, the 19th-century missionary and theologian, said, “It is the most natural thing in the world to be scared, and the clearest evidence that God's grace is at work in our hearts is when we do not get into panics. The remarkable thing about fearing God is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

And so, we return to where we started at the beginning of this post. What does your personal identity have to do with the fear of the Lord? Romans 8:29 tells us that our goal as believers is to become more like Jesus. Each day, God is working on us — if we let Him — to transform us into the image of His Son. So that means any quality, character trait, or action that Jesus has or did while here on earth is worthy of emulation. Isaiah 11:2-3 describes Jesus as the coming Messiah this way, “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear…”

Reading those verses stopped me in my tracks. Fear of the Lord is mentioned twice in that short passage. If we are to become more like Jesus… if we are to be known by His name… then we will yield to the Spirit the way He did. Jesus delighted in the fear of the Lord. As if this isn’t mind-blowing enough, ponder the fact that God delights in the awe and reverence of Himself in the person of His Son. God loves us enough to show us how — through the sacrifice of His Son — to find the deepest level of satisfaction a human can ever know. As adopted sons and daughters of God, bearing His name and His identity, Proverbs 9:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” Having a strong identity in Christ is grounded in having a fear of the Lord.

What does all of this mean on a real-world, super practical, down-in-the-trenches level? When we’re actively walking in the fear of the Lord — through no power or effort of our own, but instead yielding to the work of the Spirit — we are far less likely to worry and future-trip, fly off the handle in anger, gossip and slander, harbor jealousy, cheat, or any other sin. Our awe of who God is — both for His justice and His incredible power — convicts our hearts, while the outpouring of His perfect love assures us that He will be with us every moment. We cultivate our fear of the Lord to live fearlessly for Him. Can we do it perfectly? Not even close. Will we have stops, starts, and backward progressions? Yes. We are not the Perfect One described in Isaiah 11. But we are human vessels for the Perfect One, so when we allow Him to shine through our weaknesses, others will see glimpses of fearlessness. Tiny visions of glory. Rays of hope. And they’ll want it too. Don’t be afraid to grab hold of the fear of the Lord. Is it safe? No. Is it good? Oh yes.

For Further Reflection and Deeper Study
  • Take some time to reflect on your understanding of the fear of the Lord and what it means in daily practice. How has your perception of it changed (either from when you were growing up or when you first started following Jesus)? What statement or scripture from this message resonated with you the most and why?
  • How have you let fears dominate your life? Which ones have plagued you the longest? How does the concept of fearing the Lord challenge your perspectives on the power and relevance of those fears? Google “verses about fear of God,” read a few of them, and then pick one that speaks to your heart to memorize. Pray it back to God and ask Him to make it real in your life.
  • Developing a healthy practice of fearing the Lord brings with it many more blessings than just fearlessness. Based on the verses you just looked up, list out the benefits of fearing God. Which one of those benefits do you long for the most and why?
  • If you like the CS Lewis stories and you’re looking for a daily devotional for your quiet time with God, consider this one: Walking Through the Wardrobe: A Devotional Quest Into the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by Sarah Arthur. The book is primarily aimed at teens and young adults, but the author’s Biblical insights are deep enough to challenge even the most seasoned believer.​
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Fight Your Fears with the Fear of the Lord
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Why Every Soul Needs Spiritual Sandpaper

3/13/2019

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Why Every Soul Needs Spiritual SandpaperPlease share on Pinterest!
My grandfather was a master at furniture restoration and even better at seeing treasures hidden among trash. He could transform an old wooden chair found at the garbage dump into a delicate turn-of-the-century masterpiece. As a little kid, I was regularly astonished at what he brought home. A truck-full of broken or ripped, and often dirty, furniture pieces would go into his workshop only to emerge a few months later as pristinely restored antiques capable of fetching top dollar from any one of the local interior design shops.

I had a particularly close relationship with my grandfather because every year growing up I stayed with them for at least a month during my summer breaks from school. One summer morning I was hanging out in his workshop to watch him refinish an intricately carved piece of mahogany. Naively thinking that I could accomplish the same results, I asked him if there was something I could work on myself. I can still remember the knowing smile that came across his face as he looked up from his project. While I can’t remember his response exactly, I think it went something like this: “Sure, I’ll find something that you can take home with you when you leave. Let’s start on it tomorrow.”

The next day he came home with a small, basic bookcase. And my face must’ve said it all because I recall him saying something like, “Don’t worry, when you’re finished with it, it will look completely different. Let’s go look for the tools that’ll get the job done.”

My grandfather knew that experiencing the process of restoration and appreciating the value of hard work was more important to teach me than the actual refinishing skills or my desire to produce something ornate or beautiful. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I wanted a shortcut to satisfaction. I wanted to be proud of myself and receive praise for my fine attention to detail. My grandfather, on the other hand, knew I needed to start with the basics and go through my own refinement process before I tried to tackle something that would only end in a mess if I attempted it right now. Not only would my little project end up being the opposite of what I envisioned, I would also learn nothing while simultaneously being terribly disappointed in myself.

Like my grandfather, Jesus worked wood with his hands most of his life. The vast majority of what we read about Him is described in the miraculous beginning of His life or the short three years of His earthly ministry. But what about the other 29 years? Well, Jesus likely filled up at least 16 or 17 of those years by quietly shaping rough, inflexible wood into smooth, well-formed works of usefulness. His father Joseph would have begun Jesus’ training in the workshop at a young age so that he could quickly move past the common errors of a naive apprentice and become a productive, income-generating member of the household.

Jesus could’ve had any job during His years of preparation and maturation. The whole point of years 1 through 29 was so that He could experience what we experience — being fully human and dealing with the hard realities of living in a sinful world with other people who do irritating and often unloving things to each other. The point was to live enough of the typical human journey to prove to us that He gets it. He knows living here is just plain hard. And unfair. Therefore, I don’t think it is particularly important that He was a carpenter. But it is certainly poetic. And our God does love a beautiful allegory. As humans, we relate to stories emotionally, which open up our hearts more quickly and more fully to not only hear truth, but also be vulnerable enough to let it sink in and spark us into action.

Because God chose to start His Son’s training with the hard physical realities of going to work every day to shape hard, unwilling objects, not to mention deal with cranky or unrealistic customers, Jesus undoubtedly learned the truth of allegory and how to apply it to real life very quickly. As a carpenter, Jesus learned at the deepest level — both emotionally and physically — what it meant to grow and mature as a human in this harsh climate of mistrust, betrayal, undeserved pain, loss, and longing. Therefore, we can rest assured that when we walk through trials, unsettling change, new projects, intense longing, waiting, or dealing with life-draining relationships, Jesus knows what that feels like and is shaping the situations to propel us into a new level of spiritual growth.

In the book How People Grow, which is the definitive work on the many facets and processes of spiritual development, authors Cloud and Townsend drive home the point over and over that life itself — with all its issues, ups, and downs — is a classroom for growth taught by the Holy Spirit. Everything that happens in our lives, from the tiniest details to the most pivotal moments, is an opportunity for spiritual growth. All growth is spiritually related. Everything in our lives is spiritually connected. Our humanity and the activities and events that come with it cannot be separated from our hearts and souls. The various projects of life that Jesus allows to come our way are like the very sandpaper used to smooth out the rough edges of raw wood. The key lies in training ourselves to see it that way and then humbly and lovingly yielding to God’s refining hand. Just as my Grandfather did for me and Joseph did for Jesus, God is lovingly guiding us to trust Him that the work He sets before us is for a reason. When our outlook is one filtered through love and trust, everything is an opportunity to mature our character, further purify our hearts, draw us into more dependency, and ultimately glorify God.

Most days we don’t recognize the spiritual sandpaper that God brings into our lives. As it does with a tree, growth doesn’t typically happen quickly or in huge spurts. It is the little moments of triumph that build over time to make us like a strong “tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.” (Psalm 1:3a) What are some of the spiritual sandpapers that are just waiting for us to see? Virtually everything is a growth opportunity, no matter how minuscule or incremental. Most people realize that trials and suffering regardless of their unpleasant nature are necessary and significant means of growth (Romans 5:3-4). But some of the most common ones we miss are hard work, waiting, mistakes, longing or lack, and people. Variations of those things occur every day in all kinds of ways. Perhaps read that short list again, and if you feel a little nudge from the Holy Spirit about any of them, look at the bottom of this blog post. There, I’ve listed out each one with encouraging Scriptures.

When God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and finally brought them into the promised land over the Jordan River, Joshua 4 tells us that they planted a stone marker on the shores of rescue. In the same way, we need to record and treasure our mile markers of spiritual growth. We need to recall, revisit, and rejoice in each hard lesson learned. Why? So that the enemy’s lies won’t be successful later in whispering words of doubt in our ears about God’s faithfulness and promises. So that we will remember how we got through something and avoid repeating the same mistakes. So that we can look back in times of discouragement and be strengthened for the journey ahead. And there are many more reasons. If I persuade you to do nothing else based on this message, then my prayer is that you at least try jotting down what God says to you, has done for you, and is teaching you on a somewhat regular basis. Whether it’s a journal, the note app on your phone, sticky notes by your bed, or whatever is convenient, find a way to capture your milestones and how you got there. It can be bullet points, sketches, fragments, or ramblings. Most of all, it doesn’t have to be perfect. Nor will it be shared. It’s just between you and God. And if you happen to live in Southern Maine, I’ll be leading a class this Spring where we’ll talk about some of the most important types of spiritual growth, including non-burdensome, joyful ways to capture what God is teaching you. More information about that and other online resources on spiritual growth are also included at the bottom of this post.
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I still have that small, humble bookshelf my Grandfather and I made together. You might be wondering how it turned out. Well, it is indeed simple, but I think it is one of the most beautiful things I own. I love every blemish on it because they are mistakes that I made with my own hands and my Grandfather lovingly showed me how to correct as I moved forward. It has gone with me everywhere since that sweltering summer of rebirth. After I completed it, I learned later that my Grandfather had stayed up late the night before making it for me from old scrap wood left in the shop. Discarded, scarred planks that would’ve been burned in their old wood stove once the chill of autumn set in became something I have cherished for almost 30 years. It is the only thing I have that he made with his own hands. And knowing that he sacrificed to make it just for me so that I would have the opportunity to grow still brings tears to my eyes. He wasn’t a man of many words, but his loving thoughtfulness and wisdom by example still echo in my life all these years later. The bookcase now sits in my favorite room in our house — the guest bedroom. And it is stocked with… you guessed it… books on spiritual growth. In some small way, my Grandfather’s gesture has touched every person who’s borrowed a book from the shelf. And while there’s no way for me to know the full extent of the lessons he taught me, I do know the effects of the sandpaper he gave me that day yielded far greater results on reshaping my young heart than it did on that bookcase.

For Further Reflection & Deeper Study
Beyond the obvious types of spiritual sandpaper in our lives, such as trials and hardship, there are many everyday ones that have the power to incrementally shape us over time. Spend some time praying before you read this list, then read the scriptures for each, and ask the Holy Spirit to point out any you might be ignoring or missing out on.
  • Hard work. Working diligently with joy for the Lord on a consistent basis develops our character, endurance, and humility on many levels. Colossians 3:17, Proverbs 13:4, Philippians 2:14-15
  • Waiting. Waiting for anything, whether short or long, serious or trivial, teaches us patience and trust. Psalm 27:14, Psalm 130:5 (You may also want to check out this blog post on learning to wait the right way.)
  • Mistakes. God can redeem and use anything for His glory if we let Him — even our mistakes and sins. Beyond the incredible humility that smooths out our sharp pride, mistakes push us into the arms of Jesus. Psalm 37:23-24 is a very insightful passage about God’s guidance and love even when we fall or make mistakes.
  • Longing and lack. Whether it’s material, physical, emotional, or relational, when our desires go unfulfilled and our ability to obtain is removed, we have a choice to fill the void supernaturally or stuff it with temporary pleasures. Philippians 4:12-13 (You may also want to check out this blog post on contentment.)
  • People. Whether it’s someone we love or a stranger at a stoplight, we encounter people who act as sandpaper every day. Eugene Peterson once said, “We humans keep looking for a religion that will give us access to God without having to bother with people.” But Scripture clearly indicates that we are all interconnected and made to love each other. Proverbs 27:6,17 tells us that faithful — other words, helpful — are the wounds of a friend and reminds us that iron sharpens iron. As for the people who drive us crazy without good motives, we grow when we treat them as Jesus would. Ephesians 4:29-32

Additional Resources about Spiritual Growth and Capturing Your Journey
  • How People Grow, by Henry Cloud and John Townsend
  • RADIATE: Growing on the Inside to Radiate Jesus on the Outside, by Kim Stiver
  • RADIATE the Class: Offered Spring 2019 at Eastpoint Christian Church in South Portland, Maine — Wednesdays at 6:30pm starting on April 3. Overview: The more we lean into Jesus and let the Holy Spirit work in our spiritual core, the more we will radiate Him to others and share His love. Offered in a relatable, easygoing style and appropriate for both men and women, RADIATE will help you learn how to apply eight transformational spiritual disciplines to deepen your walk with God. For more information, email Kim directly. A class registration link will be posted to the church website on March 17.
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The Most Neglected Way to Grow Closer to Jesus

2/20/2019

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The Most Neglected Way to Grow Closer to Jesus is Tithing
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Approximately 75% of American Christians are completely missing out on one of the most powerful ways to strengthen their faith and experience untold blessings in their lives. And of the 25% who do take part in this amazing spiritual discipline,  only a mere 3 to 5% do it regularly  despite two stunning facts. #1: it is mentioned in the Bible more than any other topic. And #2: it comes with an unequivocal promise of abundant blessing if it is practiced. What is it? Surrendering your heart and worshipping God through the consistent giving of tithes and offerings. Yikes! Some of you are about to tune me out right now. But before you do, please ask yourself this one thing, “Why did I react that way?” My guess is because most of us were brought up in a household where we were taught not to talk about money. It’s a private matter. It’s impolite. It’s personal. Money — more than any other thing on earth — instantly drives a stake in the ground. The moment it is mentioned or thought of, our skin starts to crawl. Something deep within our souls recoils and we instantly feel a teensy bit (or maybe a lot) uncomfortable. 

But WHY? Why are we raised this way? Why do most of us get weird about it? Do we feel guilty because we secretly want more of it? Is it fear that we might lose what we have? Is it pride or keeping up appearances that prevent us from wanting others to know what we actually own… or how little we have? God knew from the dawn of creation that humans would have a volatile and uncomfortable relationship with money. Just read the story of Cain and Able’s first sacrifice in Genesis to refresh your memory! Giving back didn’t go over so well with Cain and Able paid the price with his life. That’s why you’ll find more than 2,350 verses in Scripture about money. Sixteen of the 38 parables Jesus told included instruction about how to handle money and possessions. And although it’s often misquoted, 1 Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” Note that it doesn’t say that money IS the root of all evil. Money simply makes the path into trouble and danger easier to find. 

But what if you could conquer your discomfort or your hesitation about money entirely? What if, in the process, by doing so, you drew closer to Jesus than you ever thought possible? What if… you believed in the promise associated with giving back to God enough to be in that 5% group and subsequently witnessed amazing things happening in your life? Conversely, what if NOT ever doing it meant that you would probably miss out on God’s greatest plans for your life? 

Whether you’ve never tithed, tried it occasionally, or are practicing it regularly, the temptations associated with money’s role in our lives will never go away entirely this side of heaven, but these reminders about its place in God’s plan and how He wants to use it to bless us for His glory will be an encouragement and a challenge for us all. 

How Money Sneaks Up on Us — Materialism is always lurking and it can come at us in surprising ways, which are as varied as there are people. Here are three key ways money or possessions can become a root of evil in our lives, eventually spawning serious threats to our walk with Jesus. 
  • Money and possessions create an emotional attachment because we paid a price for something and now we want to protect it. It’s a natural human reaction when we acquire something we either worked hard for or feel that we deserve. Whatever we seek becomes our treasure. God understands what it means to pay a price for something valuable. He gave the life of Jesus to be with us. He understands first hand how attached we become to what we buy. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” What we treasure becomes what we live for, whether we consciously realize that fact or not. 
  • Materialism distracts us, distorts our desires, and consumes our time, limiting how we serve God, love others, and give back. Ecclesiastes 5:10 warns us that the more we have, the more we desire, and the less we are satisfied. Proverbs 28:25 says that the pursuit of money stirs up conflict, and I think that means both internal and external struggles.  
  • Pursuing wealth and stuff without putting God first through tithing weakens or disables our spiritual gifts and calling. When we are too attached to possessions or too focused on money, it can severely hamper us from serving God as He intended. In Mark 10, a wealthy young man approaches Jesus with great reverence and asks, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Obviously talented and smart, God had blessed the young man with many gifts, but his attachment to his wealth kept him from finding his greater calling in Christ. Jesus looked at him and saw into his heart. He knew that this young man had an immense burden that was weighing him down far more than any of the others in the crowd that day. It was a terrible condition far worse than those who were blind, lame or suffering from leprosy. The treasure of this man’s heart was big, deeply entrenched and very misguided. We don’t know if he eventually surrendered everything to Jesus or not, but on that particular day he “went away sorrowful.” He wanted to draw close to Jesus, but his money had created a barrier stronger than stone between them.   

