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Glimmers in the Fog

Finding Glimpses of Divine Providence in Everyday Life
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Jump Into Change

9/19/2018

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Embracing New Seasons with Grace and Courage

Jump into Change Embrace Change with Grace
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On Monday this week, I took what might be my last jump in the lake for the summer. We had a rare streak of hot days this September and when I looked at the 10-day forecast, it became clear that Maine has probably had its last day of true summer heat for the year. My late afternoon dip was ceremonial in a sense… an ode to an amazing summer filled with laughter, campfires, outdoor living, a house full of guests, and way too many s’mores. Because I live in place that in the winter gets more than its fair share of blizzards and six-foot snow drifts, summer is both magical and elusive in its nature, which makes me want to take in every ray of warm sunshine. Like a big, wet beach towel, it’s as though I spend most of September trying to wring out every last drop of the golden hours.

As the ideal weather for warm, lazy moments in the hammock is slowly morphing into crisp, cool air just perfect for apple picking and Sunday afternoon football, I have a choice to face reality or ignore it. Like anything in life, the season is changing to push me out of familiarity and into new priorities. There are moments where I want to resist this natural course. When I’ve wrung out all I can of the season, I am tempted to begin reliving the immediate past instead of looking forward to the slate of fresh, new opportunities before me. Because I’ve become accustomed to warm-weather in the last four months, certain habits, like wearing flip-flops everywhere, are now entrenched. And as we all know, entrenched things don’t lend themselves to being dug up easily. It is so much easier to burrow down, on all fronts — physical, mental, and emotional — and try to maintain the status quo.

When I was younger I used to hate the expression, “All good things must come to an end.” I viewed it as 100% negative and promised myself to never use it in everyday conversation. When I looked up the origin of the saying, it confirms the negative implications. Geoffrey Chaucer is credited with coining the phrase way back in the 1300s. He used it to describe the end of a beautiful relationship. Ever since then, the world has been using it to communicate resignation or acceptance of something going from good to bad, or to signify the ending of something wonderful that can never be again.

Thankfully, my perception of this timeless truth has gradually changed. It took a long time for me to realize that my negative reaction to this saying was rooted in immaturity and selfishness. I previously equated the saying with the other all-too-common refrain of, “That’s not fair!” In other words, we want what we want, when we want it, and we don’t think we should ever have to give up anything unless we choose to do so. (Bonus points if you repeat that last line to yourself out loud while whining like a five-year-old.) But the reality is that God designed our lives and our journeys for change… for progression … for growth.

All change is uncomfortable on some level, even the small stuff. We don’t always recognize it, thank goodness. But when we do acknowledge it, our culture and natural instincts tell us to whine about it. View it as negative. View it as something being taken away from us. Whether it’s a material possession like wrecking your new car or something far more precious like the loss of a loved one, the seasons that come and go in life are always challenging us… our resiliency, our attitudes, our openness, and most importantly our faith. Every moment of change is an opportunity to welcome God’s plan for our lives, which is not headed toward a cruel, impersonal end, but rather something positive and specifically designed for each of us as individuals.  And our belief — or not — in that truth makes all the difference between welcoming the next season or resisting it and letting what is absent turn into a knotty, twisted root of resentfulness or bitterness in our hearts. The condition of our heart is mirrored in our eyes, which in turn colors how we see and process everything.

Instead, the Word of God shows us how to walk in trust and maturity toward growth, rather than dwelling in the past with our fists clenched so tight that we are no longer holding anything of value. When we truly believe to the point of action, we can literally experience the presence of Jesus as He bends down to touch our sweaty, tight fists, look into our eyes, and whisper, “It’s time to open those, dear one. Give me all that you have, you can trust me with your heart, your needs, and your life. When you receive the changes I am bringing, you will find fulfillment for the true desires of your heart and the greatest longings in your soul.”

For many years, I thought I believed. And I did to a certain point. I experienced God moving in my life, but each time I entered a certain kind of season that was particularly challenging for me, my belief was tested and I would crumble and run to my corner with my fists up. Seasons that test me, may not challenge you. We’re all different. What drives us to the corner is different. But Jesus comes to any corner, in any season, and He will keep asking you to open your fists. Put your dukes down. Stop trying to control everything. Stop saying, “It’s not fair.” We may go through three of the same season, 10 seasons, or more, before we finally look up and believe enough to open our hands.

A woman who had her fists clenched is portrayed in the Gospel of John 8:1-11. She was in a terrible season. We know she committed a sin, but we have no idea about the kind of life she had been living or how far she had been pushed into desperation. Regardless of the road she took to get there, she ended up in a heap in the dirt with big stones scattered all around her. After rescuing her from certain death, Jesus got down in the dirt and filth with her to open her hands and her heart to do things differently from now on. He didn’t reveal to her a step-by-step how-to guide, but He entreated her to follow Him and trust.
Jesus was good at unclenching fists of all kinds. Some belonged to people desperate for change and others were the hands of people who had previously refused to welcome any kind of change. The greatest common denominator of them all? Belief. Belief brings conviction, which in turn, births humility, followed by love. Fast on the heels of love comes service. When you love someone, you take action for them, even at your own discomfort or expense. But it all starts with belief.

Each of the disciples struggled with belief on some level, and they had Jesus right in front of them. We’re all quick to disparage Thomas because he refused to believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until he saw Him face to face. But would you or I have done any better? Can’t you just see Thomas, or yourself, standing in the corner of the Upper Room where all the disciples were huddled in fear waiting on the Romans to take them to jail? I bet his arms were crossed and his fists were clenched. The new season had come and he hated it. He was unsure. It wasn’t fair that Jesus had been killed. Then his perspective changed in an instant. In John 20:24-29, we read this: “A week later His disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then He said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe’.” Repeat that last sentence to yourself. Stop doubting and believe. It’s a command and a blessing all at once. I think in that moment, Jesus opened Thomas’ hands, mind, and heart to the next season.

The passage continues, “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’.” You may believe that the disciples had some advantage that you or I don’t, but Jesus assures us that we will be blessed in a way the disciples were not if we believe in what we can’t always see, feel, or hear. We can’t see the future or know what each season holds, but we are called to believe Romans 8:28 when it says that He will use any season for our good and His glory. Hebrews 12:11 promises a peaceful harvest of right living for those who receive and grow in seasons of discipline.

We also have no reason, no matter how much our brains tell us otherwise, to view a change with the assumption that it will bring something we don’t like or that life will be worse than before it came. Nor should we believe the lie that the season of life coming to an end was so good that nothing else will ever again come close to it. That sense of losing out may define what it means to be human, but Jesus came as proof to show us that there is so much more than we can know, fathom, or understand with our limited capabilities here on earth. Romans 8:6 says, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.”

As we say goodbye to the summer of 2018, let it be a reminder to you of the good that’s yet to come. No matter what’s in store for your life, the country, the culture, or the world, we can count on a God who loves us more than we can even think or imagine. If you need assurance of that, I encourage you to read Ephesians 3:14-19. And when you do, I encourage you to read it out loud. Stare down your doubts and fears and resolutely proclaim it as often as necessary. Memorize it. And then rest in knowing that it’s a promise that the Holy Spirit will tailor just for you and your season at hand.
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Are We There Yet?

9/12/2018

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Are We There Yet? Keys to Waiting the Right Way
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When we were kids, time just seemed to crawl. Remember how long an afternoon felt when there was nothing to do? Did you drive your parents crazy by constantly fidgeting when waiting in lengthy lines? And, of course, there was always the proverbial long car ride peppered by the constant question from the backseat: “Are we there yet?”

If you’re like me, then you would love to once again experience the sensation of time crawling because as we age, it just seems to fly by at a faster and faster clip each year. Nor, do we ever seem to have enough of it. Well, as far as I know, there’s only one guaranteed way for adults to dramatically slow down the clock and momentarily return to a perception that time is dragging. Unfortunately, however, it is almost sure to be an unpleasant experience. Having to wait on something really important, big, or life-changing to happen will turn minutes into hours, days into weeks, and months into years. It’s incredible, really. Whether it’s waiting to be able to afford a better house, waiting on test results (of any kind!), waiting for a long overdue promotion, waiting to become pregnant, or waiting on the opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream, the list of things that can make waiting seem like an eternity is as long and varied as each individual.

But how do we learn to wait well? What does God want us to do and how does He want us to handle these periods of waiting? And as long as we’re asking the hard questions, then why does He make us wait?

The right answer certainly isn’t coming from today’s mainstream culture, which revolves around instant gratification and constant self-indulgence. Furthermore, any period of waiting is perceived as wasted, holding no value whatsoever. But the great news is this pessimistic, sad portrayal of waiting is exactly the opposite of what God intends for those who choose to trust in Him. The day-to-day times of waiting in our lives are real opportunities for divine training to draw us closer to God and proclaim that every second counts — every second matters — to the King of universe. When we shift our perspective from waiting as an arduous, painful time-waster to time well spent being spiritually productive, then we’ve already won half the battle. Whether it’s a five-minute wait in traffic or a fifteen-year wait for the love of your life, the Holy Spirit will redeem the time spent if we have the right perspective and a teachable heart.

Scripture gives us a seven-part prescription for waiting and included in this divine remedy we also find the reasons why He sometimes makes us wait in the first place. Each of these reasons transforms into spiritual gifts that can only be bestowed upon us if we make it through the waiting process God’s way and not by our own methods, force, or manipulation.
  1. Welcome the waiting. The remainder of this prescription won’t work if we don’t begin by going beyond acceptance of our situation to fully embracing the waiting… however long it might be. When we fight the inevitable, we limit our vision, generate bitterness, and close any doors to spiritual growth. Sure, God can handle us asking Him, “why?” But whether He answers us immediately or not, we must welcome the waiting with open arms. After all, sometimes the answers to the question why become crystal clear during the process. If you believe in God, then you must have faith that He has a purpose in the waiting and then make your heart ready to receive it. Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the Lord, be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord.” James 1:2-3 encourages fullness of joy in everything, not resignation. Gifts: trust, hope, courage 
  2. Evict the anxiety. Kick it right out of your mind and instead fill it up with prayer, scripture meditation, and praise. Many of us were raised to believe that we need to worry or fear during times of uncertainty, but God wants you to trust Him to the point that you can be still, peaceful and joyful in the waiting. If God is allowing the waiting, then He has a plan for it to end as well. Remember, He holds whatever you’re waiting for in the palm of His hand and He’s preparing you for it. If you busy your mind with prayer, scripture, and praise, it won’t have time to fret during the waiting. Philippians 4:6 says, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” 1 John 4:16-18 tells us that a well-developed love for God squeezes out any room for fear. Set your sites on loving God instead of thinking about the waiting. Gifts: peace, contentment, rest 
  3. Stop looking for shortcuts. Release your need for control of the situation and stop trying to circumvent the process. Yes, God wants you to use your brain to be creative, resourceful, and efficient, but He doesn’t want you to spend countless hours over-researching, over-analyzing, and brainstorming ways to end the waiting prematurely. God has great plans for us at the end of the process, but we all too often miss out on the blessing because we took a shortcut or sought out a substitute for the real thing. If you’re willing to surrender control to the Holy Spirit, He will let you know when your “brain work” has moved passed the healthy mark and into obsessive control and impatience. In Matthew 11:29 Jesus encourages us to work out life His way. This often precludes shortcuts, but promises grace and strength in the journey. “Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Gifts: patience, self-control, strength 
  4. Give thanks continually. One of the greatest temptations while waiting is succumbing to a bad attitude, tinged with bitterness, self-pity, and brimming with negativity. At the root of these dangerous feelings is pride, which tells us that we deserve better and we should have it right now. Instead, we are called to humble ourselves before God and thank Him for His goodness. When we sincerely and unceasingly praise God and thank Him for everything — not just the good stuff — something downright magical happens in our souls, transforming our perspectives and generating overflowing joy. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.” Gifts: joy, humility
  5. Play your position in the meantime. Just because we’re waiting, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be productive. Whatever place we’re at in life, God expects us to play that position to its fullest. We are to continue working, serving, and loving in every moment at a quality level that is worthy of our King. Being stagnant leads to boredom and opens the door for negative thoughts, endless self-analysis, circular reasoning, and temptations. All too often, we use the excuse of waiting on God as a reason to not get involved in serving others or excelling in our current roles. Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us to work for the Lord, not for reward or the approval of others. Psalm 130:5 says, “I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on Him. I have put my hope in His word.” Gifts: maturity, endurance, compassion 
  6. Expect great things. God never brings us second best when we wait on Him the right way. I shudder to think how many times I have settled for a substitute or rushed my way to something that is second best, rather than holding out for God to deliver the right thing for me and for His glory. When we wait on God with patience and great expectation, He will be glorified and we will be truly satisfied. Psalm 25:3a says “Indeed, none who wait for You shall be put to shame…” Gifts: faith, vision, dependence
  7. Prepare for God’s best. If God is bringing us His best, then we should strive to offer Him our best in return. There is nothing we can wait for that can’t be enhanced by some kind of preparedness, whether it be spiritual, physical, or emotional in nature. In advance of whatever is coming, we have the opportunity to prayerfully examine ourselves and look for areas in need of improvement. Whatever you’re waiting on God to do, chances are there is something He wants you to work on in the interim with greater consistency. Perhaps it’s reading the Word, getting healthy, tithing, getting out of debt, learning a new skill, giving up something… it could be anything that will make whatever you’re waiting on even more amazing. In Luke 16:10 Jesus says that if we’re faithful in the little things, God will entrust us with bigger things. Gifts: discipline, consistency, tenacity