What God Calls Us to Do — The prescription to our heart condition is simply stated, but hard to cultivate, especially in the beginning. However, the Holy Spirit will empower us with every step of faith we take. The more we give back to Him out of every paycheck, the more exponentially our faith will increase. 
  • He calls us to worship Him, not material things. And worshipping Him through tithes and offerings helps us keep our emotional attachments in check and our hearts focused on what’s important. Giving back to God is a proven path to healing for the spiritual condition of the human heart. God doesn’t ask us to tithe a portion of our money to Him because He or the church needs it. God asks us to give in order to heal us, to renew us, and to reshape us. According to Psalm 51:16-17, it’s not about the money itself. It’s about our willingness to surrender it all to Him in unabashed worship and adoration. 
  • The Bible exhorts us to give sacrificially with a joyful heart.2 Corinthians 9:6-8 says, “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.” If you have not reached the place where you can give to God out of joy and with a heart of worship, pray and meditate on that verse, asking the Holy Spirit to overflow your heart with trust and thanksgiving.  
  • Trust in His protection and sovereignty as the owner and creator of all things.1 Chronicles 29:11 says, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.” Psalm 91:1 promises us “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” In other words, when we place our trust in God, we will enjoy His direction and His protection over every moment of our lives. 

How We’ll Be Blessed — Tithing, when practiced regularly and permanently, produces miraculous results in ways that will astound you, humble you, and draw you closer to the heart of Jesus in tangible ways. It is the only command in all of Scripture that comes with a clear invitation to test God. In Malachi 3:10-11 it’s like He is saying, “Go ahead. Do it. Ask me to prove how much you can trust me. And then stand back and watch in wonder what I do in your heart, mind, and life.” Getting into the practice of tithing will literally create a seismic shift in your walk with God. How you see things, your contentment level, your desires… almost everything will begin to change. When we study tithing in context with the whole of the Bible, it is beyond doubt that the blessings promised in Malachi don’t necessarily result in financial gain or prosperity, but the spiritual blessings of the abundant life Jesus promised are guaranteed. 
  • We will be trained and prepared to serve Him in greater and greater ways for His glory, not our own. Jesus said in Luke 16:10-11, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?” The surrender of our material resources has a powerful way of making us more humble. 
  • We will gain financial peace and a contented heart. Hebrews 13:5tells us to keep our lives free from the love of money and purse a contented heart. When we turn things over to God’s capable management and honor Him through giving, we find immeasurable peace knowing our futures are in the hands of the King. I love the way John Piper put it in his article entitled Toward the Tithe and Beyond, “If expenses almost inevitably expand to fill the income—how shall we restrain ourselves from accumulating more and more stuff and more and more expensive stuff, and looking to the world like we have all the same values they do in our little earthly prelude to eternity? The answer is that as our income grows, we move beyond the tithe. We resolve to give a greater and greater percentage of our income to advance the kingdom. This puts the brakes on our natural impulse toward luxury.”
  • We will be better protected and miraculously sustained. Psalm 41:1-3says those who are generous and give to the poor will have God’s special protection. And the second half of the Malachi passage promises this, “‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,’ says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, ‘I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in!’” I have personally seen miraculous provision from God on countless occasions, ranging from friends unexpectedly pitching in to help with a project, an unanticipated check in the mail, a promotion at work during a time of great need, and even a place to live for a displaced relative. But the greatest blessing of all has been the gradual reduction of my desires for things He knows will distract me from serving Him. The more I pursue God the more I long for the things He loves and not the things I used to love.

Giving your tithes and offerings to God is simply worship. It is part of learning to love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. It is just another way you and I become living sacrifices to Him — for His specific use and under His protection. And if you make a commitment to Him – that He has led you to make -- He will do His part to deliver on His end of the bargain. Now that’s something you can bank on. 

How has God provided for you? Comment below to share your stories of our Heavenly Father’s provision for you and your family. 

Questions for Further Reflection and Next Steps
  • Are there any areas where you can sense that materialism has crept into your heart? Is there anything that you desire that sometimes overshadows your love for God or distracts you from serving? Is there any seed of comparison or sense of pride in your heart about your attitude and perspectives toward money? For more about finding contentment, see this blog post. 
  • In what ways is God challenging you to make changes in your financial habits? As you go to God in prayer, pray this Psalm 51:10 back to Him. 
  • If you would like help with your finances or want to learn more about tithing, even if you have debt, I encourage you to seek out a Bible study on finances at your church, check out these resources from Dave Ramsey, or check out his book on financial peace from your local library. 
***
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The 5 Hallmarks of Satisfying Love

2/13/2019

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Love letters have long been revered as one of the most romantic ways of communicating feelings to the one held most dear. There is something so charming and enduring about setting ink to paper in order to pour out the strongest longings of the heart that virtually all cultures throughout history have practiced it in one form or another. From the first surreptitious note we pass to the cute classmate to the constant and often obtrusive texting of today’s modern romances, communicating in writing about love can be one of the most satisfying experiences the human heart can conceive.

In 1994 Johnny Cash sent a birthday letter to his wife June that has since been voted the greatest love letter of all time. Here is part of the short letter: We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each other’s minds. We know what the other wants without asking. Sometimes we irritate each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted. But once in a while, like today, I meditate on it and realize how lucky I am to share my life with the greatest woman I ever met. You still fascinate and inspire me. You influence me for the better. You’re the object of my desire, the #1 Earthly reason for my existence. I love you very much.

Clearly, he was very satisfied with their relationship, finding much of life’s greatest meaning in their identity as a couple. In just a few sentences, Johnny manages to encapsulate five hallmarks of satisfying love. He begins by expressing undying gratitude and adoration, followed by an expression of inexhaustible interest, a willing submission to her influence, an unquenchable romantic desire, and finally, a closing declaration that she was his very reason for living. It’s that last one I find the most haunting, as Johnny did indeed quickly followed June — within just four months — when she passed away in May 2003. She was the center of his world, and while it’s medically debatable whether or not he died of a broken heart, it’s perhaps the heart-touching irony of his declaration that edged out other famous contenders in the love letter poll. The words he penned to his beloved, even beat out the literary heavyweights like Keats and Hemmingway.

As I thought about the way Johnny gave his whole heart to June despite their differences and shortcomings, I was once again reminded of a quote from Tim Keller about marriage and how God designed it to be a picture of His union with us and His sacrificial love for us. “To be loved but not known is comforting but superficial. To be known and not loved is our greatest fear. But to be fully known and truly loved is, well, a lot like being loved by God. It is what we need more than anything. It liberates us from pretense, humbles us out of our self-righteousness, and fortifies us for any difficulty life can throw at us.”

Like marriage is analogous to God’s commitment and love for us, when we look at the five hallmarks of satisfying love expressed in Johnny’s letter, we can also see parallels of them in Scripture, which is God’s love letter to humankind. In God's Word, we can find the most satisfying love on earth and also be assured of unending, perfect love throughout eternity.

A mutually adoring love. While we can never equal the greatness of God’s love within the bounds of our flawed humanity, a relationship with our Heavenly Father is all about mutual adoration. Zephaniah 3:17 says that God sings or rejoices over us. Over and over Scripture tells us that God loves us more than we can fathom (Ephesians 3:14-19) and that we were created to have a loving, intensely personal relationship with Him (John 14:23, 1 John 1:1-3). Jesus stated in Matthew 22:37 that the greatest commandment of all is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and soul.

An inexhaustible interest in each other. We are made in God’s image, so it should be no surprise that our relationship with Him should mirror those we have with each other. When two people no longer find each other fascinating, then the relationship usually dies. But God is keenly interested in us, to the point where He knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:30-31) and exactly what we need in every area of our lives (Matthew 6:8). He has plans us for us since before we born (Jeremiah 29:11) and will stay intensely involved with us until He brings them to fruition (Philippians 1:6). As such, God asks us to seek Him, using all of our hearts, minds, and souls to know Him better. As long as we earnestly ask Him to reveal Himself to us, He will (Deuteronomy 4:29).

A willing submission to influence. In any earthly relationship, both people need to be open to the influence of the other. In his book The Meaning of Marriage, Tim Keller explains that marriage is God’s design for two people to help each other progress toward who they are meant to be in Christ.  “Friends become wiser together through a healthy clash of viewpoints. Like a surgeon, friends cut you in order to heal you.” In the same manner, the bride of Christ is to joyfully and fully surrender to God’s leading as He shapes us into our best for Him. Isaiah 64:8 says, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Sometimes the molding is achieved through trials and other times change might be sparked by others close to us. But no matter what, we must be willing to let God guide, change, and mold us for His glory.

An unquenchable desire. God will go to any length to bring us closer to Him. In the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15, Jesus said, “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?” Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When we seek our greatest pleasure in Jesus, He will replace the desires of our heart with His.

A reason for living. Although Johnny declared that June was his reason for existence in the letter, he was very transparent about his faith in Jesus in the media and to his fans. In the early 1970s he and June began a close, enduring friendship with Billy and Ruth Graham. According to Mike Garrett, Johnny’s nephew, he began prioritizing his service to Billy’s crusades over his music career and concert tour, which is the number one way a musician earns a living. Jesus said in Luke 9:24, “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” It is only when we find our primary meaning in life in Jesus that we will be truly satisfied. Psalm 119:57-58 tells us that God should be our portion, which means the totality of what is good in life. The Matthew Henry commentary says portion means felicity, or our very happiness.

Valentine’s Day is certainly a reminder to check the allegiance of our hearts. And while most people only think of its romantic connotations, the Word of God reminds us that our earthly attachments should be not only reflections of His love, but the instruments through which we serve and glorify Him. It is only then that we can truly find the kind of love that both satisfies and heals. As CS Lewis said in his book The Four Loves, “You have not chosen one another, but I have chosen you for one another. In God there is no hunger that needs to be filled, only plenteousness [e.g. overwhelming abundance] that desires to give.”

Questions for Further Reflection
  • How do your relationships reflect God’s love or not? As you pray over the ones who are closest to you, ask Him to reveal to you any ways in which your relationships need to be healthier. How can you help those that you care about on their journey to/with Jesus and to be more like Him?
  • God asks for our whole heart. Read Romans 5:5, 2 Corinthians 5:14, Psalm 9:1, and Psalm 119:2 and Psalm 138. As you read these scriptures, ask Him if there are any corners of your heart that you are holding back from His sovereignty, healing, and love.
  • If today’s message encouraged you in some way, please pause and ask God what He would have you do based on what you just read (or listened to). In addition to some action step or change on your part, ask Him who He’d like you to reach out today with this same message of hope. Whomever He lays on your heart, please don’t hesitate to begin praying for them immediately. You could also send them this blog post with a personal note encouraging them.
***
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The Optical Illusion of Ownership

1/30/2019

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Many people who come into our house notice that we have a large bowl full of keys on a bench by the front door. The amount and varied array of them looks kind of ridiculous at first glance. So most people laugh at the jumbled pile and ask with a wry smile, “Do you really know what each of them goes to?” They expect us to shrug our shoulders and confess that we don’t have any idea, so they usually look at us in surprise when we tell them that we actually do know. And, of course, we don’t just have one set of keys for most things. We have the extra valet keys for our cars, the spare house keys for occasional neighbor access, and a silly pile of luggage lock keys that probably needs to go. Regardless of their attached value, each one of those keys is a symbol of ownership ranging from the fairly unimportant and rarely used ones, like the small bike lock keys, to the most valuable things we possess, like our house, cars, and safe deposit box. In the world’s eyes, those keys mean that we own a lot of stuff. In God’s eyes, however, we don’t own a thing. Ownership of any kind in this life is only an optical illusion.

The word ownership is kind of like a chameleon. It can have a positive or negative connotation in just about any conversation. And that makes it especially hard to pin down when it comes to honoring God. Clearly, the Bible commands us to take ownership of our behavior and how we treat others. We are also supposed to work diligently, taking seriously our responsibility to honor God with the quality and excellence of what we do, whether it’s in our jobs, volunteering, or in ministry. But like so many other good character traits, our sense of ownership can become overblown if we’re not careful, fueling our pride and dragging us deep into religious legalism, worry, jealousy, or greed.

In the Bible’s vocabulary, the word ownership always refers to God as the landlord, the king, the master, or the vintner. While many believers understand that we belong to Christ and that everything we have is a blessing “on loan” from Him (1 Chronicles 29:11-12), it’s not uncommon for us to miss the deeper levels of what divine ownership really means. Because we are so visually driven, it’s easy to focus on what we physically have as gifts of God, such as our material possessions, health, careers, and even family members. But when we give Jesus the keys to our heart, He takes ownership lock, stock, and barrel… heart, mind, body, and soul. Most of us expect the heart and soul part, but we struggle more with the mind and body part.

As the landlord of our lives, Jesus also has ownership rights to every aspect of our mental and physical existence. While that fact can seem overwhelming, God’s intention for ownership is to bring us peace, joy, and hope, not restrictions, rules, or a rigorous sense of duty. Ownership for God isn’t just about having control, as we would think of it in human terms, but far more about loving provision, protection, and guidance.

This past week, God has been reminding me that He owns far more than my current existence, He also owns my future and everything that is to come. Therefore, anything I am working towards now — the projects I want to complete, any goals I’ve set, and the dreams I am chasing — those are all His to manage as well. Though I am called to work hard to achieve them, I do not have the ownership of — or even the responsibility for — the potential outcomes of them. In other words, if I am working on what God has asked me to do, then I am a servant following His direction. I am not the owner. God alone bears the burden of failure or success.

This is a radical nuance to God’s ownership with huge ramifications for anyone who leads, teaches, or manages anything — whether it be people, projects, or households. No matter what our tax filings indicate we own on this earth, God has the ultimate responsibility for growing and protecting what’s important. And all the planning, strategizing, contemplating, and preparation in the world won’t change the outcomes or produce success if it’s not His desire. So while He expects us to use our brains, talents, and skills to the fullest and with excellence (Colossians 3:23-24), He also asks us to do so with complete surrender and trust to His careful management. Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

So how does this Biblical truth impact us in everyday life? Simply put, it means we must stop thinking like an owner… in everything. It means we should allow ourselves to rest, relax, and be still when we’re not supposed to be working or volunteering. Our minds can be at peace in the off hours because the Owner of all things is still at work. He’s minding the store when we’re not there. Practically speaking, if our thoughts are constantly embroiled in our responsibilities and to do lists, then we are not trusting God or obeying His command to rest. Psalm 127:2 says, “It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night, anxiously working for food to eat; for God gives rest to His loved ones.”

This truth became especially real to me the other night. I was awake yet again around 2 a.m. with my mind whirring. Rather than being obviously worried about something, my mind was filled instead with all kinds of new ideas and new tasks related to a project. The problem didn’t seem to be the subject matter — it was the timing. So as I began praying for my mind to be still, God seemed to whisper to me, “Try asking Me why your mind is racing in the first place.” When I did, His answer surprised me. “You can’t sleep because you’re thinking like an owner. I am the Owner. Trust me with it all and sleep will come.” And it did.

As I was doing research for this post, I came across a fascinating article in Inc. magazine about a Christian-owned company in Colorado living out the principles of divine ownership. Bob Walker, the president of the company, said, “The first question that has to be settled is,'Who owns the business?’… Whatever He has given, He wants us to multiply.” The article then goes into great detail about the family’s faith in God to run their operations, including the startling decision to halt layoffs, risk further financial damage, and use staff downtime to give back to the community during one of their toughest years in business.

That’s real-world trust in the trenches and a shining example of what it really means to yield to the yoke of Christ in Matthew 11:28-30. Jesus said when we come to Him and let Him lead, we will find rest. Furthermore, according to Proverbs 3:24, Psalm 4:8, we can go to bed without fear and sleep soundly. But I think most of us view those pleasant-sounding verses as optional, rather than a requirement. We delude ourselves into believing that midnight hours spent thinking about our business, our ministries, our relationships, our parenting, etc., is productive. We cheat ourselves out of the abundant life Jesus promised us — and gave His own life for us to have — by convincing ourselves that excessive amounts of industriousness will honor God, ensure success, and prevent us from letting anyone down. But the Bible’s response to that is an indictment of lack. A lack of trust that God will take care of any details we miss or make up for any talents we don’t have. A lack of confidence that the plans of God are better than ours. A lack of humility that our worth and our level of success is only found in what God decides we should have. A lack of surrender to the life He wants us to have, versus the one we envision for ourselves.

When I arose the morning following my sleepless night, the Holy Spirit brought 2 Timothy 2:5 forward in my quiet time. “An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.” Through that verse, it was clear God was telling me that the race He’s asked me to run has some rules, and they’re all based on trusting Him. When I allow God to be in control of my race, providing the gear I need, managing the conditions, and giving me the endurance, I am free to run the race without fear of failure. But if I insist on thinking like I’m the owner of my own race, I won’t even make it to the finish line.