​Lewis Smedes wrote, “Waiting is the hardest work of hope.” And none of us like to do it. But keeping our focus on God, instead of whatever it is that we’re waiting for, is the ultimate key to waiting with grace. In His faithful hands, we can trust that our Father will use the waiting to reveal more about Himself and shape us into being more like Jesus in the process. James 1:4 encourages us with these words, “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Scripture encourages us to let waiting fulfill its God-directed purpose in our lives, as each moment of being in between the now and the not yet, or in between the desire and the deliverance, can draw us closer to the One who loves us completely in every second.
​
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Finding HopE in the Shadows of Heaven

9/5/2018

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Like a catchy song, sometimes I come across a quote that won’t stop resounding in my heart and circling in my mind. I usually end up posting it near my computer or by my bed, reading it over and over to savor the layers and depths of it, knowing that it has found its mark in my soul either because I feel convicted, encouraged, or both.

One such quote by Jonathan Edwards (circa 1773) has been swirling in my mind for months now. “God is the highest good of the reasonable creature, and the enjoyment of Him is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven fully to enjoy God is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here. Fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, children, or the company of earthly friends, are but shadows. But the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are but scattered beams, but God is the sun. These are but streams, but God is the fountain. These are but drops, but God is the ocean.”

While I know in my heart what we experience here on earth — in even our happiest and most sublime moments — is just a paltry fraction of what’s to come in eternity, getting that truth to permeate my mind to the point where my thought patterns, behaviors, and priorities are actually impacted seems next to impossible. Despite my passionate pursuit to know and love God, my attention to, or my understanding of, the impact of heaven’s reality on my daily life, is almost missing entirely. And that problem is not unusual for most Christians. Topics on coping with the trials of life often include a million how-to’s, life hacks, tips and tricks, but the discipline and practical application of being heaven-minded is rarely mentioned or explained. Even the curriculum taught at many Christian colleges and seminaries contains relatively slim components about heaven and eternity, so it’s no wonder that collectively — as the body of Christ — we don’t talk about it enough. Therefore, we don’t even know what we’re missing.

End times prophecy is always a popular discussion in Christian circles and it usually generates high attendance for a Bible study, but it is not the same topic as a focus on heaven itself. Ideas surrounding the rapture, the tribulation, and their timing, often overshadow the real endgame of the Biblical story, which is much more revolutionary and life-changing than we can possibly imagine. Heaven is the culmination of the entire Biblical story. Jesus sacrificed His life so that He could bring us into eternal fellowship with Him, in a place that He has personally and beautifully prepared just for us. Exquisitely tailored to each individual’s uniqueness, we will commune forever in perfect harmony in a place that pulses with the heartbeat of God Himself. So if life on earth is all about preparing for eternity with Jesus, then why aren’t we more impacted by the reality of our future home?

The theologians of old, like Jonathan Edwards, and their congregations had a far better grasp on the current impact of our heavenly destiny than our culture does today. Perhaps it’s because they lived under much harsher conditions. The average lifespan of an American in the late 18th century was just 36 years old. And in 17th century New England, about 40% of the population died before reaching adulthood. In many communities, churches ceased to ring bells when someone passed away because the noise level and frequency had become such a nuisance. There is no question that daily life in the colonial period was far more precarious than any of us in modern times can even fathom.

So perhaps it was the close proximity and constant reminder of death that pushed our Christian ancestors to study the truth of heaven and keep its reality at the forefront of their minds. They had no choice, really. By studying and applying the concept of heaven on a daily basis, they found a pathway to comfort, peace, joy, and hope in the midst of extreme hardship. In today’s society, however, even with all of our healthcare, conveniences, technology, gourmet food, and gadgets, most people go through their days frazzled, stressed, anxious, and angry. According to scholars, our society is dramatically more fragmented and interpersonally disconnected than the typical life of an early American colonist. Prior to the early 1900s, most of human history was marked by the need for community. Residents of towns and villages had no choice but to collaborate and communicate frequently in person — not via a digital social network or a mass broadcast — in order to survive. God designed us to function best in community serving and loving each other… but that’s a blog topic for another day.

Of course, I am as grateful as the next person that every day is not a test of my survival and I don’t have to ration out lumps of dirty coal in the wintertime to stay warm. But in all my luxury, I think I’m as guilty as the next person about understanding the mind-blowing ramifications of the heaven Jesus gave His life to provide. C.S. Lewis said, “Our whole education tends to fix our minds on this world. . . When the real want for Heaven is present in us, we do not recognize it. Most people, if they had really learned to look into their own hearts, would know that they do want, and want acutely, something that cannot be had in this world. There are all sorts of things in this world that offer to give it to you, but they never quite keep their promise. . .  If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

Humans are simply wired to hope. We were created in the image of God and there’s something deep inside of us that subconsciously remembers the splendor for which we were originally intended. That’s why anticipation can change everything… our perspective, moods, and even our endurance levels. Why else would we spend weeks, and sometimes months, daydreaming about our next big vacation or special event? That’s because a substantial portion of the happiness generated by any “big” life moment is wrapped up in the anticipation of its coming. Knowing that we will be lying on a beach somewhere in a few weeks, can give us the strength to shovel out another snowstorm. Thinking about the joy of Christmas morning can put a smile on our faces and patience in our hearts while we wait in a long line on Black Friday. And so it should be with the anticipation of heaven. Why do we spend weeks, if not months, planning for a special getaway, but don’t spend a fraction of that time studying the eternal home that awaits us?