Questions for Further Reflection
  • Read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-28. As you think about the three servants in the passage, imagine yourself in each of their shoes. What evidence of worry and misplaced thinking do you see in the third servant’s words and actions? How do the first two honor the Master as the clear owner?
  • Christians are heirs with Christ. What is the difference between heirs and owners? What kind of inheritance will all believers receive according to 1 Peter 1:3-12?
  • Evaluate how much time you spend thinking about work in some way, whether it’s work you are compensated for, volunteering, or managing tasks around the house. Pray and ask God to reveal to you the ways in which you are not trusting him to compensate for your weaknesses or lacking. In what ways is He challenging you to take more time to relax with your friends and family, spend time with Him, or just get more sleep?​
​***
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Come to the Garden

1/16/2019

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Right now as I look out my window, a frozen landscape is greeting me and looking deceptively beautiful. Ice crystals are blanketing the evergreens and glistening in the sunlight, which is barely giving enough warmth to reach a double-digit temperature. And while there are hardy, winter-loving people who are probably frolicking in the snow under today’s clear blue skies, I’m enjoying the view without venturing away from the snuggly goodness of my roaring wood stove.

With the chilly, sparkling vista before me, it’s slightly difficult for me to imagine a lush green garden complete with just the perfect temperature and humidity for a peaceful stroll down a perfectly designed, wooded path lined with colorful flowers and serenaded by a majestic waterfall in the distance. If I dwell on the thought long enough, I might also be able to see a bench in the garden, waiting for me underneath an expansive shade tree and open to the widest view. Despite the extra strain on my imagination to concoct such a place in the middle of a Maine winter, I know the investment of time to get to the Garden in my mind is worth it. Worth every second… because I can leave all my distractions, fears, and worries far behind for a few precious minutes and focus on the most important thing in life. Most of all, it is worth it because of Who I’m meeting in the Garden, and because He and I have a standing appointment every morning with additional meetings scattered throughout the rest of the day.

I’ve written about heaven before, and while it’s a place we should contemplate often and draw comfort from, it’s not a place that we can access — or even fathom — during our time here on earth. On the other hand, the Garden is a place we can get to at any moment, and from any location. The literal Garden of Eden is long gone from earth, but I believe the existence of it and the fact that we were created for it, is emblazoned on our hearts. Our need for time in the Garden is interwoven into our souls. Somewhere deep inside of every human is a longing for the Garden — almost a kind of “knowing” that we don’t fully belong in our current existence, but rather that we should be dwelling in a deep, abiding fellowship with our Creator.

The problem is that most of us have either forgotten how to get to the Garden, are afraid of allowing ourselves to go there, or simply don’t make it a priority. We often choose instead to search for a counterfeit garden in our current surroundings, always wandering from valley to mountaintop and back again, only to find ourselves worn out, disappointed, and wondering why we cannot secure real peace, lasting happiness, or authentic contentment. We have yet to realize that only in the true Garden can we experience the wonder of being simultaneously on the mountaintop while walking through the valleys of life.

Humankind was created in the Garden and initially walked with God side by side in unbroken fellowship. We know this because Adam and Eve were clearly familiar with God’s arrival in the Garden in Genesis 3:8, and the previous chapters also make it clear that God had given them specific instructions and direction for daily living. But when they chose to trust in their own wisdom and defy God’s request, they could no longer exist in the presence of His pure perfection and holiness.  Forevermore, sin would come between the human race and its Creator unless atonement was made. Humanity may have been escorted out of the Garden, but the longing for the Garden has never been removed from our hearts.

In addition to the Garden of Eden it’s not a coincidence that Scriptures repeatedly mention gardens — both as literal places of great significance and as spiritual metaphors. Many of the Old Testament prophets used gardens as analogies for God’s restoration of His people following their repentance (for example, Isaiah 58:11). Just before His crucifixion, Jesus sought His Father’s help in prayer in the garden of Gethsemane (John 18:1-2), and then He triumphed in victory over sin and death as He was resurrected in the garden of Golgotha (John 19:41). Finally, we will experience God’s forever garden — paradise — when He returns for us as prophesied in Revelation 2:7. Astoundingly, we will be given access to the tree of life, which was originally established in the Garden of Eden.

Over and over throughout the Bible, we are reminded that God created us for garden living, and through the sacrifice and the atonement of Jesus, we can accept His personal invitation that beckons us: “Come to the Garden, my beloved. Come.” When we spend time with God in prayer, studying and meditating on the Word, and practice being still before Him in adoration and submission, we enter into the Garden.

One of my favorite hymns captures the essence of this invitation to us, and it has an interesting backstory. The hymn’s writer, C. Austin Miles, was a gospel singer and music publisher by trade, but one of his greatest passions was photography and developing his own images. One day in March 1912, he was waiting on some of his images to develop in his basement darkroom, so he passed the time by reading the Gospel of John. When he came to chapter 20, he began to let himself vividly imagine what it must have been like to be with Mary when she came to the garden the morning of Jesus’ resurrection. As he imagined what his own words might be to the savior, he was overcome with such emotion that he later said his hands and arms were trembling as he gripped his Bible. His real words came easily after that, and right there, in a cold, dark basement with not even a window, he penned the lyric for In the Garden. Miles once said of the popular hymn, “This is not an experience limited to a happening almost 2,000 years ago. It is the daily companionship with the Lord that makes up the Christian’s life.”

The other truth that overwhelms me about the story behind this hymn is the incredible role that Miles’ imagination played as he read John 20. Jesus calls us to love God with all of our hearts, minds, and souls (Matthew 22:37). And to endeavor to love Him in that way, we must be vulnerable and open to using all of our faculties to encounter Him and get to know Him better. We cannot love someone if we don’t intimately know them. The invitation from Jesus goes way beyond envisioning yourself in the Garden, it beckons you to find yourself in Him. Everything about yourself — what you’re made of, your dreams, your identity, and your very life — all found in Jesus.

As I ponder the hymn and listen to my favorite rendition of it, the word’s of its writer echo in my heart and remind me that Jesus is waiting and whispering to me, “Come to the Garden, my beloved. Put that distraction down and spend your time more wisely with me. Don’t wrestle with that hard stuff by yourself over there… come here with me instead. The empty thrills you’re seeking can never compare to the depth of my love and the satisfaction of spending time with me.”

Perhaps the most amazing thing about the Garden of prayer is that the gate into it is open 24 hours a day. Sometimes we are only able to linger there in short intervals, perhaps in the middle of a hectic workday or when taking a quick breath during a difficult conversation. Other times, we may rest in His presence for hours, wishing that moments like these would never end. Regardless of the amount of time, He just wants us to keep coming back consistently so we grow to be completely dependent on Him as our primary source of strength, peace, hope, and joy.

God intends for every day of our lives to include a Garden experience. And He takes delight when we show up. But like anything worth doing, the depth of our experience will take a lot of practice and mental discipline. For the longest time I just expected to feel transported into God’s presence from the moment my lips uttered “Dear God…” at the beginning of my prayer time. But being in the Garden with Jesus isn’t contingent upon anything I say. In fact, there are times when the Holy Spirit impresses upon me to say absolutely nothing. No, being in the Garden is more about what we do with our hearts and minds. It’s about a complete surrender of our wills, agendas, desires, fears, and worries. When we enter the Garden with open hands and a receptive heart, there’s no telling where He will lead us along the path of prayer and deeper into His presence. In the Garden anything is possible.

Questions for Further Reflection
  • When we enter the Garden, Jesus wants us to be willing to lay down anything we shouldn’t be carrying around in our lives. The burdens of sin, distractions, and worries block us from fully hearing His voice and receiving His peace. What are some things you sense that He might be asking you to surrender to Him at the Garden gate?
  • God has given us imaginations for a purpose that extend way beyond the fantasies of childhood. Do you ever use your imagination to envision being with Jesus? If not, what holds you back? Are you willing to try using it more in the coming weeks? You can learn more about using your imagination for God with this previous Glimmers blog post.
  • Try spending some time imagining a walk with Jesus. It doesn’t have to be a literal garden scene. It might be your favorite place to hang out or your childhood playground. Wherever it is, take the time to let your vision fully develop. To get you started, you may want to watch this music video for The Garden by Kari Jobe.
***
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Steadfastness in Times of Change

1/9/2019

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Steadfastness in Times of Change God is a FortressHover over image to share on Pinterest.
Sometimes it takes a radical event to open our eyes to the obvious… to see what has been in front of us all along. Like a tree that blends into a summer landscape until it explodes with color in the autumn… or a small white candle that goes unnoticed on a windowsill until the power goes out and it becomes the only light in the house… some lessons from God only become visible to us when He allows something unexpected or life-altering to reshape our perspective or shift our focus. It might be the sudden absence of someone or the removal of something we depended on, but in any season of change, there will always be an element of surprise. No matter how much we attempt to plan, prepare, or anticipate, the one factor we can always count on is being surprised as a result of a change in our relationships, environment, or resources.

While most of us — given the choice — would decline the option to be surprised as a result of life changes, virtually every lesson in life is sparked by some element of surprise. After all, why would we ever be prompted to learn or pushed to grow if we aren’t jolted in some way out of the current status quo? Somehow we get this as kids. Just as we’re getting comfortable with our third-grade material, we are pushed awkwardly into the brave new world of fourth grade. But as adults, we’re often shocked when life pushes us into that next phase, the new job, the empty nest, the smaller home, or the funeral procession. We may have sensed it coming, but we’re blindsided regardless.

And when it arrives — whatever the change is — it brings with it a life lesson. It creates a series of defining moments and always presents us with a choice: we can pivot in trust toward hope or turn in fear toward bitterness. Trust will teach us the lesson and usher us into a new level of strength. Fear will blind us to the truth and force us to repeat the lesson again and again.

This past week, my family has been enduring the hardest change of them all — the passing of a loved one. And while our struggles, grief, and pain in the loss of my father have not come as a surprise, some of the lessons we are learning from his quiet, well-lived life have been unexpected. There was no doubt in any of our minds that he was a caring and tender man of integrity with a big heart. But the nature and extent of his consistent character and positive impact on so many came as a surprise in the kind of way that forces anyone who knew him to take stock of their own lives.

While I could fill pages and pages with good things about Dad, one overarching lesson from his life keeps coming to my mind over and over as I ponder all the things that were said by people who attended either the visitation or the funeral service: he had a dramatic impact on many lives without creating any fanfare, ruffling others’ feathers, or receiving grandiose notoriety. Yet everything he stood for in his quiet manner of living, loving, and serving was counter-cultural because it was all clothed in humility, delivered with a joyful spirit, and done out of love for others.

Here are just a few of the many lessons emerging from Dad’s life, most of which fly in the face of how we live today in modern society. And I think I’m just seeing the tip of the iceberg of all that he will be continuing to teach me for years to come.
  • Companionship is a means of healing and restoration. My Dad loved a good conversation, but he also knew that taking the time to just be with someone could often heal deep wounds far better than words. I heard stories from people of how my father invited them to go to a baseball game or play cribbage at their greatest time of need or pain. Even with people he didn’t know that well. He didn’t try to tell them how to heal, recommend any self-help books, or encourage them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Instead, he simply spent time with them, and gently walked alongside them over weeks or months, knowing that sometimes the best way to progress through the healing process is with a friend who has no agenda, no artificial limits, and no ulterior motives.
  • Everything. Is. Personal. In Dad’s world, every conversation and interaction with someone was personal, even in business. He talked with someone like he or she was the only person in the room, even at a crowded party. He asked meaningful questions that revealed people’s passions for life, happiest moments, or most cherished relationships. He was never the life of the party, but he was always the guy you’d end up talking to all night because he made you feel so good about yourself. A note written with intention on a carefully chosen greeting card was very important to him to provide encouragement at just the right time or commemorate a special moment. Dad had a special way of giving people his full attention, even when his schedule or stress load was already full.
  • A contented heart focuses on others; a complaining heart erodes the soul. To the final end, Dad never complained about anything. Really. No matter how he felt or what he was going through, he squeezed out joy in every opportunity he had with others by focusing on them and what was going on in their lives, versus himself. No discomfort he had or disappointment he faced seemed to deter him from receiving all the good that life had to offer in that moment, no matter how small or inconsequential it would seem to you or me. He simply didn’t see any value in complaining. To fall back on one of my favorite childhood stories that he used to read to me at bedtime, in a world of Eeyores, Dad remained steadfastly a Winnie the Pooh. As a result, he created great joy for everyone who spent time with him. Even toward the end when he couldn’t say much at all, he somehow emanated joy. His caregivers wanted to serve him, his friends continued to be drawn to him, and his family looked forward to seeing the undaunted twinkle in his eyes.

In a world that is becoming more and more time-starved, high-pressured, and completely impersonal, Dad embodied a steadfast, but gentle resistance against the cultural grain. Our society usually puts people on pedestals who stand up for what they believe in with booming voices, shocking behavior, or attention-getting stunts. But Dad’s unwavering and consistent behavior was proof that true heroes don’t have to be seen on a grand stage to be known and loved deeply in the heart. His memorial service had standing room only on a dreary, cold day. Friends of mine who had never met him told me over and over, “Wow. After all I’ve heard, I really wish I could’ve met him. What an incredible person he must’ve been.” Yes, many lives will be different now, but Dad would’ve wanted us all to continue bravely, squeezing out any possibility of joy in every moment that is to come. I have no doubt that changes shook my Dad, and he was certainly known to worry about them coming. But once changes arrived, he rode them out like a champ.

Changes of any kind can come like an earthquake turning everything upside down at once. Or, they can come in like waves before a storm, rising and rising until one day we feel engulfed. The biggest struggle for most people with the changes of life is the worrisome belief that the surprises will all be negative, scary, or damaging in nature. When in reality, God has known about them all along and has established a plan before we were even born to walk with us in times of change and hardship, strengthening our faith, and eventually correcting our vision so that we see life’s events through the eyes of faith and not by sight. Little by little, as we lean into Him, He whispers to our souls and encourages us to look beyond our immediate human perspective through the lens of trust. As we learn to see life this way, the path before us may not always be obvious, but our next step will always be illuminated by hope and not fear. That’s because we can place our trust in a God who does not change (Malachi 3:6, James 1:17). Scripture describes Him as a rock, a fortress, an ever-present help in times of trouble. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Trusting this way takes time to cultivate, but as Dad’s life demonstrated, each change we endure offers ample opportunities to rehearse this principle over and over. Like players on the field of life, we get better every time we swing the bat and run the bases. And while he wasn’t perfect, Dad’s life clearly demonstrates that he never missed a practice.

Questions for Further Reflection
  • What kinds of changes do you fear the most? Why do you suppose that is? Do you find yourself assuming that surprises will always be negative?
  • In what areas of your life are you most likely to experience discontentment or worry? Is there a link between those areas and the kinds of changes you fear?
  • Explore the roots of your fears and lack of contentment with God in prayer and search the Scriptures for a passage that specifically addresses it. Once you find a verse that speaks to you, commit to memorizing it and praying it back to God.
  • To explore more about cultivating a contented heart, you may be interested in this blog post: 10 Rules to Live By for a Contented Heart.
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The Day After Greatness

12/20/2018

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The Day After Greatness New Year with Jesus
The Day After Greatness Begins with Renewal in Jesus to Start the New YearHover over image to share on Pinterest
So here we are… the day after Christmas. Sigh. Thankfully the frantic preparation is over, but so is the joyous anticipation and celebration. All that work and build-up, yet for all the effort it seems to fly by so quickly and the New Year is just around the corner, beckoning us with its own set of expectations. But before we just move on to the next thing, it’s always good to appreciate where we’ve been. And as I’ve done for so many years, when the rush passes and the stillness of night closes in, I take a few minutes alone to relive the best moments, thank God for the gifts that can’t be bought at any price, and ponder what it must’ve been like to worship the great I AM in the form of an innocent babe.

In addition to such lofty thoughts, I almost always wonder about something else as Christmas comes to a close and I start thinking about putting away decorations. This year, however, one of the greatest mysteries I have always puzzled over during the holidays has been solved. What is this great enigma? I have always wondered why Christmas became the gargantuan month-long and widely celebrated holiday that it is. While Easter, which is theologically much more significant, gets such little attention in comparison. Certainly church congregations all over the world offer special Easter services, but the recognition and celebration of the most important moment in human history — the defeat of death itself through the resurrection of Jesus — gets relatively minor attention, even from ardent believers, when viewed in light of the effort, preparation, and hugely visible displays of joy associated with Christmas.

If you’ve always been curious about this cosmic conundrum and haven’t heard the reason why, I am thrilled to shed some light on the subject. But let me warn you, after many decades of speculation about this, I am not sure the real answer to the question will live up to your expectations. I certainly imagined a much grander, less prosaic reason than this… Are you ready? A writer did it. That’s right, a novelist changed how all of humankind celebrates the two biggest religious holidays of the year. Charles Dickens single-handedly tilted the world with a few strokes of a pen when he published A Christmas Carol back in 1844. Prior to that time, recorded history shows that Christmas and Easter were celebrated at almost the same level among the general populations of the Western World. But when Dickens crafted one of the most compelling and universally appealing stories of transformative hope and redemption and then wrapped it up with a Christmas bow, people everywhere were hooked. Almost overnight everyone envisioned a crescendo of miracles taking place in the coldest of human hearts on one of the coldest days of the year. And that was it. The world needed some warmth during the darkest days. So the magical formula was born — a combination of faith, folklore, celebration, generosity, moral goodness, traditions, and a little bit of magic all came together to enrapture the hearts and minds of Victorian-period Brits, who pretty much dominated or influenced a good chunk of the world at that time.