Heaven puts suffering into perspective and gives us both a vision and a real sensation of relief. Romans 8:18 and 28 (AMP) says, “For I consider [from the standpoint of faith] that the sufferings of the present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us! And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.” It’s not that what we go through here is small, but rather that the weight of the glory mentioned in 2 Corinthians 4:17 is that huge. The scale of heaven’s pleasure is so vast, even our worst suffering will someday seem insignificant.

So to get you started, here are 10 dazzling, exciting and comforting things to heartily anticipate about heaven. God commands us to take pleasure in Him (Psalm 37:4), not just in our future eternity, but right now. Therefore, daydreaming about what Jesus has personally prepared for us is not only Biblical (2 Peter 3:13), it is one of the best mood-lifters and perspective-shifters humankind has ever known.
  1. We will have perfect bodies and will never face a physical death again. (1 Corinthians 15:51–52)
  2. We will be uniquely us and not some amorphous hazy being. Nor will we be like the angels. We will be who we were created to be and not exactly like anyone else. (Philippians 3:20-21; Matthew 8:11)
  3. We will eat and drink luxuriously at the finest banquets. (Isaiah 25:6, Luke 13:29)
  4. We will know and continue to have relationships with our loved ones. (Genesis 25:8)
  5. We will never be bored and will have meaningful work to do that we absolutely love, just as God originally intended in the Garden of Eden. (Genesis 2:15; Revelation 7:15, 2 Timothy 2:12)
  6. We will never have pain, negative emotions, or hurt feelings. (Revelation 21:4)
  7. We will experience a new heaven AND a new earth. (Revelation 21:1-2; Ezekiel 36:35)
  8. We will physically enjoy a perfect “great outdoors” and be enveloped in visual beauty and splendor. (Isaiah 51:3, 2 Peter 3:12-13)
  9. We will live in tranquility, joy, and complete satisfaction. We will never long for anything or crave something in excess. Finally, we will live in perfect balance. (Psalm 16:11)
  10. We will see, converse with, and touch Jesus Himself. (Psalm 11:7, John 14:3)

The last thing a believer should do is wait until death is knowingly looming on the horizon to ponder life in “another world,” as C.S. Lewis called it. Although none of us know how much time we have left, the practice of imagining the pleasures of heaven now makes the road between here and there much more bearable. It also enables the final passage to be less about fear and more about anticipation. If you want to dive deeper into the topic of heaven, one of the foremost authorities on the subject is Randy Alcorn. I encourage you to read more, do an in-depth Bible study, like this one, or check out a daily devotional about the glorious eternal home that awaits us. And if you really want to geek out like me, check out this video of Randy’s appearance at the Desiring God Conference in 2013. The title of his talk is C.S. Lewis on Heaven and the New Earth: God’s Eternal Remedy to the Problem of Evil and Suffering. After digesting that meaty morsel of theological goodness, you won’t be able to resist thinking about the majestic, incomprehensibly wonderful life that awaits us.
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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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Going Barefoot with God

8/22/2018

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I almost never fall off my paddle board, so very early on one cool summer morning, I decided that the lake looked too perfect to miss even though the temperature outside was still hovering near 55. Since my toes turn into human ice cubes when cool air is combined with moisture, I decided to try wearing water shoes while paddling. Although I had never worn shoes on my board before, I had seen other people do it, so it seemed like a win-win to me — warm toes and a little extra padding for comfort. At first, they were quite comfy. In fact, for a moment I thought wearing shoes on the board might become my new norm. I certainly felt warmer, and everything seemed stable. But that train of thought went off the rails the first time I shifted my weight. I might have felt comfy and stable, but when the need for adjustments came, I quickly discovered that I had significantly underestimated the impact on my balance of wearing shoes. Without direct, bare contact with the board, my ability to feel the slightest movement was dramatically minimized. The extra layer between me and the board nearly threw me in. Far more than my toes almost turned into ice cubes, not to mention how bruised my pride would’ve been.

Sometimes we add things to our lives in the name of self-protection, happiness, or comfort, yet they turn out to be entirely unnecessary and occasionally even harmful to our spiritual health. Because our humanity pushes us to rely on our own senses, feelings, and experiences, we end up layering on all kinds of requirements, habits, methods, etc. But often God wants to expose us to the elements for a reason. While these add-ons may be helpful for a season (or not), they can often end up interfering with our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit and God’s intention for our lives. 

In a similar fashion, we read in the Bible that the Pharisees had added much to the Torah (the Jewish Scriptures) with endless rules and regulations for people to follow to be right with God. But then Jesus showed up on the scene and boiled faith down to two simple things: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). It’s easy to forget how revolutionary the words of Jesus were at that time and still are today. But that’s exactly what he intended. He came to upend us. Imagine the widespread shock and counter-cultural backlash to His declaration that all the laws of the prophets could be reduced to two simple things. That would be like the country’s top lawyer proclaiming that our entire body of laws, from traffic ordinances to tax law, can be reduced to just two requirements. When Jesus said that pleasing God comes down to something so seemingly simple, it literally threatened to rip the very fabric of the Jewish culture. The disciples and most of Jesus' followers were raised and taught to revere and follow all the laws of their faith. And what Jesus said upended everything — their entire lifestyle was turned upside down. 

Changing the way we think is not easy. Bucking the predominant culture is difficult. Doing a 180 pivot from what your parents, other relatives, and teachers ingrained in you is downright arduous. Allowing yourself to be defenseless… raw… vulnerable… and completely real with Jesus is nothing short of a miracle. It is a work that only the Holy Spirit can do. It is something we see modeled in scripture time and time again, and if we are truly pursuing God above everything else, it is something that the Holy Spirit will keep leading you to do. And just when you think the layers are finally gone, He’ll show you another one… and another one. 