So, there you have it. But don’t despair if the explanation — or the day after Christmas — is a letdown. There’s something more about Dickens’ story that makes it so much bigger and grander than we often realize. In the same way that the Christmas holiday eclipses Easter in terms of scale and notoriety, the after-effects of Scrooge’s transformation are often just as overlooked. A Christmas Carol may end with old Ebenezer partying it up with his estranged friends and family, but Dickens brilliantly reminds us that the real story is just beginning. “He became as good a friend, as good a master, as good a man as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world,” Dickens wrote at the end.

In many ways, like the Christmas story, Dickens’ bestselling novel is more like a backstory or a prequel to the greatest narrative ever told — the rewriting of the human heart. Lives are changed when sacrificial love enters the scene. The real story happens when Scrooge forever impacts the lives of Tiny Tim, his nephew Fred, and the countless others who would now benefit from a transformed and generous heart. The day after the greatness of the miraculous birth of Jesus is likewise just the beginning. From the moment Jesus enters the scene, the world as people knew it started shifting and His love hasn’t stopped changing humanity throughout the ages.

Every time I’ve read or watched A Christmas Carol, I hear and feel God’s truth about the human condition, our depravity, and the miraculous power of love to transform even the coldest heart. But the difference between Dickens’ classic and the truth is that the human soul doesn’t need a frightening visit by three ghosts to change its ways and then change the world. It just needs to offer permanent residence to one Spirit — the Spirit of Jesus. And I think Dickens’ believed that as well because Scrooge visits a church the morning after his transformation, indicating not only his gratitude but also his acknowledgment that he needed the help of God to follow through on his sudden desire to care about something other than himself. If Scrooge had been a real guy, he must have been thinking to himself that morning after, “Now what? How do I act on these newfound convictions and my change of heart?”

And so, we sit here on the day after greatness. We’ve celebrated the coming of the King, but now what? What will we act on? How are we changed? And perhaps you’re wondering how something we celebrate every year could still seem fresh? How can something so familiar still have a new impact? I think the answer depends entirely on your perspective. Tomorrow will not be the same as today. If you’re really willing to see the differences, each day brings new opportunities to love God and serve others. Scrooge spent most of his life never really seeing the hurt and pain in the lives of others, yet it was still there. His life changed when his eyes were opened. When we realize that the Christmas we’ve just experienced cannot be repeated ever again, we’ll cherish the memories more. When we realize each day contains new mercies and new opportunities from God if we’re looking for them, we’ll impact the lives of others more.

2 Corinthians 5:17 promises us a fresh start every single day, which makes the idea of New Year’s resolutions seem a bit silly. The verse says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” When that verse is taken in context with the rest of the Bible, it means we are a work in progress. We are being continually made new. The problem is that we don’t often live like a new creation. We live as though we’re trapped in old tradition, familiar ways, and bound by the decisions of our past. Yet, Jesus makes it clear that we are to live like Scrooge on the first morning after his transformation — grateful, renewed, and highly motivated. He tells us in John 10:10b: “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Following the harrowing visit from the final ghost, one of the most obvious features of Scrooge’s transformation is his breakthrough laughter after he realizes he is alive and has a second chance. He then resolved to “keep Christmas in his heart” the whole year through. And through the power of Jesus, we can do the same. Psalm 16:11 says, “You make known to me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

As 2018 comes to close, those who know the King of Christmas in their hearts will carry Him beyond the lights, the decorations, and the manger. There’s no question that His spirit dwells with us in any season, during any situation. What is a question, however, is if we’ll see Him in the monotony of long work days or hear Him whisper in the darkness of difficult trials. We cannot exhaust His newness anymore than we can reach the end of His love for us. The resolution we should keep has nothing to do with a new year but has everything to do with the daily renewal of love for Jesus in our hearts. When we’re committed to that, every day has the potential for greatness.


Glimmers in the Fog will be on vacation next week! I wish you a healthy, happy New Year and hope that you join me for the next blog post on January 9th, 2019!
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Questions for Further Reflection
  • As you think about the new year, what are some ways you would like to shift your perspective or attitude toward either people or tasks? Jot down any names or things you sense God leading you to approach differently and make a point to start praying over them before you have to deal with them again.
  • When you approach God in prayer, do you find that certain things you say are repetitive? What aspects of worshipping the Lord have become routine? Commit those to Him in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to teach you how to approach the throne with renewed vigor and wonder every day. Ask Him to reveal to you how His mercies are new every morning and uniquely tailored to only you.
  • If you haven’t watched A Christmas Carol yet this season, make time to watch it again and specifically look for glimpses of God’s truth woven into the story.
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LESSONS FROM A BED OF STRAW Part 3: Joyous Love

12/19/2018

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Jesus came to give us joy
Jesus came to give us joyHover over image to share on Pinterest
One of my favorite Christmas movies is The Family Man with Nicholas Cage and Téa Leoni. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it or haven’t seen it in a long time, here’s the basic premise of the film. A very successful and wealthy Wall Street executive (named Jack) goes to sleep one night in his own bed but mysteriously wakes up the next morning as himself but in a different house with a dramatically different life. He goes from being a single, career-driven city-dweller with so much wealth that he can buy whatever he wants to a married father of two living very modestly in the suburbs. One minute Jack is the CEO over a huge company with sweeping international influence and the next moment he is a salesman in his father-in-law’s tire store. At first, he is terrified and hates leaving behind his lavish lifestyle, but once he experiences what true love feels like from a devoted wife and two adoring kids, he realizes that his priorities and desires have been all wrong.

Every time I watch this movie, which admittedly is almost every year, I’m always freshly fascinated by what Jack is willing to give up at the end of the film. Spoiler alert: Unlike many Christmas “fantasy” movies, Jack doesn’t miraculously get what he wants at the end of the film. The real miracle of the story is the transformation of Jack’s heart to the point where he desperately desires sacrificial love over power, prestige, and all the money he could ever want. Giving up himself for the benefit of others becomes more appealing to him than receiving all that his old lifestyle had to offer.

I’m sure the Hollywood writers didn’t set out to illustrate Psalm 37:4 when they crafted The Family Man script, but the truth of that verse swirls in my mind over and over when I think about Jack’s choices. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Jack’s self-centered, self-pleasing choices were transformed by receiving sacrificial love. What a perfect Christmas message to ponder when thinking of what Jesus offers us, starting with the manger in a dank, dirty stable. While there is no movie, novel, or analogy that could truly help us grasp the kind of love that would compel a king to give up his splendor in order to wrap himself in the rags of common humanity, this story comes pretty close. In his wealthy life, Jack only let the finest Italian suits touch his exceedingly toned and pampered body. In the glimpse he was given as a father, Jack was rapidly developing a “dad bod” and wore a cotton-poly blend sales shirt with his name embroidered on the left pocket. I’m sure you get the picture. The dad version of Jack working at the tire store couldn’t afford a tailored suit (there’s a poignant scene about that in the movie), nor a gym membership, much less have the time for it.

But now try to imagine what Jack gave up on a much, much grander scale… a heavenly scale. One minute Jesus was walking on streets of gold and the next he was beginning a long journey on a dusty road to a destination called Calvary. Since before time began, He had been dwelling in endless perfection and unfathomable beauty, and He chose to subject Himself to abject poverty in unrelentingly harsh conditions. Most shockingly, He chose sacrificial love to the point of death over inexhaustible pleasure in the presence of God the Father. As Hebrews 12:2 puts it, He chose to suffer beyond anything you and I could possibly fathom for the “joy that was set before Him.”

But that’s because the joy that Jesus was focused on, is vastly more than we can possibly fathom. And what’s even more astounding is the faith, belief and trust in His Father that Jesus demonstrated while He was enduring the difficulty of his time — and eventually His brutal death — here on earth. Jesus knew the joy that waited on the other side of the cross and triumphant resurrection — was us. You and me. We are His joy. He lived and died solely that our union of joy might be complete in the Father. Being with us forever and abiding with us here in our hearts was worth everything He had to give for us. In John 15:10-11 Jesus said, “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.” This concept is repeated in 1 John 1:3-5 where it says that the message of Jesus was given so that our joy may be complete.

As a king on Wall Street, Jack could’ve never imagined changing a stinky diaper in the wee hours of the morning, yet he eventually came to realize that all the sacrifices and discomfort of being a father were worth it for the joy of loving his children. Even more so, imagine the love our Heavenly Father lavishes upon us, His children, through the birth and eventual sacrifice of Jesus. The Apostle Paul said in Ephesians 3:15-21 that when we offer Jesus a home in our hearts and learn to trust Him, He empowers us to not only grasp how long, how high, and how deep God’s love is, but to also share that love with others at a level that will exceed our wildest dreams and expectations. When we allow the Spirit of Christ to complete His work in us, we become Christmas miracles ourselves.

A week from today Christmas will be over. But after the torn wrapping paper is wadded up and tossed in the recycle bin… after the last bit of ham is eaten… and after the last house guest goes home, will you and I remain unchanged? Will there be anything different about us other than a few additional pounds that need to be run off on the treadmill after New Years? My blog post for next week is already written and it’s entitled “The Day After Greatness,” and ironically, God laid it on my heart to write it before today’s post. I think that’s because He wanted to remind me that the big events, the holidays, the mile markers of our lives, are not destinations in themselves. They are steps on a journey with Him and none of them is without purpose. None of them is a carbon copy of the last one that requires us to only go through the motions. Absolutely none of them is ordinary unless we allow them to be. When we take the time to honor, celebrate, and meditate upon the birth of sacrificial love, we cannot help but to be changed — no matter how many times we think we’ve done it before. John 1 tells us that the Word became flesh in a manger so that the Word could one day live in us. The Word is God. The Word is Jesus full of grace and truth. Scripture is the God-breathed Word that gives us life. The Word is alive in us. If you haven’t already, read John 1:1-17 again several times. Read it aloud. Read it in several different versions, like The Message. Ask the Word to fall fresh upon you this Christmas and then rest. Really rest. Breathe and let yourself receive the joy, awe, and wonder of what only Jesus can bring.

Questions for Further Reflection
  • In what ways do you think happiness differs from the kind of joy Jesus came to make complete in us? What do you think God might be prompting you to change in order to experience this kind of joy?
  • How have you seen God change the desires of someone’s heart in miraculous ways? What desires in your heart do you wish He would change? Are there any that you are not willing to release if He asked you to give them up? In what ways can you delight in Him this holiday season?
  • Ponder how John 1 defines what the Word is. What aspects of its description confuses you? Encourages you? Make a few notes about your reaction to reading that passage and spend time in prayer asking God to help you grasp how long, how high, and how deep His love is for you.​
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Lessons from a Bed of Straw Part 2: Obedience

12/12/2018

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Lessons from Straw Joseph Obedience
Lessons from Straw Joseph ObedienceHover over image to share on Pinterest
For some reason, a strange and almost impulsive desire to rebel comes over me when people other than those with clear and specific authority attempt to tell me what to do. I used the word “almost” because after many years of practice, I am usually able to pause long enough to reasonably assess the situation, filter what’s being said, and restrain myself from reacting too quickly or blurting out something that I will definitely regret later.

But that hasn’t always been the case, especially when it comes to God’s direction in my life. While there is no one with a clearer or more specific authority than God, like so many other believers, I still struggle with obeying a being I can’t literally see, touch, or physically hear. Even worse, my own strong need to be in control seems to overwhelm any earnest desire to trust Him in uncertain times and fearful situations. And the icing on this crazy cake of doubt is the nagging feeling, driven by pride, that makes me think that I just might be the exception to the rule. That if I could talk to God in person — really converse with Him face to face — He would see how special my situation is, how important it is that I know His plans ahead of time, and how critical it is that He gives me the desires of my heart.

Thankfully, however, He is sovereign and just, which means that He cannot be influenced to do anything that is not completely right. So, no matter how much I plead in prayer for relief or answers, my Heavenly Father won’t give me something that is not best for me and for His glory. Of course, His definition of what is “best” is usually different from mine, which is based entirely on my earthly experience and limited grasp of the bigger picture. When I am floating in the middle of an endless ocean of the unknown, it is impossible to see the shores of resolution He is guiding me toward. In this predicament, I have a choice. I can flail about to the point of exhaustion, which I have done countless times, making myself ill, both physically and emotionally. Or, I can trust in the God I can’t see, believing that He is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He can do, and that He not only knows where the shore is, but can also command the sea to bring me to shore whenever the time is right. If I love the God I claim to believe in, then I will trust Him enough to receive the peace He offers in the middle of an endless, and often apparently senseless, storm.

Once Mary announced her news from the angel, Joseph was immediately hurled into the middle of an endless, senseless storm. In a split second, he went from an ordinary, predictable life to complete and baffling chaos. To say that Joseph’s whole world changed is an understatement. Imagine the routine he had prior to the angel’s news. Life in the hamlet of Nazareth was probably fairly quiet and small compared to Jerusalem, which was teeming with political intrigue, bustling marketplaces, and religious activities at the temple. Joseph likely did what his father did, waking up every morning and walking into his carpentry shop. Day after day, he’d quietly work the wood, shaping it into a chair, a side table, or a cradle. But the day after the angel came was unlike anything he’d ever experienced.

I can’t even fathom what went through his mind. Mary’s story would be the equivalent of today’s science fiction or religious fantasy. Everyone in Nazareth probably knew each other, which meant hiding anything would be next to impossible. The weight that settled on Joseph’s shoulders must have felt unbearable. The sweet, seemingly innocent girl he had fallen in love with, had concocted some crazy story to cover up a grave sin punishable by death. As his mind flew between the hurt of utter betrayal and all-consuming anger toward the man who violated his bride, it is a wonder that he was able to sleep at all following the angel’s news.

At the end of Matthew 1, we read: “And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: ‘Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel’ (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called His name Jesus.”

Somehow I think many of us read that and think, “If an angel appeared to me in a dream and spoke that clearly, of course I would obey, just as Joseph did. Oh, if only God would be so clear with me, I could go through anything if I knew all the details.” But I think most of us make a mistake with that assumption for two reasons. First, I think we erroneously believe that it was easy for Joseph after the dream and that he became miraculously comfortable with the whole outlandish scenario playing out before him. We must remember that he was just as ordinary… just as human as you and me. And secondly, we always underestimate what we think we need to feel comfortable or at peace. No reasons, explanations, or revealed plans will ever satisfy like we believe they will. That’s because our desire to know something is driven by our need for self-preservation and self-protection, both of which are the antithesis to trusting and loving God without reservation or dependence on self in any way.

In his classic book Trusting God, Jerry Bridges says, “Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold of the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelm us.” It comes down to this: if we love God, then we will trust God, and in order to trust, we must continually choose to obey. I don’t think the angel gave Joseph a magical injection of trust serum when he delivered his message. The angel’s message to Joseph didn’t end the chaos, it only signified the beginning, and Joseph loved God enough to obey without question.

Just as we did last week, I encourage you to use your imagination to put yourself in Joseph’s shoes. The storms of your life are no less important to our loving Father, and He is faithful to send you messages of direction, hope, and peace if you are open to receiving His often unexpected words. Joseph needed an angel to appear in a dream because he didn’t have the Holy Spirit residing within him. For those who have invited the Messiah into their hearts, we have the Spirit of the living God whispering to us, singing over us, and comforting us 24 hours a day. The problem is we’re often blinded to God’s messages because we’re looking for angels. Maybe not literally, but in a way, we childishly want God to make us the exception to the rule… we want Him to give us the immediate solution… we want Him to appear or talk in such an obvious way, that we miss His whispers from the Word on a daily basis. We don’t have the patience to cultivate a habit of prayer, meditation, and stillness before His throne.

As you continue through this Holiday season, take a few moments to evaluate your willingness to love God enough to obey as Joseph did. Take a few moments to be alone with Him and prayerfully listen to the song “Strange Way to Save the World” by Mark Harris. (Play on Spotify or YouTube) As your heart swells with appreciation, ask God to give you Joseph’s heart this Christmas. A heart like his anticipates the coming King. A heart that perseveres even among the unknowns. A heart like Joseph’s will do anything it takes — sacrifice anything — to serve His God and love others even when it’s uncomfortable. An obedient heart like his is willing to walk through darkness for the sake of the light that is to come.

For Further Reflection
For those of you who use these weekly posts as devotional content, here are three reflection questions to ponder.
  • Before we can truly love we must truly believe. Do you really believe God is who He says He is and that He will do what He says He will do? What areas of belief do you struggle with? Why? Using an online topical search, look up verses that address your doubt and commit to memorizing at least one them.
  • Read Matthew 25:21. What kind of “angels” have you been waiting for instead of turning to Scriptures and prayer to find your answers and direction? What are some of the “little things” from the Bible that you have not been faithful to obey? (i.e. tithing, forgiving someone, purity, etc.)
  • Read Lamentations 3:22-23. How does this change your perspective on your current circumstances or a problem you are facing? What kind of “mercies” do you think God gave Joseph and Mary on the day the news broke across Nazareth?
***
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Lessons from a Bed of Straw Part 1: Humility

12/5/2018

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Lessons from a bed of straw humility
Lessons from a bed of straw humility MaryHover over image to share on Pinterest
This is part one of a three-part series for Advent.

Quite a few years ago, I went on a trip to visit a long-time friend of mine who has what many people call the “It” factor. Having first met her in the business world, I had always known she could’ve charmed even Ebenezer Scrooge given the opportunity, but when she took me to the airport I experienced the effect of her magnetic presence in a way that took even me by surprise.