If this sounds exhausting or discouraging, reject that thought immediately because it’s a human reaction. It’s a feeling that Satan knows how to stir up in you, throw in your face, and eventually condition you to obey so that it becomes your normal pattern. But it’s not normal in God’s pattern. We were created in the image of Him, which means when we surrender back to God what He designed from the beginning to commune with Himself, we find what He intended as not only normal, but also powerful and exhilarating. Every layer we allow the Holy Spirit to reveal and peel back is one step closer to God's original design for us. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” The work of the Holy Spirit, which He asks us to partner in, is not an exercise of never-ending exhaustion, but a most beautiful and exciting journey toward splendor. With our human layers, we cannot see this future glory, but by yielding to the Holy Spirit’s power, a deep-seated “knowing” begins to burn within us. 

Paul understood this more than we can ever fathom. Scholars estimate that he was about 30 years old when Jesus appeared before him on the road to Damascus. Saul, as he was known at that time, was on his way to find, publicly scorn, and kill Christians. His upbringing, his advanced learning, and his incredible intelligence were all working in perfect concert to make him an efficient, cunning, and passionate litigator and assassin. In one swift move, Jesus ripped away all of Paul’s layers in an instant and then left him to recuperate with the very group of people he had been determined to destroy. As the Holy Spirit worked to rebuild Paul out of the ashes, He outfitted him to be the catalyst that reached the rest of humanity — the vast majority of the earth who knew nothing of the religious layers required by the Pharisees. If Paul’s conversion had not been so radical, so complete, his eyes would’ve never roamed outside of his Jewish world. He would’ve never seen the image of God imprinted on the hearts of people who were not like him. 

Likening our journey with God to that of a race, Paul said in Hebrews 12:1-3, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”

Do I think that Paul never got tired? No, he was still human. He may have been walking closer to God that most of us, but prison, shipwrecks, snake bites, and social ridicule wear on any person. But any time he became discouraged, we know where he found the strength and the hope to continue. He focused on the future splendor that burned within and asked God to remove yet another layer so that he could feel the warmth of its glow even more. Just like us, when he needed strength, he recounted the stories of the faith warriors who went before him. Just read Hebrews 11 and you’ll know exactly what Paul’s pep talks sounded like. He starts it off with, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Another of his most famous pep talks is found in Romans 8. In this amazing passage we are assured of God’s love for us, promised our future destiny as heirs, given a vision of the glory that’s to come, supplied with the secret to finding strength in our weaknesses, and triumphantly bestowed the new identity of conqueror in Christ. Now that’s a pep talk!

The shoes of comfort, obligation, and skepticism only keep us from sensing the Truth and responding to the direction of the Spirit. The layers in our lives may feel good and seem to promise protection. They may have even served a good purpose for a season. But anything that keeps our souls from being bare before Jesus, will eventually be targeted for removal by the Master Surgeon. We can participate in the search and willingly embrace the surgery, or we can run away to only have Him bring us back to it again and again. Like a marker in our lives, we can either keep circling it until our feet have worn a deep groove of unbalance in our faith, or we can yield to the Spirit’s leading and make it a monument to our growth and healing. As a believer in Jesus, your spiritual feet are already standing on the road to glory, but moving forward means leaving your shoes of self-preservation far behind.  ​
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Taming the Force of Habit

8/15/2018

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For almost six weeks this summer, my house was like a B&B with a string of out of town guests. Believe it or not, I had a great time playing hostess, baking early morning wild blueberry scones, making sure that each visitor had all the essentials, and checking the weather for any impact on our plans. Now, I don’t really consider myself overly gifted in the hospitality department, but I have to admit that my inner Martha Stewart emerged just a tiny bit, minus the over-the-top decorations and crafting projects. At the end of each day, I wanted to go to bed knowing that they had a good time, ate some amazing food, and felt comfortable enough to truly relax.

Despite this, after about the third week of welcoming family and friends, I was surprised to find myself struggling emotionally without the familiar comfort of some of my usual habits. In order to accommodate the desires and schedules of a houseful of vacationers, there were some routines I just had to temporarily give up. A few of my emotions were far stronger than I would have anticipated, and this realization made me stop and ask myself if I was just becoming too set in my ways (i.e. old!) to be flexible or if the power of my repetitive behaviors was far greater than I realized.

Then I recalled a quote from a research-driven book that I read a few years ago called The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg: “(Habits) shape our lives far more than we realize — they are so strong, in fact, that they cause our brains to cling to them at the exclusion of all else, including common sense.” Phew! It’s not necessarily that I am getting old. I felt immediately better. But now I still had to figure out what to do about the emotions I was wrestling with since my life wouldn’t return to normal for several more weeks and, above all, I wanted to make everyone feel comfortable. I mean, who would want to come back to a cranky person’s house for vacation?

As I pondered this, I came to realize how many of the habits I was missing at the moment had a direct connection to my sense of place… my home. When I’ve gone away on vacation, it’s always been easier to forgo some of my routines because I am simply not in the usual place where they occur. This fact is actually a detriment to some of my good habits that also go out the window when I’m traveling, like eating right. Sigh. But being out of routine in the place where you dwell is naturally unsettling and both our bodies and minds immediately experience dissonance when a familiar environment becomes inhospitable to our habits. This is exactly why changing our bad habits is so hard in the first place. We are conditioned to them and our minds and bodies naturally return to them, especially in times of weakness, stress or sadness. According to Duhigg, “Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. Left to its own devices, the brain will try to make almost any routine into a habit, because habits allow our minds to ramp down more often.”

Hebrews 12 is one of my favorite scripture passages about the importance of keeping good habits and working to change the bad ones. In verse 11, we find incredible encouragement: “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Being watchful of our habits and making tough changes to our routines can only be done through continuous training. I placed this verse on my wall above my computer last year following a major career shift in my life. After 25 years of ingrained work patterns, disciplines, and routines, my productivity was virtually paralyzed without familiar surroundings, expectations, people, or schedules. Knowing that Jesus was working to bring about “a peaceful harvest of right living” inside of me, as the New Living Translation phrases it, sustained me through months and months of feeling like a fish out of water even though I was sitting in my own home office.