Being the gracious host she was, she insisted on waiting in the check-in line with me rather than just dropping me off at the curb. My departure time was early in the morning, so she had on sweats and was wearing no makeup at all. I tell you this because it’s important. As we stood there chatting in line two guys near us joined our conversation. Before I knew it, they were offering both of us some of their points to upgrade to first class. They were corporate road warriors and had so many points they could never hope to use them all. My friend smiled, thanked them, and then informed them that she wasn’t traveling today. I smiled at them and shrugged. Rather than confirming that their interest solely lied in meeting her, they awkwardly followed through on their offer and conferred the necessary points to me anyway. Once my friend left me at security, they didn’t say another word to me the rest of the trip.

Now I bet you’re thinking that she must be gorgeous. Then prepare yourself to be as baffled as I was with the strength of her “It” factor. Her charming appeal to virtually everyone she encounters — men, women, kids, pets (I’m not kidding!) — doesn’t really have to do with any single, specific characteristic. After much pondering about the airport incident, I’ve come to the conclusion that the “it” of my friend’s seemingly universal appeal is the magical combination of what she possesses — not a standalone trait or capability. She has just enough physical appeal to elicit a pleasurable reaction when you see her. But she is not so beautiful that anyone would feel intimidated or jealous. She’s been successful enough to wear trendy sweats to the airport that look like they came from the Athleta catalog and not the Walmart bargain bin. And she is a fantastic listener with a sparkling wit. Oh, and did I mention that she’s a savvy entrepreneur?
If I stopped there with my description of her, you might conclude that she sounds perfect and too good to be true. But here is what I came to realize. It is her flaws and weakness, and how she’s handled them, that really gives her that special spark. The hard experiences of her life have shaped her in a way that others are drawn to her like moths to a flame. I know enough about what she’s been through, how hard she’s had to work, the rejections she’s been dealt, the heartbreaks she’s endured, and the disappointments she’s experienced, to realize that hardship has tenderized a person who would otherwise likely be perceived as arrogant, intimidating, and unapproachable. In a word, my friend’s combination of incredible qualities is powerful because of the most important trait of all — humility. To embody all that she does with humility makes her simply enchanting.

During the Advent season, many people have only a superficial understanding of one of the most pivotal characters in the Christmas story — Mary. In the centuries and millennia that passed after the birth of Jesus, she has been elevated and revered to the point where most people forget, or never realize, who she really was. We often overlook her humanity. And it is such a mistake, because like my friend, it is Mary’s weaknesses, including the dire circumstances into which she was born, that truly make her story remarkable and a lesson for us all.

We certainly don’t know if Mary had the “It” factor, but it is highly unlikely since not many of the Biblical heroes God raised up and used for His glory had it either. In fact, many of them were not respected, accepted, or even noticed. Mary wasn’t some superhuman with angelic powers (or a halo). She probably wasn’t the most beautiful girl in town, and she certainly didn’t come from a wealthy family. She was betrothed to a common carpenter and lived in a place with a bad reputation. And in that time period and culture, women were not offered any formal education. Any knowledge or skills they gleaned would be only through the instruction of their parents.

But Mary had the most important ingredient for God to use her to usher in the greatest event in human history — humility. Like yeast added to dough, humility is the ingredient that triggers spiritual greatness for God’s glory. All the raw ingredients can be inside a person, but without humility, even the best combination of traits will fall short of God’s plan.

We can glean the greatest insight into Mary’s true nature in her exchange with the angel and subsequent reaction in Luke 1:26-56. Due to the length of the passage, I won’t include it here, but I encourage you to stop and ask God to open your heart as you read it. Keep in mind that the news the angel gave Mary was practically a death sentence. In that era, a woman becoming pregnant outside of marriage could cause the Jewish leaders to stone her. Put yourself in her shoes and imagine an angel telling you that God has favored you, and as a result, something will soon happen to you that normally would mean death. Yet Mary’s reaction in verse 38 was, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” She was humble enough to care more for God’s desires than her own, and that level of humility always triggers something else remarkable — an unwavering, odds-defying sense of trust. She was humble enough to believe that God would do what He said He would do and that she didn’t need to worry about her circumstances or try to control the situation by concealing the coming miracle. She was not ashamed of what was likely to be perceived as the most shameful thing that could happen to her. The approval of her Heavenly Father was more important than the approval of her parents because Mary found her self-worth and identity in God, not in her own capabilities. The angel had told her in verse 37, “For nothing will be impossible with God,” and she simply believed it.

After visiting her cousin Elizabeth, who was also miraculously pregnant with John the Baptist, Mary was overwhelmed with wonderment for God’s love, presence, and unfolding plan. The rest of the passage contains her joyful song of thanksgiving back to God. Just as Mary was preparing her heart for the coming Christ child, her response is the perfect model for us to prepare in the same way this Christmas season. In just 10 verses, Mary’s words outline the beautiful outcome of a humbled heart submitted to God’s glorious power. In her description, we witness the incredible splendor of what God can do with a life joyfully yielded to Him.

Finding the time to be still with God during this time of year is difficult. But if you want to encounter God in fresh ways during the holidays, I invite you to carve out a few moments to sit at the manger in Bethlehem. If you can’t do it now, try the following in your next quiet time with God.

Envision that rough bed of straw on the cold cave floor. Try to feel the scratchiness as it pokes through the fabric of your clothes, reminding you of the real bed you can’t afford. Imagine the place not only where the Christ child laid His head, but also where Mary’s surrender to God brought forth the salvation of the world. What the angel foretold was rife with difficulty from beginning to end. Now read Mary’s response to God in Luke and then listen to her ballad brought to life by Todd Agnew and Christy Nockels in this beautiful rendition of the song Magnificat. (Listen on YouTube or Spotify for free) The words are almost verbatim from Scripture. As you sit there on the scratchy hay and adore the One who came to give you life forever, sing it back to Him in your heart. Make Mary’s words your own and mean them. Then wait in the stillness for your Savior to come.

Not unlike the rough, inhospitable hay, our hearts were destined to contain a King. We may not have the “It” factor, nor the money for a warm bed in a fancy inn, but if we have humility, our Savior will show up and do exactly as the angel said. The impossible will become possible as He uses us for His glory and changes the world again and again.

For Further Reflection
For those of you who use these weekly posts as devotional content, here are three reflection questions.
  • How do Mary’s response to the angel and her song back to God speak into your life? Does it bring comfort? Joy? Conviction? Wonderment?
  • In the full passage from Luke, which verse jumped out at you the most? What do you think God is trying to tell you through this verse? How could it change your perspective or priorities this advent season?
  • In what ways do you think God is challenging you to release pride, surrender your plans, or trust in Him more?
Consider writing your answers down in a notebook or journal so that you can capture your experiences with God. Recording your prayers, praises, and progress is not only an effective way of preventing spiritual drift and capturing deeper meaning, but it will also encourage you during hard times.

***
If you like this blog post, why not invite others to read it, share it on social media, and sign up for my weekly emails? You will be encouraging them and you will be helping me share the love of Christ with others. It’s a win-win!

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Glory in the Grunt Work

11/28/2018

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Glory to God in the Grunt Work Misery to Magnificence
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Have you ever noticed that when we refer to an unpleasant, difficult, or mundane task, we often imply that it has accumulated to a level that is beyond reason or fairness? From piles of snow and stacks of overdue projects to mounds of dirty laundry or mountains of bills to pay, there are times when life seems to be consumed by sky-high drudgery. No matter which metaphor you prefer, from gobs to loads, there’s not a human being who doesn’t make mountains out of molehills when it comes to things they dread doing.
In some ways, the worst part of grunt work is the anticipation of it. Just knowing something arduous is headed your way, whether its hours or weeks away, can become a heavy cloud over your mood or a huge weight on your shoulders until you get it done. When we know a task or uncomfortable situation is inevitable, we often struggle to enjoy being in the moment or even concentrating on what we’re doing right now. And if there’s any way the drudgery can wait, we may even fall into the trap of procrastination and then moan in misery when we realize that putting it off made it even worse.

So how do we find God’s glory in the grunt work of life? Scripture gives us very specific promises and clear direction in this matter because God knew that drudgery and mundane tasks would consume more of our waking hours that we would like them to. Sorry, I know that’s a very pessimistic thing to say, but stick with me on this topic because good and amazing things can come out of what we perceive to be miserable, but necessary uses of our time. Wherever your source of drudgery is usually found — in your job, home chores, family responsibilities, health problems, financial issues, etc. -- God’s design for your life includes miraculous transformation in every little detail.

In pondering my own snow and ice shoveling misery this week, God led me to see five steps toward glorifying Him even in the most annoying situations. But before we jump into those, it is important to understand the Biblical premise of transformation. In fancy Christian lingo, it is called sanctification. It’s a difficult word with an easy concept to grasp, but oh so hard to implement. It simply means the believer’s process in becoming more like Jesus. When we choose to pursue a life given over to His leadership, we enter the process of sanctification and are slowly transformed over time. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says all believers become a new creation in Christ. Sometimes, however, the fruit or outcome of this transformation is hard to see. Sanctification is the spiritual mystery we must believe is at work at all times in every Christ follower, even if we can’t see the evidence immediately.

What’s so fascinating about sanctification is that its transformative work occurs in two different ways. First, the Bible promises that we are continually being transformed as we let the Holy Spirit work in us. Second, any task we perform is an opportunity for sanctification, no matter how exciting or mundane, and is inexplicably and often invisibly transformed into an act of divine glorification. And guess what? When we are glorifying God, misery becomes magnificence. This may seem like an impossibility, but for these five steps to work, we must begin by believing that God not only makes all things possible but that He can also transform the most common things on a daily basis.

Step 1: Embrace God's direction 
1 Corinthians 10:31 gives us this command, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” This verse isn’t hard to understand, although many have tried to make the interpretation of it complicated. It means what it says. It means everything you do — from giving someone a hug to cleaning toilets — do it all as for the Lord. Perhaps not as obvious, but as vitally important, it also means that it is indeed possible to glorify God in everything we do. It is possible to experience His glory all day long.
People often wonder what God’s will is for their lives, but they fail to start with the most basic direction from Him. In order to obey this command, we must embrace God’s foundation of truth. When we embrace someone or something, we go far beyond resignation, way past acceptance, and plunge headlong into passion. Jesus was passionate about conquering the sin in our lives with His sacrifice, and in the power of the Holy Spirit, we can humbly surrender our desires, stubbornness, and resentments to Him. 

Step 2: Shift your perspective
There are no shortcuts on this step because it takes practice to continually ask God to shift your perspective and give you the eyes to see your situation from His point of view. For example, God may look at a stack of dirty dishes as a character builder or a humility generator, but you just see it as something your spouse forgot to do. Your perspective will make you grumpy with each crusty dish that goes into a time-consuming soak. God’s perspective yields sanctification. Yours would only yield frustration. Romans 8:28 says God works all things… ALL things … for His glory. Brother Lawrence, a monk who learned to communicate with God virtually every waking moment no matter what he was doing, said, “The difficulties of life do not have to be unbearable. It is the way we look at them — through faith or unbelief — that makes them seem so. We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed.”

Step 3: Continually confirm and communicate
1 Timothy 4:4-5 says, “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” This is such an instructive verse. Everything received with gratitude to God is transformed through the power of Scripture and a prayer of surrender. When we continually go to the Word to confirm our validation and direction and then follow that up with constant communication with God through prayer during every task, we can have complete trust that He will use anything we do for His purposes.

Step 4: Use Your Imagination
Since God said He will transform every task, then imagining how He might choose to do so is not only a way of praising Him, but it will also help pass the time during an especially boring or long task. Divinely directed visualization is encouraged in Scripture and not many adults know how to do it or are comfortable with the concept, but when you combine imagination with prayer, you open up your heart and mind to see the impossible. 1 Corinthians 10:33 instructs us to do everything with love towards God and others, knowing that every moment is an opportunity to encourage others and point them to the love of Jesus. (Read more about using your imagination for God in this post.)

Step 5: Receive the promise
Jesus’ sacrifice guarantees that we will find more than we ever imagined by letting Him lead our hearts and lives. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Although we are to offer everything up to God solely because we love Him, Scripture makes it clear that He will reward us for doing so. When the going gets tough, we can rest assured that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. There is always a reason for the struggle. We have the reward of hope in every task and in every moment.

Oswald Chambers said, “If we will arise and shine, drudgery will be divinely transformed. The inspiration of God is required if drudgery is to shine with the light of God upon it. When the Lord does something through us, He always transforms it.” So next time you’re facing that mountain of misery, take God at His Word, pray your way through it, and then watch it transform into a gift of glory.

For Further Reflection
For those of you who use these weekly posts as devotional content, I’ll be including three reflection questions from now on. Consider writing your answers down in a notebook or journal so that you can capture your journey with Jesus. Recording your prayers, praises, and progress is not only an effective way of preventing spiritual drift, but it will also encourage you during hard times.
  • How have you seen God transform mundane or miserable tasks in your life? Which ones do you need His help with right now?
  • What scripture verse jumped out at you today? Why do you think God has brought this to your attention?
  • Which of the five steps do you need to work on the most? What do you think God is leading you to do next? 
​***
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The Most Soothing Word in the World

11/7/2018

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The Word is a Salve to our Souls
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Those of you who have been reading the Glimmers blog for a while know that I often write about my own spiritual wrestling matches with the ups and downs of life. I figure if I'm struggling with something, then there must be someone else who could benefit by hearing my stories. Most importantly, I pray people see a glimpse or hear a whisper from the One who is waiting to be discovered amidst the stuff of everyday life.

That’s the calling and driving passion He’s ignited in my heart and asked me to spend my time, energy and resources pursuing. And while this path is at times exciting, sometimes the effort, requirements, and complexities surrounding it spill over healthy boundaries, rushing in like a cresting river in my mind at the most inconvenient times … for instance, when I need to be sleeping. In fact, I struggle more with sleep now as a fledgling full-time writer than I ever did when working insane hours in a high-stress corporate career. And I’ve come to understand that’s because my calling doesn’t have any of the usual structure or familiar routines associated with a company environment.

No, it’s just me and God on a wild frontier, and I don’t know where He’s taking me. It’s the most incredible adventure and opportunity of my life, yet it is also the scariest. Since James 3:1 says, “We who teach will be judged more strictly,” I pray daily that what the Holy Spirit speaks will rise above the noise, assumptions, prejudices, and weaknesses of my mind. When the father of lies starts whispering to me and reignites the fears in my heart, I often wake up in the middle of the night ready to throw in the towel on this whole thing. After many nights of lying awake feeling panicky and completely inadequate — I am finally starting to understand something critical. Unlike a career, a God-calling only comes to fruition when it operates entirely under His hand and for His glory. I knew this intellectually, but I am just now coming to understand this truth on a heart level. And this new depth of understanding rose out of my struggle, not at a time when I was feeling confident, successful or satisfied.

When we go through trials in our relationships, our health, our jobs, or even something like the election results, our hearts, minds, and souls long to be soothed. For example, the other night when I was over-the-edge frustrated with trying to convert my new devotional eBook to a Kindle-ready format (don’t get me started on that one!), I sought out a soothing release in the wrong place — lots of chocolate and a saccharin Hallmark movie. Of course, there’s nothing wrong with chocolate in itself, but neither it, or the ridiculously unrealistic movie, did anything to help me sleep that night. It got my mind off my struggles for a while, but once the sugar therapy had worn off both mentally and physically, I still woke up with my brain running a million miles a minute. In the middle of the night, it’s funny how we all erroneously tend to think that the world’s problems depend on us and everything is all about us. That’s how Satan works his best lies on us. They are born and bred on a foundation of self-centeredness.

But instead of letting his nasty tricks twist me up this time, I turned to the only soothing word that doesn’t wear off. The second time I woke up in a mental spin class, I ran to THE Word, and the most miraculous thing happened — after a little session of saturating myself in it and yielding to its effect, I fell into a deep, much-needed sleep. When morning came, I bolted out of bed with thoughts about the multi-faceted and incredible power of the most soothing Word in the world.

Some of you might think of the Bible when I say, the “Word.” Others think I’m referencing Jesus… or the Holy Spirit… or God. Well, it’s all Him. And that’s what has me spellbound in a whole new way today. The Word in its all-encompassing, harmonious nature is alive, relevant, and fresh every day. John 1:1-5 so beautifully explains this mystery:
In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through Him,
    and nothing was created except through Him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and His life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Because Jesus is the Word, and Jesus is God, and God’s Spirit inhabits the Word, which is alive, dwelling in us, then the Word is life itself. And if we want that life, then we need to take all of it in. We can’t expect to be fully soothed, calmed, cheered, strengthened, satisfied, or healed when we only partake of a mere slice of it. God calls us to receive, experience, and nurture a relationship with all of Him. Life-boosting, deeply satisfying relationships don’t happen in pieces.

John was inspired to call this all-encompassing nature of God the Word because, according to John Piper, “He had come to see the words of Jesus as the truth of God and the person of Jesus as the truth of God in such a unified way that Jesus himself — in his coming, and working, and teaching, and dying and rising — was the final and decisive message of God.” God sent the message in the person of His only Son, who in turn, left His Spirit to dwell in us.

To thrive spiritually, mentally, and physically, God has provided the Word to impact every area of our lives. Like food and water, human beings were simply not designed to function without it. When you sin and fail, the Word is like an antibiotic salve, capable of treating the most infectious spiritual bacteria running rampant in your life. When you struggle or cry out in pain, it’s the soothing balm for your frazzled mind and wounded heart. When you long for something or seem to be waiting endlessly, the Word offers true satisfaction and endless patience. When you feel overwhelmed, hopeless or lost, it delivers hope, reassurance, and direction for every decision. Like a breath of fresh air in a toxic haze, the Word brings clarity to our lives.

While sitting at a community well with an outcast, Jesus said in John 4:10, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” In every frustration, every need, every decision, the Word beckons us, saying to us over and over the same thing, “If you only knew the gift God has for you.” Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that this life is not to be lived without the covering, grace, and strength of God’s mercy. “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.”

Jeremiah 2:5 warns us that when we seek worthless idols, we will become worthless ourselves. That doesn’t mean God won’t help us or doesn’t love us, but it does mean that we will be rendered useless for His kingdom. So, whatever your world looks like today… whatever challenges you face… whatever hurt you feel… the well of the Word is waiting for you. The Holy Spirit is ready to help you draw from it, if you’re willing to use the bucket He offers and then fully digest its contents into your life. But holding the bucket isn’t possible until you drop the idols from your hands. The Word can only be embraced with open hands and a willing heart.

***
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Finding Compassion in a World of Condemnation

10/24/2018

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Finding Compassion in a World of Condemnation
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We live in a world that is quick to condemn and prone to instant reactionary judgment regardless of moral, ethical, religious, or political leanings. Of course, this reality is nothing new, but there are times when it seems far worse and more suffocating than others. The human tendency to react with judgment rather than curiosity, grace, and compassion has been our collective flaw since the dawn of time. And while this post is not at all about politics, but rather the pervasive temptation of condemnation across all facets of our lives, I’ve always been especially grateful that election season immediately precedes the holidays. The founding fathers selected early November because it followed the harvest period and generally came before the consistent arrival of winter weather. But God surely had a hand in giving them that wisdom because after months and months of public incivility, arguing, and communication saturation, we all need to hear the refreshing themes of “good will toward men” and “tis the season to be jolly.”

Liberal, conservative, spiritual, atheistic, wealthy, poor, straight, gay, married, divorced, traditional, or progressive, regardless of our beliefs and convictions, we are all equally capable of making harsh, rash and horribly inaccurate assessments, casting blame, and applying labels to others. If it wasn’t so damaging, the level of polarization on any side of human preference would almost be comical to observe from a neutral perspective. Like the song made famous by Bette Midler, if we could view ourselves from far, far away it would be so much better: “From a distance, we are instruments marching in a common band… From a distance, there is harmony and it echoes through the land. God is watching us, God is watching us … from a distance.” Though I love the fabulous Ms. Bette, she couldn’t be more wrong. God is indeed watching us, but He is certainly not doing it from a distance. As Jesus did when He walked the earth, the Holy Spirit is here among us, trying to work through us, and is mightily grieved by the judgmental, divisive, and abrasive words humans carelessly fling about as though we have an excuse or license to do so. 

Many Christians are fond of reacting to the all-too-common sin of condemnation by saying things like, “love the sinner, hate the sin,” and do their best to make it clear that they are adept at knowing the difference. But unfortunately, even a well-intentioned cliche like that has become horribly maligned and poorly received by the people who don’t believe they are sinning in the first place. That’s because the truth of the matter is, no one will feel that they are loved as long as you hate anything about them. Love and hate simply cannot co-exist in the same heart space. Embracing the attitude of this expression unintentionally, but inherently, links judgment to the action of loving. It makes offering the love conditional in some manner, no matter how much we argue that it doesn’t. We cannot effectively communicate the fullness of love to someone we disagree with if we are telling them that something they are doing is hateful at the same time. All they hear is the hate in our words, and miss our love, even if it’s really there. 

So for those who long to share the love of Christ with others, what are we to do? I’m not writing about this today because I have the complete answer to that question. Because I simply don’t. I only have some clues to share based on two fundamental truths Jesus taught plainly. First, He commands me to love others as I would myself. Second, God asks me to love Him with my whole heart and mind, which means I must try to live by the convictions of the Holy Spirit. As I seek to love Him that way, He makes it clear through His Word and His voice in my heart what He regards as holy, honoring, and pleasing to Him.

One clue I have in reconciling these two truths is that the focus of each is different. Did you notice that the focal point of the first commandment is others? When Jesus gave the command in Mark 12:30-31, He didn’t add any qualifiers to that statement. We are to love our neighbor, who can be any one of any lifestyle, persuasion, political leaning, or faith. On the other hand, the focus of the second commandment is me and my relationship with God. Not your relationship with God. Not my neighbor’s relationship with God, or lack thereof. The only human being on the planet with a heart that I can look into and evaluate is my own. 

The second clue I found in dealing with this conundrum is how Jesus reacted to people in his earthly ministry. I don’t think Jesus would have ever put a word that refers to a person’s eternal soul, a.k.a. the “sinner,” on the same weight and value as a word that refers to their earthly actions, a.k.a. the “sin.” Jesus loved people regardless of their sins, and He grieved over their sins. He even expressed sadness over the sin of those who would ultimately be responsible for His death on the cross. In Luke 13:34, Jesus said, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.” When I read that verse, I hear longing in His voice, not anger or words of judgment. 

In story after story in the Gospels, we see Jesus embracing people caught up in habitual sin. The woman at the well. The prostitutes. The tax collectors who cheated people regularly. The woman caught in adultery. And so many more. Never once did He focus on their sins. Instead, He focused on loving them as people first. He knew that after they came to love Him in return, the Holy Spirit would deal with their sins in His time. Of course, it is important to note that He never condoned their sins either. And this is the uncomfortable truth about Jesus’ example that many people carry too far in justifying their own sins or excusing the sins of others. It is a very fine line and one that can only be walked in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

John MacArthur said, “Don't ever let your adoration of the doctrine of sovereignty crowd out God's compassion or replace human responsibility with some kind of fatalism. Jesus wept because of this unwillingness to believe. It grieved His heart and it should grieve ours as well.” Jesus demonstrated grief over those who were blind to the truth of who He was and His offer of abundant life. Jesus allowed people to reject Him. He never forced Himself on anyone. Instead, He grieved over their waywardness, stubbornness, and sinfulness. When we are truly allowing the love of Christ to saturate our hearts, the result is sadness, grace, and compassion for those who refuse to believe, are trapped in habitual sin, or lash out in pain. How can we demand Christian morality from people who don’t love Christ?  

For this reason, I think the phrase “love the sinner, hate the sin” should be banned from Christian vernacular and replaced with simply “love people to Jesus.” If we are truly loving people on their journey to Jesus, then we will grieve as Jesus did over their sin and respond not with judgment, but with compassion. Most importantly, we will be removing any personal responsibility for their sin from our vocabulary. Our actions should be contained to the realm of love, not hate. We cannot convict hearts. We cannot change people. Only Jesus can do that, and when they eventually come to Him, He will most certainly take care of their sins with expert timing and surgical precision. And we must resist thinking that what we believe to be the most egregious sins will be first on Jesus’ cleanup list. Letting Him do His work without our judgment is one of the hardest aspects of Godly love.

So when is it right to speak out about sin? The short answer is only when the Holy Spirit leads us to do so, and we better be very sure of that leading. Jesus demonstrated righteous anger when people committed atrocities in the name of His heavenly Father. He drove the moneychangers out of the temple because they were defiling God’s dwelling place, corrupting what is holy, and taking advantage of the faithful. He had strong words for those who prey upon innocent children, the weak, and less fortunate. Likewise, He spoke sternly and unequivocally against “religious” people wrapped up in hypocrisy, hard-heartedness, pride, and superiority. 

When we do consider sharing our anger or simply calling out someone’s sin, the first question to ask is whether or not the situation or person you want to address is within the church body or outside the faith. There is no question that God calls believers to hold each other accountable for sin, but there is a very specific, prayerful process the Bible gives us to follow when doing so. Here is a brief article on the topic from Lisa Harper.

With those outside of the faith, we look to Jesus’ example of leading them toward God gently with love and not judgment. If you suspect God might be leading you to speak out to a person or stand up for a cause, one of the key indicators is whether or not God is also calling you to take action. Words delivered without some kind of Spirit-directed action are rarely of God. Many of the world’s greatest movements to stop corruption, reform broken systems, and help those in need have been started by Christians called out by God to create change. On the other hand, carelessly flinging accusations, harsh rhetoric, and rants on social media do nothing to change society, unify believers, or stop corruption. Venting, accusing, labeling, and blaming don’t contribute anything but negative consequences, while Spirit-led action can change the world. 


One of Billy Graham’s most famous quotes happened in 1998 right after he had attended a dinner with Bill Clinton during the height of the impeachment crisis. When asked how he could behave so graciously to the President during the event, his response was simply, “It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to convict; it’s God’s job to judge; and it’s our job to love.” Until Jesus returns one day, the world will never be as it appears from a distance. And we will always battle the temptation to judge others. But by striving to do what God has asked us to do — and not the things only He can do — we can be purveyors of love rather than accidental carriers of hate.
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The Real Meaning of Royalty

9/26/2018

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Real Meaning of Royalty
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Honor. It’s a word that many of us associate with the military or the knights of the roundtable. If you’re like me, it’s a not really a word you use in everyday vocabulary. I think that’s because we regard it as a kind of lofty word, reserving it for wedding vows, veterans ceremonies, lifetime achievements, and Jane Austen films. We seem to save it for special events or rare occasions as if honor is something we only do for specific people or as a part of time-honored traditions.

Given our modern technology-driven culture that minimizes offline relationships and appears to promote only the most disrespectful and abrasive treatment of others, it would be so easy to believe that honor is passé… an old-time value from a largely bygone era. While I am not one who longs for the repressed emotions and often faux civility of the Victorian period, I have often wondered just how far our society will degrade in my lifetime in terms of our public discourse. At some point, I think I’ll have to cut the cord to broadcast and cable TV (in whatever form it eventually takes) not because of the expense, but to avoid watching the news and commercials, especially the political ones.

CS Lewis said in his book The Abolition of Man, “We laugh at honor and are shocked to find traitors in our midst.” He wrote that in the early 1940s at a time when the use of the term of was very relevant for most Britons and Americans, who were summoning all the honor and courage they had to go fight an insidious evil perpetrated by the antithesis of honor. In that climate, it’s hard to believe Lewis thought honor was slipping away from British society. But in reading the first chapter of his book, while there is absolutely no mention of Hitler or the War, I think perhaps he was implying that if good society wants to continue to hold back callousness, hatred, outright irresponsibility, and even evil in future generations, we must figure out how to teach, inspire, and live out the honor of Christ. Only through divine guidance, can we learn to reason and act based on truth while fully feeling and experiencing what it means to be a human living in God’s abundance. As always, Lewis was ahead of his time.

I can’t even imagine what Lewis would say in observing just 15 minutes of a 2018 newscast or surfing Facebook for only a few moments. He might be shocked enough to be speechless. On the other hand, I do know what the Holy Spirit says — at least to me — when I process the largely dishonorable culture around me through the lens of scripture. I hear Him whisper about royalty. This week He has been reminding me of who I am and who all those who have placed their faith in Jesus are — sons and daughters of the King. We are royalty and, as such, it behooves us to act like children of our heavenly birthright. Even if you’ve read them a thousand times, take a fresh look at the weight and implications of these scriptures:
  • 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
  • Romans 8:15-17: For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.
  • Luke 22:29-30: And just as my Father has granted me a Kingdom, I now grant you the right to eat and drink at my table in my Kingdom. And you will sit on thrones…
  • Isaiah 62:3: You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God.

So while most of us would readily agree that God’s idea of royalty includes a requirement to be honorable, there’s a surprising lack of understanding of how it is supposed to play out in everyday life. But scripture is not ambiguous about it, even though our society doesn’t teach or display honor to the extent that Jesus modeled for us. 1 Corinthians 7:22-24 says, “All of you, slave and free both, were once held hostage in a sinful society. Then a huge sum was paid out for your ransom. So please don’t, out of old habit, slip back into being or doing what everyone else tells you.” (The Message, emphasis mine) The term “huge sum,” or simply “price” in most English translations, comes from the Greek word meaning “honor.” Whoa. Think about that. Honor is defined as treating something or someone as precious, respected, and valuable. It’s not just about revering someone’s sacrifice, as in the military sense, or having a mutual respect so strong that it can withstand outside influences like the knights of the roundtable. Honor in its daily implementation means to treat others — no matter what their position, lifestyle, wealth, preferences, or behaviors — as if they are precious and valuable. The bottom line is that we are to treat them how Jesus did — that they are fellow royalty no matter where they are on their spiritual journey. From prostitutes to thieves, Jesus treated everyone he encountered based on who they could become in His kingdom, not what they were struggling with at the time.

In his sermon The Weight of Glory, C.S. Lewis said that there is no one you will ever meet who is a mere mortal. No one is just an ordinary person. Every interaction you have bears the weight of helping someone on his or her spiritual journey. Here is how Lewis put it:
“The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid daily on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations.”

If you thought that one went right to the heart of the matter, 1 Peter 2:17 takes it even further, piercing into our deepest, most secretive thoughts, perspectives, and fears. The verse commands, “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” Gulp! Peter leaves no one out of that brief but powerful statement, and he even does it with a little bit of humor with his reference to the emperor. Certainly, the term “everyone” included the emperor, but just like our politics today and in every society throughout history, there’s always going to be divisiveness and dishonor surrounding those who govern us, whether it’s our boss at work or an elected official. Even worse, I think, is the dishonor that runs rampant among the various segments of people that identify with one political vision or another. Just about every personal conviction or lifestyle choice seems to force us to self-identify with some group. And if we don’t put ourselves into a camp, then guaranteed someone else will label you and do it for you. But at the end of the day, no matter our choices or differences, we are to honor every human being as a fellow royal-in-the-making. No one is out of reach of the hand of God, but Jesus made it clear that it is not our jobs to judge anyone’s progress toward — or distance away from — that destiny.

When I am confronted with the lack of honor in my heart toward someone I disagree with — even if the thoughts never exit my mouth — my first instinct is to make excuses. But then the Holy Spirit reminds me of the inescapable truth of 1 John 4:10-11 which says, “This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” We can’t love God enough to make ourselves worthy of the royalty He gives us. Nor can we muster up enough honor or love from within ourselves to bring everyone we encounter to reach the glory God offers them. We have to let God’s unbiased love, made possible through Christ, flow through us to others. Our responsibility is to do our best to not get in its way and ask God to prune us more and more every day to be humble, royal servants to everyone we meet or talk to through any means, channel, or interaction. It’s a tall order, but it comes from a King who will stop at nothing to help us carry His love to every subject in the realm.

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Building A Spiritual Backbone

8/29/2018

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The Holy Spirit infuses our spiritual backbone with the character of Christ.
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My spine isn’t straight, but most people don’t know that about me. From a casual glance, the untrained eye would have no idea that I have a significan
t spinal rotation that makes the muscles on the right side of my back and core weaker and less efficient. And while that may sound like a significant issue, it hasn’t held me back from any of my usual physical activities. I’m not a great athlete, my balance isn’t stellar, and I’m definitely a klutz (I’m not sure whether to blame that last one on my spine or not!), but overall, my deformity is not something that’s altered the course of my life.

Until recently, I’ve rarely even thought about this hidden issue. While I have my suspicions, I don’t even know for certain how or when it occurred, which really blows my mind. One would think that if something happened to damage my spine, it would’ve produced enough pain to drive me to the hospital. But the medical professionals I’ve talked to through the years all say it is possible to suffer that kind of spinal trauma and not realize the severity. But as I’ve gotten older (sigh!), the imbalances caused by the rotation are starting to catch up with my mobility and interrupting my sleep. So off to physical therapy I go to re-activate, teach, and strengthen some muscles that have become shorter and weaker ever so subtly day by day, year by year. What once was a hidden, ignored, and unobtrusive oddity quietly morphed into a life-altering, obvious problem that now requires a substantial amount of my time, focus, and energy to correct.

Just as our spines are designed to be the balancing rod of our bodies, so our spiritual backbones are intended to keep our souls pointed in the right direction. The human spine is made up of more than 30 individual bones, all symbiotically connected to the main spinal cord, and our spiritual backbone is no different. There are multiple components of a healthy spiritual spine, from trust and love to patience and purity, and they evolve, respond, and hopefully improve throughout our lives. Of course, the healing of our spiritual injuries and deformities is not as simple as scheduling our next session of physical therapy because God’s rehabilitation of our lives involves every aspect of our beings — bodies, hearts, minds, and souls. And just like my current list of PT exercises, the disciplines God lovingly designed to keep us pointed toward Him are sometimes required in greater dosages.

Although every person is born with a spiritual backbone — the very imprint of the Creator Himself — it is rarely given the attention it deserves and often deteriorates quickly as life bombards us with its challenges, disappointments and temptations. Just as our bodies sometimes cope with stress by making unhealthy adjustments, so our spiritual backbone can rotate or curve, throwing our life out of balance, clouding our judgment, and eventually sending us into a place of atrophy. Most of our culture today is severely lacking any spiritual fortitude and is dominated by fragile emotions, minimal commitment, and self-indulgence. On the other hand, when the soul is rightly aligned, endurance, honor, life balance, maturity, and emotional stability become hallmarks of our lives.