Paul goes on to say in verse 12: “Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed.” The Holy Spirit is with us to lift us up, empower us, and give us the endurance to make hard changes and then stick with healthy habits of all kinds, no matter whether they are spiritual, physical, or relational in nature. Paul had firsthand experience with replacing bad habits with new ones. Imagine the changes that he had to make when he abandoned his life as a Jewish persecutor of Christians and became a Christ-follower himself. Every habit, schedule, expectation and routine he possessed needed to change. And when you’re facing a mountain of changes all at once, there’s nothing Satan wants to achieve more than to bring you down and make you feel weak in the knees. That’s when we lift our tired and weary hands regardless of our emotions and sing praises to the One who will always lift our heart and our hands. Psalm 64:10 says to make praise your habit because God is always at work, and Psalm 3:3 says He is the lifter of our heads.

We are promised success when we honor God with our lives as living sacrifices, which is the same thing as turning our daily habits, goals, resources, and time over to Him to direct and manage for His purposes. 1 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” As believers, we have the power inside of us to change any habit and cultivate lives that point to Jesus. I am reminded of this everyday before I exercise. I don’t want to exercise. As a matter of fact, I dread it. Daily. But there’s no room for laziness when committing to a good, but a difficult habit to maintain. If I let just one day go, with the exception of simply being unable to exercise due to something like illness, then I suddenly find that it’s even easier to let the second day slide, and the third day after that… and before I know it, I’ve fallen off the fitness wagon and onto my couch… with a bag of chips. And maybe some Ben & Jerry’s. Not good. Mental habits are no exception to laziness either. As a continually recovering worrier, I must exercise the muscles of my mind every day to avoid sliding into anxiety or negative thoughts. Yes, there are days I fail at exercise and at cultivating a peaceful heart, but deep diving into scripture meditation and prayer are good habits that also act as guardrails to keep me from completely sliding off the cliffs of laziness, complacency, and discouragement.

So I bet you’re still wondering how I avoided turning into Oscar the Grouch with my guests. Well, like any would-be novelist with a strong imagination, I simply pretended. For the last few weeks, at least in my mind, we were all on vacation together at a rental house that I picked out with our specific guests in mind. I still felt somewhat responsible to entertain and accommodate, but I suddenly wanted to do all the things I loved on vacation too, like getting lost in a really good summer novel. I ended up being more relaxed and less bothered by my missing routines.

Now I sit here writing this in an empty house, with one of my favorite afternoon habits — a cup of hot green cinnamon tea. The instrumental music is playing to help me write… everything is quiet and everyone is gone. Back to their jobs, schools, homes… and their own habits and routines. And I am back to mine. Only this time, I have determined to set fresh eyes on my habits with renewed inspiration to make some adjustments. One of my favorite quotes is from David Mathis who wrote Habits of Grace, “Your habits are, in fact, one of the most important things about you. Those repeated actions you take over and over, almost mindlessly, reveal your true self over time as much as anything else.” Being reminded of how powerful my habits are and how important God’s calling should be in my life, has made me realize the very things I don’t usually think about are some of the most critical things to actually spend time thinking about. Taming our habits is certainly not easy, but yielding to the Holy Spirit to help us do it gives us a power that’s even greater than the force of the habits themselves.

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Knotholes in the Fence of Life

8/8/2018

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The time we have on earth is a lot like living in a big backyard surrounded by an unscalable wooden fence. As believers, we know that an eternal life waits for us on the other side, light years better than anything we can see or understand from our vantage point here in the backyard. But because we can’t see through the fence, we depend on faith to assure us that there is indeed much more in store for us than the routines, struggles and earthly pleasures of our everyday lives. 

Every now and then, however, we are blessed to come upon a knothole in the fence. It might be something someone says at the perfect moment, a fleeting sense of wonder, or even a momentary vision, but these often unexpected knotholes give us tiny, yet enlightening, glimpses into God’s miraculous work behind the scenes on our behalf. Sometimes we find them right after a difficult trial when our eyes are suddenly opened to see why God allowed certain events to occur. Other times, a glimpse happens right out of the blue through the power of a scripture passage, a timely word from a friend, or a moment of worship. Like precious evidence in a scientific investigation, these small insights build our faith over time and encourage us to keep going through the toughest of seasons.

Prayerful stillness is one of the best ways to find knotholes, especially if you find yourself sitting in the backyard staring in frustration at the fence line, instead of flourishing where God’s placed you. We’ve all been there… frustrated, discouraged, or maybe even feeling betrayed. We believe God must be working, but we’re tired of only looking at that big, stationary fence. We long for movement, change, improvement… anything, really. And if we’re not careful, our longings will eventually eclipse our desire for God Himself, and then we risk camping out at the fence line forever. And this is where prayer comes in — not with a goal of finding the knotholes, but with an aim of knowing and depending on our Heavenly Father more and more whether we can see what’s on the other side or not. 

We can spend hours, days, weeks and even years asking why, when all God wants us to do is be still before Him, humbly listen, and then obey. Even when we take the time out from our jobs, commitments, and chores, we often remain busy in our minds. The to-do lists, over analysis, and worries, spin in our head, drowning out any chance of hearing His voice, feeling His comfort, or seeing His hand move. Prayer, scripture meditation, and solitude in God’s presence are the antidotes to an obsession with staring at the fence line and asking why over and over. God can reveal deep things in our prayerful stillness that we simply cannot perceive, or receive, when we’re busy with life’s demands or consumed with worry. 

Stillness is hard. Solitude is practically a lost art. And if you’re an extrovert, like me, these spiritual disciplines are even more difficult to cultivate. But the “whys” of life will never stop. As soon as one unknown is revealed, another one will always pop up. The Enemy of our souls knows this and uses the crazy busyness of our lives and our minds to make sure we never find peace in the storms of fear, doubt, and unanswered questions that flood our backyards. But Jesus says, “Peace, be still” to our hearts, minds, and souls. In fact, peace is mentioned more than 400 times in the Bible, and Jesus talked about it repeatedly with the disciples. He knew that our tendency toward busyness would choke the life out of our spiritual health, so He modeled the practice of stillness and solitude (Luke 6:12, Matthew 14:13). Jesus wanted to make sure the disciples understood that nurturing a deep intimacy with God the Father, was foundational to the abundant life He promised them. Repeatedly, He left the busyness of ministry and the demands of His closest companions to be alone with God.