Depending on how we handle life, the hardest of times can leave us with hidden, sometimes irreversible damage. For example, my spiritual backbone bears the marks of deep-seated worry and anxiety, for which I have learned to apply God’s PT repeatedly. Whether its permanent damage from systemic anger, bitterness, doubt, addictions, abuse, lust, greed, control issues, or pride, we all wrestle with one or more chronic weaknesses. Like Paul who battled a “thorn in his side” throughout his ministry, my inclination toward worry may never go away, but through the gradual, repeated application of God’s remedy, my primary weakness has become one of my greatest teachers.

Is your spiritual backbone strong? Is it aligned with Christ? Are there parts of it not facing the right direction? Are you suffering from permanent damage? Most importantly, have you asked the Holy Spirit to reveal your hidden injuries? We all have them in some way, but spiritual health, mobility, and strength can never occur if we don’t ask God to give us the eyes to see how far off we are, to believe in the only true cure, and to understand how to apply the right Biblical therapies and disciplines.

When we are actively trusting in and abiding in Jesus, the Holy Spirit offers us a soul infusion of Christ-like characteristics, even when there has been extreme damage in the past. Galatians calls this infusion, which spreads to every corner of our being, the fruits of the spirit.Galatians 5:22-24 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” In the Holy Spirit’s power, we can move toward the spiritual backbone God originally intended us to have, regardless of our weaknesses, failures, and mistakes. Our lifestyles will be marked by endurance, committed relationships, compassion, a thirst for holiness, humility, honor, and self-sacrifice for others. But the Great Healer will never force us to take the prescription. He wants us to submit willingly out of complete love, trust, and gratitude for the ultimate sacrifice He made through Jesus on our behalf.

Paul made peace with the thorn in his side, yielding his desires to God. When he did so, he discovered all sufficiency in Christ to the point where he could boast about his weaknesses. Can you imagine walking into a crowded party of both your friends and strangers and loudly proclaiming your greatest weakness? This is the dichotomy of spiritual balance: to accept our weaknesses, but never excuse them. We are called to strive for change and growth, but to learn to be content where God has placed us.  2 Corinthians 12:7-12 (The Message version) puts it so beautifully and clearly:
Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
“My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.


Having a spiritual backbone is making peace with your weaknesses, not ignoring them or indulging them, and then letting Jesus transform them into a strong collection of dynamic characteristics that move in concert to more fully believe, trust and love God. When we do, that love will naturally overflow to others around us, inspiring them to develop their own spiritual backbones.
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Every Cloud of Worry Has A Silver Lining of HopE

7/11/2018

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Every now and then we wake up to a different world from the night before. When we went to bed yesterday evening, things might have been normal, stable, or even occasionally boring. But upon rising the next day, we wake to find out someone or something has changed suddenly, forever altering the course of their lives, ours, or both. A phone call you would never want to receive. A breaking newscast you would never want to see. A routine doctor’s visit that turns into an unexpected concern. A heated or hurtful disagreement with a trusted co-worker, friend or family member. It’s these kinds of upheavals that shake us out of our comfort zones, reveal our delusions, and threaten to create fissures in our faith. 

In every one of life’s disturbing moments, we have the opportunity to view everything that happens through the lens of a belief in a sovereign and loving God, or through our own human perspective. Of course, the problem that confronts every single one of us — from pastors to atheists — is our humanity itself. The human experience is all we naturally know or can understand. It is all we can physically see, touch, and manipulate. Sure, for some, an experience with the supernatural occurs. For others, a belief that miracles are possible comes more easily. But for the vast majority of people, we are indelibly marked with the limitations of our physical existence and struggle mightily to trust a God we cannot see during times of suffering, waiting on the unknown, grief, or extreme disappointment. 

Ironically, what we each struggle with the most can vary wildly from person to person, yet the ultimate effects on our faith and trust are universally similar. One person may be the most shaken by a health crisis, but weathers extreme financial hardship with relative ease. Another may worry excessively about relationships and pleasing others, but doesn’t fret a moment about going through a job layoff. Yet no matter what particular issue scares you or worries you the most, the challenge is the same: how to trust God and effectively receive His supernatural peace and contentment in any type of hardship or struggle. 

Our Natural Inclinations Deceive Us
Perhaps most disheartening is when we think we’ve made progress in our greatest area of "trust weakness,”and then our world is shaken in a way that sends us back to the edge of a downward spiral of doubt, fear, worry and future-tripping. “But, God, I thought I was past this,” we often plead in prayer. And this is it — this is the big moment. This is the place where we are at the most pivotal and potentially amazing point in our journey of faith. Sadly, though, many of us pivot the wrong way. The way we are naturally inclined to go… deep into a pit. Our biological capacity to reason, analyze, speculate, and wonder starts literally screaming at us. Humans do not tolerate the unknown or discomfort easily. The mind is inclined to nag and nag until it can find relief or determine the answer. And because it’s all we physically know, it simply feels like the right action to take. So the pit of worry, despair, anger or discontentment is often lined with shelves stocked with counterfeit “products” promising comfort and peace, like denial, over analysis, future-tripping, wallowing in the past, over-eating and junk food indulgence, drinking too much, gossiping, working too much, and whatever else seems to make us feel temporarily better or helps us forget about our problems. 

And there’s one additional thing that bombards us during difficult times — temptation. The enemy of God knows that when we are at the pivot point in times of crisis, we are prime targets to be tempted by false comforts and counterfeit peace. And if he can use any of those tricks to hook us for long-term, then he’ll do it. So if these pivot points represent such great danger, why does God allow them in our lives? If He is sovereign and loves us, why doesn’t He always and instantly flood us physically with His supernatural peace and contentment instead of permitting us to struggle with finding it during times of hardship and mental distress? 

Natural Creation vs. the New Creation
Put simply, it’s because our loving Father wants us to learn to pivot toward Him and away from the natural inclinations we have toward the pit. Yes, of course, He could supernaturally turn us toward Him. And there are times where that will happen in life. But He created us with a free will to choose to turn to Him. We can choose to trust Him and love Him… or not. The Bible makes it clear that God created us in His image to have fellowship with Him, not to be robots who only love Him because we have to do so. And this is the paradox of the gift of free will: we can choose to remain in our naturally flawed sinful human state, or we can pursue His promise that when we pivot toward Him we will be a new creation as promised in 2 Corinthians 5:17. 

The trouble with our perspective is that we can only see through the eyes of natural creation. It is not possible to experience the reward of supernatural peace and contentment without first making the choice to pivot toward being a new creation. This is why Paul tells us in Hebrews 11:1 that the essence of faith is believing in something we cannot see. Our natural state wants instant gratification. We want to feel the promised peace before we take the risk of trusting. God says we need to make the choice to trust Him, obey what He has asks us to do (i.e. not to worry), and THEN He’ll shower us with the supernatural peace and contentment we need to endure the hardship, learn from the experience, grow in our faith, and then love others by helping them through similar struggles. Later in that same chapter of Hebrews, Paul gives detailed examples of faith put into action before the actual promises were fulfilled. From Abraham leaving his homeland to Rahab courageously putting her life on the line for strangers, we are assured that God’s promises are always fulfilled, even when we can’t see or fathom how with our own minds.  

Temptations and Promises are Mirror Images of Each Other
I don’t think a single one of us would give into the temptation of worry, anger, bitterness, resentment, despair, etc., if we could experience the real consequences of those sins BEFORE we choose to give in. Even though a temptation may be familiar, it will always be enticing because it appears to offer relief, peace, comfort or pleasure. And our natural minds gravitate toward anything that provides instant gratification versus hard work. Temptations are Satan’s counterfeits of God’s promises. And just like God’s promises, the real impact of indulging in those temptations can’t be experienced before we actually commit the sin. Of course, the real impact of God’s promises is always for our good. The real impact of sin is always to our detriment. Temptations — whether they come from within ourselves or from Satan — are designed to lure us without any resistance and obscure the consequences. That is the very nature of their structure and intention. God’s promises are designed to teach us to love Him better and they clearly declare the rewards of doing so. In either case — temptation or promise — we don’t experience the ultimate outcome until we’ve actually committed the act. 

God Gives Us Choices in Order to Bless Us
There is no greater love than what our Father has for us. He gave up a part of Himself in the person of Jesus to ensure that we can make a choice for eternity with Him forever. We can freely choose to love Him, and the more we learn to love Him, the more we will experience glimpses of our eternal home while we’re here on earth. Jesus said we will have trials of many kinds, but every single one of them —without fail — comes with a choice and a promise for those who pivot in the right direction. I’ve pivoted into the pit countless times. And usually it’s the same pit over and over and over. I am sick and tired of that pit. But each time I choose to pivot away from the pit — even if it’s just for a few minutes, a few days, or even months at a time — the Holy Spirit’s guidance, peaceful presence, and empowerment in my life becomes more consistent. Sometimes, my natural mind doesn’t see the spiritual improvement, it easily forgets how far I’ve come, and reverts back to the old creation in a heartbeat. But the grace of Jesus is boundless and incomprehensible. And He always wants me back. 

King David pivoted into pits. A lot. And yet the Bible calls him “a man after God’s own heart.” He said in Psalm 40:2, "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” This is a promise you and I can bank on. There’s no need to spend time blaming yourself when you revert back into a familiar pit. Instead, kick Satan’s guilt and incrimination to the curb, and give a freedom cry at the top of your lungs, “I have a choice to be free of (fill in the blank), and I choose to love and trust Jesus in this moment.” Believe me, you may find yourself asking for forgiveness for not trusting God many times over. The Holy Spirit will certainly convict your heart to make you aware of that sin, but He will never, ever make you feel guilty for coming back to Him. 

Jesus Stood at the Edge of the Pit Too
Trusting in the unseen rewards of God’s promises is hard with human eyes. Jesus never denied that, in fact He was sympathetic to our plight and confirmed His compassion for us over and over while He walked the earth. Even He struggled to the point of sweating drops of blood the night before He was arrested by soldiers in the Garden of Gethsemane. We have a loving Father that has experienced what it’s like to be human in the most excruciating circumstances. The pit Jesus stood on the edge of was the greatest chasm in human history. So next time you’re facing suffering, waiting, and hardships of any kind, arm yourself to pivot away from the pit. God gives us the tools we need to learn and grow if we choose to use them. There is nothing that can come at us, that He doesn’t intimately understand and empathize with. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” In context, this means that when we operate in cooperation with the Holy Spirit, He will give us eyes to see what we cannot, if we believe. Through prayer, studying and memorizing God’s Word, and meditating on His Truths, we become stronger and smarter with each choice we make. None of this means, however, that the pits won’t continue to pop up throughout our lives, but it does mean that we will gradually become more like Jesus was in His ability to overcome them. 

The courage to face our fears and pivot from life's pits is best summed up by the end of Romans Chapter 8. “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Amen indeed. 
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You May Wander, But You Can Never Be Lost

6/6/2018

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Jesus Pursues Us and Restores UsHover over image to share on Pinterest.
What goes through your mind in the first few seconds after you realize that you’ve lost your keys or misplaced your smartphone? In the moment of losing something valuable, we can find ourselves losing our minds trying to think of where we left it, retracing our steps, or calling everyone in our address book inquiring about the lost item (if you didn’t lose your phone, that is). Your mind may even be flooded with questions and doomsday scenarios, depending on what you’ve misplaced. Even if it’s something we can replace fairly easily, we can so quickly fall prey to losing track of time and wasting hours searching for it.
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Most of us also know that feeling of panic followed by frantic, sometimes irrational, searching. When I think I’ve lost something critical, like my wallet or my iPhone, I instantly turn into this comic book version of myself. Without stopping to think rationally or calmly, I start uncontrollably searching through my handbag, eventually getting to the point of dumping it all out into one big mess on the car seat or kitchen table. It’s truly an overblown, automatic frenzy. And one that makes me feel completely silly, and sometimes embarrassed if someone else is watching me, especially when I find the missing item in the pocket of a jacket or somewhere else I intentionally left it.

As you think about that feeling of losing something important, imagine magnifying the intensity of it a hundredfold… maybe even a thousandfold. At that scale, it would be an obsession that no human being could possibly manage, control or contain. If any of us remotely imagine that intensity, it would still give us just a glimpse of how much God longs for us to be close to Him, minus all the human weaknesses of panic, irrationality, and disorder.

This past Sunday, I was listening to our pastor’s sermon on the healing of the blind man in John 9, and though I have read the story many times, one particular verse jumped out at me with fresh meaning. The first part of verse 35 says, “Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him.” Jesus went and found him. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the intentionality of Jesus’ actions. He had healed this man who had been born blind, but He was not content to leave it there.

The poor guy had been through the ringer since he had received his sight. Instead of celebrating with him, most of his family, friends, and community inundated him with accusatory questions. Verse 13 says, “They brought him” to the local synagogue for the religious leaders to inspect him and make sense of his story. That means that they forcibly dragged him there or tied him up for transport. I cannot even fathom the shock and betrayal he must’ve felt when he discovered that everyone he’d known since birth would rather him remain a blind, suffering beggar than to be given such an amazing gift. Verses 18-22 even tell us that his own parents refused to come to his defense because they were afraid of the power of the religious leaders. They gave up their son for the sake of their own comfort and community standing.

But Jesus wasn’t going to leave him there. He went and found him. With all the demands of His ministry and despite the massive throngs of people who were inundating Him, Jesus took a break and intentionally searched for one lonely outcast. This young man had been touched by the Almighty and there was no way Jesus was going to let the cruelty of others and the difficult circumstances swallow up the miracle. As I contemplated the difficult situation this young man faced, God planted three specific reasons in my mind as to why Jesus went looking for him.

First, God’s glory will never be hidden, and that’s exactly what the religious leaders were trying to do. By expelling the young man and casting seemingly authoritative doubt on the veracity of his claims, they were going to do everything they could to ruin his life, hide the evidence, strike fear in the hearts of the witnesses, and put an end to Jesus’ allure. When God does a miracle, the glory belongs to Him and Jesus wasn’t about to let the pious naysayers destroy the life of an innocent recipient and steal all the glory for themselves.

Second, I believe Jesus was going to complete the work He started. Yes, the man’s eyesight had been restored, but the more important healing was not complete. After spending most of his life in utter hardship and neglect, he needed emotional, mental and spiritual healing. And now that his family and neighbors had disowned him, he had no support network and no hope of creating a new life for himself. By seeking him out for a personal relationship, Jesus escorted him into a new community and a made him a new creation outfitted to thrive in a new calling. Once God’s light begins to shine in someone, Jesus always sees to it that the work is completed (Philippians 1:6).

Third, Jesus wanted to give him a new identity. Jesus went to invite the young man to complete the adoption process in becoming a child of God. When Jesus located him, He asked him if he believed in the Son of Man, which is what the Jews referred to as the Messiah. Although the previously blind man could now see, he had not recognized who Jesus was, up until this point. I can picture Jesus putting his hands on the guy’s shoulders, looking into his newly healthy eyes, and gently saying the words we find in scripture: “You have seen Him, and it is He who is speaking to you.” Probably falling to his knees in both gratitude and awe, his spiritual eyes were opened. We read in verse 38: “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshipped Him.”
All this week I have been struggling to put into words the renewed sense of awe I have for the fact that the King of the universe personally searches for the lowliest in His kingdom. That the One who is highest above all would come to get us in the deepest slimy pits. That our Heavenly Father pursues us to the ends of the earth to complete His work in us. It humbles me and reminds me that we shouldn’t spend so much time thinking about ourselves, because God thinks about us all the time. We were written on His heart since before we were born and will be on His mind forever into eternity.

In terms of Biblical real estate, stories of God’s pursuit of us takes up so many chapters. Of course, the entire book is His love story to draw us closer to Him. But just in case we could miss that fact, He calls out specific stories and makes huge promises to get our attention. As if John 9 wasn’t enough, we find another whole chapter — Luke 15 — which tells us in three different parables how passionate God is about pursuing us. We are like the one sheep that goes astray, and He will leave the others to bring us back. We are like the lost coin that a woman searches every nook and cranny to find. We are the prodigal son of a Father who continually searches the horizon for our return.

All other religions require that their followers search for divinity and earn their way to some kind of heaven, redemption, or nirvana. But our God comes for us every time. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says God looks throughout the earth to strengthen those who are committed to Him. Luke 19:10 says that the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost. There’s no doubt that Jesus was seeking the Samaritan woman at the well (another case of a social outcast considered undesirable by the religious leaders) in John 4. Jesus said to her, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” And that is exactly what He did when He sought out the healed blind man. When Jesus found him and gave him his spiritual sight, he immediately worshipped in spirit and truth. May that be our response as well.

Jesus always comes for His own.  Like the lost coin, a single precious soul might be forgotten by the world, hidden or lonely in the nooks and crannies of suffering and isolation, but the One who came to seek and to save will not rest until His child is found. 

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Part 2: What Does God's Voice Sound Like?

5/23/2018

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Voice of God with HeadphonesHover over image to share on Pinterest
Last week’s blog post highlighted the ways God commonly communicates with us. To get the most out of this post, I would suggest reading part 1 first. 

​Have you ever misinterpreted an email from a friend or co-worker? It’s such a common issue, I bet every single person on earth who uses email has made inaccurate assumptions or has misinterpreted its contents. Then we all know what happens next. Either we sit and stew on it because we don’t want to call the sender to clarify the meaning, or we do the most dreaded thing we all know we shouldn’t do (but we do it anyway)… we hit the reply button and send back a completely inappropriate response based on what we assume we heard. The bottom line is that mistakes happen when we assume. (And, yes, I think the acronym for assume fits, but I won’t repeat it here. Ahem.)

This is kind of how listening to God can be. When He speaks to us, it’s not like receiving a phone call from your best friend, who you can often recognize just by the way she breathes or clears her throat. With the Almighty’s voice, there’s no audible tone or style to hear. No inflections to indicate humor or anger. In short, we have so little familiarity with what He’s saying — either because what He’s asking us to do is so surprising or because we’re simply new or out of practice with hearing His direction — that after He’s spoken, we may spend minutes or hours second guessing what we’ve heard. We can make some radically wrong assumptions. We can jump to conclusions. Sometimes we miss out on a blessing because we were too unsure to act when He spoke.

As you become more and more familiar with His unique voice in your life, which happens over a long period of time and with frequent practice, you will begin to clearly experience for yourself the signature characteristics, or hallmarks of His voice. These are in no way to replace the step of seeking wise counsel and Scripture for confirmation of what He’s saying (see last week’s post), but they are helpful in knowing what God’s voice sounds like and understanding His nature. While God is too big and simply unfathomable to pin down as a personality type (Romans 11:33, Isaiah 55:9), there are clear indicators of His voice that can be gleaned throughout Scripture.

When the many Biblical accounts of God speaking are viewed holistically together, certain patterns, tones and defining characteristics emerge. Just as important, the hallmarks of what is NOT His voice also materialize out of the preponderance of evidence in Scripture. Whether it’s your own voice or Satan’s sinister attempt to distract or misdirect you, knowing what is not God’s voice is equally important.

He pushes us out of our comfort zone, without imparting fear, a sense of foreboding, or worry. Only the wisdom of an omniscient (all-knowing) God who loves you beyond your wildest dreams and knows you better than you know yourself, could simultaneously ask you to step out of your comfort zone while giving you a shot of unexpected motivation and courage. When God asks you do something, most of the time it will be something that you would not naturally want to do or think to do. Whether it’s a simple command to talk to a stranger or sell something you value more than you should, when God speaks it goes right to the heart of the matter and the Holy Spirit gently but insistently pushes you to obey. And as you step out on faith, strength, courage and peace flow. Philippians 4:6-7 makes it clear that when we are communicating with God, He gives us peace, even when the task at hand is difficult. Jesus said His peace is to rest upon us always in John 14:27. He wasn’t ambiguous when He said that. If something is from the Holy Spirit, there will be a sense of peace.

He uses repetition to get His message through the noise of life and emphasize His point. When the Holy Spirit is trying to get your attention, He often sprinkles the message in front of you repeatedly in multiple channels. Two or three people mention the same Bible verse to you. You sense His leading  in prayer about something and then the sermon on Sunday contains almost the same message. When you start noticing something repetitive start paying very close attention. In the Bible, Jesus repeated things of great importance multiple times. I researched online how many times concepts are repeated in the Bible (because it is so, so many), but I couldn’t find a specific number. (Hmmm… that would be a fun project!) But I did find this post from Jon Bloom on the most repeated command in the Bible — God wants us to be happy. Not in the transitory earthly sense of happy, but as in fulfillment, delight and joy, overflowing with thanksgiving. Now that’s a repetitive statement I love hearing about!

His direction can always be confirmed, but not through circumstances alone. A message from God will always line up with Scripture. If it doesn’t fit with the Bible, then dismiss it immediately, no questions asked. Don’t even entertain the thought or search for a different verse or interpretation to justify what you think you’ve heard. Confirmation can also come through wise counsel (Proverbs 11:14 and 12:15), especially if it has to do with a decision that may not be a question of right or wrong, such as whether to accept a new job offer. The Word tells us to seek the counsel of mature, grounded believers to pray with us and ask for discernment. But I’ve learned the hard way, as have many others, to never rely on circumstances alone to confirm what you think God said. Evaluating the circumstances in your life and using your own assessment to make a decision based on that alone is no better than reading tea leaves or flipping a coin. In other words, no matter how tempting, don’t do it. Charting a course for your life based on what’s happening around you is one of Satan’s best deception tools for Christians because he can veil himself in light and never be noticed until it’s too late.

He usually delivers immediate instructions with authority, but not in a compulsive, frantic, random or bargaining manner. While God still chooses to anoint some with the gift of prophecy, most of His communication with us is about everyday dependence on Him. Usually He gives us just enough instruction for the next step ahead. He tells us what He wants for us to do right now. This is in line with the rest of the Bible. He gives us new mercies each morning, just for the day ahead. As we learn to listen for His voice throughout the day, what He asks us to do will become clearer over time. As we obey in the small things, He gradually gives us bigger things. On the other hand, Satan, or sometimes our own sinful desires, will throw random or frantic ideas at you that are compulsive or hyper-urgent. Satan loves to give you this intense feeling of pressure, like a used car salesman making you believe that if you don’t act now you’ll miss out on the best deal of your life. James 3:17 says, “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” What an excellent verse for testing everything you hear!

He speaks to bring conviction and freedom, not guilt. Learning the difference between the  conviction of sin and guilt is crucial to distinguish God’s voice from the enemy’s. The Holy Spirit will search your heart, especially in prayer or in a moment immediately following a sinful act, and He will make you long for repentance. He will make you want to ask for forgiveness. Guilt is the feeling that you are condemned, a screw-up, worthless, ashamed, or unforgivable. Think of conviction as a revelation that you’ve done wrong with a clear desire to repent. Guilt is foreboding, heavy feeling not being able to be free to move on and forget about your sin. Guilt will chain you down spiritually and eat away at your joy. Guilt will literally rob you of being effective for Jesus. No matter what you’ve done wrong, there is forgiveness in Jesus. Believe it. Ask for it. Receive the gift and move on. Any voice that makes you want to stay in the pit of guilt is coercing you into rejecting God’s best for you. Romans 8:1 gives us this clear, matter of fact pronouncement: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

His speaks to draw you closer to Him and to love others more than yourself. He will never give directions that promote human effort, glory, or favoritism. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment. He replied with, “And he said to him, ‘you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” So, God is never going to tell you to do anything that would tear down others or elevate yourself above others. And I am finishing up our list with this one because it is the Scripture you should run through your head the most when you think you hear God ask you to do something in the moment, such as “help that elderly lady with her groceries.” According to Jesus’ words, you have all the confirmation you need to proceed. Other times, of course, you need to wait and seek more specific confirmation. But, again, remember that no message from God is too small to ignore. Even the smallest things could be the most significant in either someone else’s life, or even your own spiritual growth. You may think that He’s giving you “junior” level work to do, but He sees it as building blocks to a plan that He may take decades to unfold in your life. Trust Him. Listen to Him. Walk and learn with humility and a teachable spirit (Proverbs 15:31-33).

One of my favorite authors, John Piper, said God speaks to everyone — not just those who believe. This may surprise you, but here is what he said, “Oh, unbeliever, God is speaking to you in your pain to warn you, and God is speaking to you in your pleasure to woo you.” On the other hand, for believers, Piper says the sacrifice of Jesus changes everything. It turns our pain and suffering into instruments of sanctification, which simply means the process of become more holy… more like Jesus little by little. It turns our moments of pleasure into reminders to praise Him and faint glimmers of the eternal joy that awaits us one day. In either case — in suffering or happiness — the Holy Spirit enables us to live supernaturally by displaying characteristics that could only be from God: humility, joy, gratitude, contentment, and hope in all circumstances. Living in this manner is one of the greatest ways we can speak to others about God. When we become vessels, albeit imperfect ones, that show glimpses of Jesus in everything we do, God speaks through us to a world that so desperately needs to hear Him.

If you still want to go deeper about hearing and following God’s voice, I suggest Priscilla Shirer’s book, Discerning the Voice of God. There is also a Bible Study with companion videos.
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What Does God's Voice Sound Like? Part 1

5/16/2018

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Voice of God Sounds LikeHover over image to save to Pinterest
Jesus said His sheep will know His voice. For years, that foundational truth frustrated me. Despite the fact that I made a decision to follow Christ at the age of seven, it would take me another 20 years or so to get to the point where I could unequivocally say I had heard God’s voice. Now maybe I am just a slow learner, or stubborn, or lacked belief that He actually wanted to speak to me, but most of my spiritual efforts in my twenties were spent vacillating between trying to hear God and figuring out what in the world was wrong with me that I couldn’t. So if you’ve ever wondered what God’s voice actually sounds like, or if you’ve reached the desperation point in your quest to listen for the “still, small voice,” be encouraged that He does want to respond to you.

But here’s the A-ha moment: His voice may not come to you in the way you’ve imagined it would, nor will it be what you expect. And that right there was my biggest problem for two decades. I was looking for God to communicate with me in a certain way, and it wasn’t until I began to do four critical things did He begin to slowly whisper truth to my spirit. First, I had to lay aside my preconceived notions, expectations, and desires. I had to realize that God does not fit in the box I designed for Him in my mind. Second, I had to come to grips with my unbelief. Yes, I loved God, but I had tucked away some serious doubts in my heart. It was time I jumped all-in to trust Him with my life — in every area. Third, I had to learn to listen. My prayer life had been entirely about me talking to God. Being still for me was like asking a five-year-old not to fidget when she has to pee. Fourth, I had to learn to wait… patiently. Corrie Ten Boom, an author and Holocaust survivor, once said, “If you want to hear God’s voice clearly and you are uncertain, then remain in His presence until He changes this uncertainty. Often much can happen during this waiting for the Lord.” I’ve now learned that sometimes I need to wait a long time (i.e. days or weeks) and press into Him before He’ll speak, but the beautiful thing is that the waiting has now become a peaceful time of learning to trust.

So if our expectations about God’s voice can hinder us from hearing Him, how does He speak? How will we know if it’s Him? Thankfully, that roadmap is clear, but we have to prepare for the journey. AW Tozer said, “God will speak to the hearts of those who prepare themselves to hear.” And I would add, He also speaks to those who are purely motivated to draw close to Him for the sake of knowing Him better for who He is, versus being motivated simply to hear His voice. God doesn’t have the patience for us when we desire the glamorous. If we envision ourselves hearing His voice like Charlton Heston did in The Ten Commandments, or if we long for something big and dramatic so we can feel important, the Spirit of God will not speak. God wants us to desire Him, to want His presence, to understand His character and His heart, to glorify Him, and to love Him with 100% of our being… just because. God is about the relationship with us, first and foremost, not the plan. So with that in mind, we must start with — and become deeply grounded in — the primary voice He speaks in: The Bible, which makes His voice available to us 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The Word speaks loud and clear. And there are no shortcuts on this. Period. You will never hear Him clearly and profoundly through other means if you don’t first learn to hear Him through Scripture. When we saturate our hearts and minds in the Word, we learn to hear what His voice sounds like. To identify God’s voice, you must first learn to see your identity as being in Christ, and that is accomplished by absorbing Scripture. When you go into God’s Word, expect to meet up with Jesus. You’re not reading for reading’s sake. Instead, you’re training yourself for an encounter with the living God. This was one of my biggest mistakes. I wanted to jump right to hearing God independent of any other means. I both underestimated and ignored the Bible in terms of being an intensely personal, relevant voice to my heart. A serious error on my part, because I didn’t realize the truth of Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Because the Word is alive, it searches your heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, making it possible for Scripture to be miraculously and specifically customized just for you and what’s going on in your life… right now. God speaks most commonly through His Word, and if you believe that fact, approach it with that expectation, and be patient, you will not be disappointed.

Thoughts that are not yours may be God’s. Sometimes God speaks by planting a specific thought in our minds. This happens to me in prayer — sometimes when I am actively listening and being still and other times when I am talking to Him with anticipation and willingness to be interrupted. However, if I am talking incessantly and without a conscious desire to be interrupted, then the Holy Spirit cannot get a word in edgewise because my mind is drowning everything else out. This same heart posture also allows God to talk to you throughout your day. If you get in the habit of leaving your “ears” open, as if He is ready to speak to you anytime, then He will invade your thoughts more and more. When He does give you a thought, it may suddenly come out of the blue or it may be a gentle tugging at your heart that builds in intensity. It is almost always something you would not naturally think or be inclined to notice or do on your own (I Corinthians 2:14). And how do you confirm that it is indeed God giving you the thought? Ask yourself if the thought lines up with Scripture. If there is anything about it that contradicts Scripture then it is not from Him. For example, if you had a thought out of the blue that you should buy a new car, but you are already in significant debt and/or you are not currently offering the Lord a tithe on a regular basis, then that thought is not from God. This is one more reason to read, memorize and meditate upon Scripture. The Holy Spirit will spontaneously bring certain verses to your mind as a way of directing you in the moment. In next week’s blog, I will cover the hallmarks of God’s voice, which will include the typical characteristics, style and tone of His direction in our lives.

There are many ways God can speak to us, but there are five more that came immediately to my mind.

A deep-seated, inexplicable “knowing” can overcome you. There are times when the Holy Spirit may saturate you with an overwhelming peace about a decision or an unwavering conviction about a situation with an outcome that would otherwise be completely unknowable. This has very rarely happened to me, but when it does, the joy and peace of the Holy Spirit’s presence and assurance is almost palpable, as well as being the polar opposite of what I should be feeling (or what my mind tells me to feel) at the time. The Bible speaks frequently about the eyes of the heart, and how only the Holy Spirit can cause us to see God’s truth and experience His grace.

All creation sings His praise and sometimes we can hear it. When we have the ears to truly be still and listen, we can see and hear God in nature every day. Whether in the awe-inspiring power of a storm or the serenity of a mountain lake, if we take the time to pause and invite God to reveal Himself, He’ll show up every time. The inspiration may not be directional or specific in nature (although it can be personal if He wants it to be), but the sweet trill of bird’s song or the sheer vastness of the ocean can speak to us of God’s sovereignty, attention to detail, creativity, and so much more. In Luke 12, we find Jesus telling the disciples to consider creation… the lilies, the birds and the grass. God takes care of them in ways that should blow our minds, and yet “of how much more value are you than the birds…  But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, you of little faith!” Next time you are outside in some glorious place, pull out your phone and use a Bible app to read Psalm 29.

Divinely directed dreams and visions still happen today. Acts 2:14-21 makes it clear that God speaks in this manner and will do so with increasing intensity in the last days. This has only happened to me maybe twice in my lifetime, but I know other believers have experienced this more often. Dreams and visions are God’s version of virtual reality. With life-like splendor, He may stir your creativity, motivate you, warn you, or invite you into spiritual warfare through your dreams or a vision. Because of the intensity of this kind of communication from God, you may be left feeling a little shaken or awed, as was Moses when He saw the burning bush. But, take comfort that God is with you and run to the Word to test what you experienced and seek God in prayer for final clarity or direction.

God plants ideas and changes our minds… a lot. Don’t ever underestimate a change of heart, a new thought process, or a sudden burst of innovation or creativity. Over and over in Scripture God directly intervenes in human behavior and stirs a sudden heart change or perspective shift — all without the person’s awareness. So the next time you realize that your attitude (or someone else’s) has improved or your desires have shifted to become more Christlike, take a moment and thank God for speaking into your life. Psalm 37:4 promises us that if we delight ourselves in God, which means we find our source of joy and meaning in loving Him, that He will put into our hearts His desires (and slowly remove ours). If you want to know God’s direction, then pursue knowing Him above all else, and His voice will ring loud and clear in your life.

There is the outside possibility of an “outside” voice. What I mean by that, is the Bible makes it clear that God has been known to literally speak audibly to people. In other words, a real bonafide voice that your natural ears can physically hear coming from outside your own head. So because the Word indicates it can happen, we leave the option on the table. That being said, I’ve never met anyone who’s experienced this, and most Biblical scholars believe that it is very rare due to the Holy Spirit’s presence with believers since the resurrection. Before Christ, the primary way to hear from God was through a supernatural, physical experience, such as a pillar of fire, a burning bush, an audible voice, an angel, etc. But with the gift of the Holy Spirit, God himself has taken up residence inside believers. We all love reading about the physical appearances of God, especially in the Old Testament, but instead of longing for that to happen to us, we should instead praise Him that Jesus is now with us, speaking into our lives 24/7.

There’s more about the voice of God coming next week! In part two of this post, you can read about the hallmarks, or key characteristics, of God’s voice. Plus, I’m going to reveal the telltale signs that a voice or thought is NOT from God. These counterfeit voices are important to understand, especially if we rely on the one that trips us up the most — using circumstances alone to determine His direction for our lives. And who hasn’t done that?

Please share this post with others who may be struggling to know God’s will and encourage them to sign up to receive my weekly blog emails. (Oh, and if you haven’t subscribed to my email list yet, please consider doing so! I promise not to spam you, and you’ll be partnering with me to share God’s hope with as many people as possible. Someday I hope to publish the words God lays on my heart and publishers need to see that I have an engaged audience. When you subscribe, you demonstrate engagement. Thank you so much!)

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