It took me many years to realize that the reason I couldn’t see many of God’s divine knotholes was that I was focusing on the storms themselves instead of keeping my eyes on Jesus, despite the unsettling circumstances swirling around me. I used to expect Him to make everything go away, rather than holding my hand through the struggles and unmet expectations. I used to keep myself so busy I could ignore the storms on the horizon, rather than being still with Jesus and letting him teach me, prepare me, and then lead me through them. Every time a new trial comes, I struggle to keep from reverting back to my old habits, but God has always been faithful to make me stronger when I trust Him.

In the gospel of Mark, we see Jesus’ habit of quiet time with God at the very beginning of His ministry. “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, He departed and went out to a desolate place, and there He prayed. And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him, and they found Him and said to Him, ‘Everyone is looking for you’.” (Mark 1:35-37) Notice that Jesus went far enough away from them to truly get alone with His Father. Also, He didn’t give in to the mental busyness associated with His work or relationships. We often forgo quiet time with God when the expectations of people around us are particularly pressing or close-by. Jesus’ example in this passage especially spoke to me, as I have had a series of summer house guests for more than a month. While I tried to carve out the time and a place to be alone with God daily, it didn’t always happen. But on the days it did, I had abundantly more grace, joy, generosity, and love for those staying in my home. And exhibiting the love of Jesus to my guests was far more important than how much lobster they ate, swimming they enjoyed, or the wildlife they observed.

Jesus, of course, didn’t need knotholes in the fence of earthly life to know what His Father was up to. We read in John 5:19, “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise’.” So if Jesus Himself needed solitude with His Father, then how much more so do you and I need it to get through the days, months and years? As Jesus was one with the Father, His sacrifice ensured that we could also be one with God through the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26, 16:7). When we’re open to the movement of the Holy Spirit, we just never know when He’ll stir our hearts and awaken some new, previously unknown corner of our spirits. Whether clear and strong or muted and gentle, the Spirit moves to help us grasp or experience His truth, direction, and presence in life-altering ways. No matter how the knothole appears or what form it takes, it will most often come in a moment of stillness. The Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God,” (46:10), and Isaiah urged, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. (30:15)”

The backyard of your life might be a thriving pleasant landscape, or it may be undergoing a major renovation. It might be a place filled with weeds or as barren as a desert plain. But no matter what its condition, God planted you there or is allowing you to linger there for a reason. You may not see any knotholes in the fence and even feel like the boundaries are getting smaller, but He longs to create an oasis for you right in the middle of it all. Through intimate moments alone with Him, your heart can overflow with gratitude, sink into deep peace, and laugh with joy, whether you’re enjoying a season of plenty or climbing a mountain of hardship. The backyard of life can only have one Master Gardener, but we have to let Him come inside to do His work on a regular basis.
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How to Fill Every Longing in your Heart

8/1/2018

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Birthdays. I often wonder if Jesus celebrated his. Did the disciples ever attempt to throw Him a surprise party or did they realize early on that any attempt to sneak up on Jesus would fail? If they did try it, did Jesus pretend to be surprised to make them feel appreciated or would He have considered that the same as lying? One thing is for sure, I believe Jesus exuded good humor and happiness in His time here on earth. And I have a sneaking suspicion that He loved to laugh. After all, He’s the only perfect human to ever exist, and He embodied all the joy of His Heavenly Father. So if the disciples did throw Him a birthday celebration, I bet He was the life of the party… quite literally. 

This past weekend, I celebrated my own turning of another year, and I couldn’t help but ponder what God thinks of our traditions. Most people celebrate birthdays with gifts. A good meal is universally required. And many people make a wish (or 5, or 10, or more!) when they blow out the candles on their cake. And although I can’t specifically recall a single birthday wish from my last 46 years, I am certain that all of them have been minuscule, miscalculated or misdirected longings compared to the immense pleasure and satisfaction that God truly offers. 

C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, said in his sermon The Weight of Glory, "Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us… like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by an offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

One of Satan’s sneakiest ploys is to corrupt the joy of a Christian’s heart by making him or her think that following Christ should be primarily defined and visibly marked by self-sacrifice and deprivation of our deepest of longings. Yes, self-sacrifice is clearly required in the Christian life, but God never asked us to make it the aim of our relationship with Him. No, He makes it clear that the ultimate goal of our relationship with Him should be delighting in Him. When we find ourselves in the rut of duty and self-denial as the end game — a way of just checking off the spiritual to-do list — we are in dangerous territory. Sure, we may be helping others and doing good things, but if the primary outcome isn’t an overflow of pure pleasure and spirit-driven exhilaration, then we could be missing out on the greatest happiness known to man and falling prey to Satan’s greatest deception. 

I grew up in a culture that emphasized the disciplines of faith more than the joy of a relationship with God. As a result, I spent many wasted years honing my skills in Biblical study, prayer, self-sacrifice for others, and scripture memorization. Now, of course, all of these things are very important and valuable, but my upbringing led me down a dangerous path of duty to God versus desiring God. Thankfully, the Holy Spirit led me to discover John Piper’s writings on Christian hedonism and the refreshing reminder that the disciplines of my faith should flow out of me like living water because I love God and others, not because duty dictates my service. Since I was one of those kids that always followed the rules (yes, I was a nerd), it had never clicked in my brain that God wanted me to focus all of my being on delighting in Him and letting the disciplines naturally follow in time with His empowerment, not mine.

Even more astounding, as I determined in my heart to not do anything — not a single “duty,” like reading devotions or volunteering — unless the Holy Spirit created a desire in my heart to do so out of pure love for God, I found that the longings in my life began to radically change over time. It didn’t happen overnight, but I was willing to turn off the voices in my head from my upbringing, and instead take God at His Word. At first it was downright strange to stop doing certain spiritual habits — almost like going to bed without brushing my teeth (just the thought makes my skin crawl!). But I knew in my heart that I had just been following a routine and going through the motions to check things off my list like prayer and quiet time. And then, little by little, as I asked God daily to teach me how to delight in Him, to replace the desires of my heart with His, and to empower me to love Him above all else, He was faithful to create within me a longing like I had never known to spend time with Him. No longer did I have to set a calendar reminder to read the Word. Just like physical hunger, the Holy Spirit was literally changing my nature to crave time with God.

This is the essence of Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 11:28-30 when He said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” The oxen analogy is so brilliant because He’s telling us that while it does take effort to live our lives for Him, when we are surrendered to the Spirit, as illustrated by a farmer driving his team in the fields, the work brings with it a deep satisfaction we would never find on our own. When we go out to plow the fields of life by ourselves without being tethered to a team driven by the Shepherd, everything will seem harder. Through our hard work, our longings may be temporarily satiated, but the deepest desires of our hearts will never go away. We will always crave something more, something bigger, something different. This is why it is fruitless to do good just for good’s sake. One of the most difficult concepts for people in Western culture to grasp is that we were created to be happy, contented, joyful and satisfied. It is not only okay to desire to feel that way, but it is commanded and encouraged by God. “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4)

Most of us, however, have a hard time separating the concept of pleasure as a goal from the twisted and contaminated version associated with sinful behaviors and selfish desires. And because it’s counter-cultural to the way most of us were raised, it’s too uncomfortable or difficult to ponder what it might mean to live our lives pursuing the pleasure of God. Even worse, we don’t really believe in our deepest places that the enjoyment of God can hold a candle to the pleasures of indulgence, wealth, fame, or any other worldly or physical pursuits. That’s because all of the pleasures we typically experience reward us in a way that makes us feel better in some way fairly quickly — if not instantaneously. The pleasures of God, however, take much more time to cultivate and our lack of belief, patience and endurance often get in the way before we ever see them come to fruition.

John Piper put it this way: “Christian joy is a good feeling in the soul, produced by the Holy Spirit, as He causes us to see the beauty of Christ in the Word and in the world.” He goes on to explain that delighting in God, which produces real joy and pleasure, is indeed an emotional response we cannot control as the Holy Spirit makes us into a new creation over time. It is true that faith is not a feeling, but the pleasure that comes from our faith is. We cannot fabricate this emotion, nor can we force it — it is supernatural. And it is amazing. It’s worth whatever it takes to experience it. And that’s the beautiful truth of our partnership with God: we commit our hearts to love Him above all else, and He does all the work to make us truly happy about that decision.


If you’re curious to study more about finding pleasure in pursuing God, check out John Piper’s six-part video series on Philippians entitled: Jesus and the Journey to Joy.
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Not Every Good Idea BearS Good Fruit

7/25/2018

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Sometimes an amazing opportunity or idea can appear at what seems like the perfect time and be naturally aligned with your talents, but it turns out to be a mistake after all. Other times, you can have a deep, intuitive feeling of just knowing that it must be the right thing to do, but it can still be a mistake. Whether it’s a big blunder with long-lasting ramifications and or it’s a small, but frustrating one that becomes a complete hassle to get out of later, these kinds of opportunities and ideas often take you by surprise or pop in your head out of the blue, making you inclined to feel like it’s fate or that it’s the hand of God suddenly intervening in your life. It might be a new career path, a volunteer opportunity, a creative idea, a “once in a lifetime” deal on a major purchase, or even a request from someone you admire to serve God.

Any of these incredible possibilities may authentically seem like the right thing to do — without question, analysis or research. And if you were to even think of passing one of them up, one of your friends or co-workers is likely to ask you, “Why would you pass that up? It’s a no-brainer!” So, the pressure mounts both internally and externally to say yes because you don’t want to miss out on something or feel stupid for not accepting the obvious.

I have made these kinds of mistakes repeatedly in different ways and in each instance it usually ends up costing me an unbelievable amount of time, an exhausting level of effort, significant emotional or relational consequences, or unforeseen expenses in a myriad of formats. Many times, I have learned hard but life-changing lessons through these mistakes, but other times I have missed the point entirely and end up doing the same thing all over again. Sigh. A few years ago, for example, I volunteered to serve in a capacity that appeared to be a “no-brainer.” Saying yes also seemed to be so obvious that I didn’t even pause to wonder what the consequences might be if it wasn’t what God wanted me to spend my time on. I just assumed because the opportunity was offered by a visionary and respected leader that it would be the right choice for me. Long story short, it wasn’t. Not even close. And untangling myself from it once I got deeply involved turned out to be next to impossible for quite some time. When it was all over, I couldn’t help but ponder what better tasks God had set aside for me during that time that I had missed out on.

In the classic devotional book My Utmost for Highest, the great theologian Oswald Chambers wrote extensively about learning to live by the Holy Spirit’s guidance and not our own — from the tiniest seemingly inconsequential decisions to the grandest life-altering ones. Because there is no way I can say it better than him, here is a paraphrased passage from the book:

There are times when you cannot understand why you cannot do what you want to do. And sometimes God puts a blank in our lives. Don’t ever try to fill in that blank for Him. Wait on Him to fill it. You may think that you see clearly what God’s will is — a certain action or decision — but never do it on the impulse of that feeling. If you do, you will end up making difficulties that will take years of time to make right. Wait for God’s time to bring it around and He will accomplish it without heartbreak or disappointment. Wait for God to move.

Oswald goes on to talk about the Apostle Peter and his behavior in the days leading up to the crucifixion of Jesus. Peter did not wait on Jesus. In his mind, He had already imagined being tested and succeeding, but the reality didn’t play out that way. He vowed to lay down his life for Jesus, but could not fulfill it as he promised because he did not know himself as Jesus truly knew him. Peter’s natural devotion to Jesus out of his own will and emotions wouldn’t be enough to sustain him when his life was threatened.

The same goes for us. Our natural talents, skills and ability to reason will only carry us so far when making a decision about an idea or opportunity. Yes, God gave us a brain to use it, but His intention was that we submit it to Him for shepherding of the thought process. When we move in the Holy Spirit’s leading, versus our own, every gift we possess has the potential to be empowered by Him. We were created in His image and when we operate within His framework any opportunity or idea can be effectively evaluated through His perspective.

Conversely, there are tireless enemies at work to fool us into thinking that we can — and should — think and react on our own. One of these enemies is ourselves when we operate under the influence of pride. We think that we’re smart enough to handle decisions — especially the tiny ones. And that’s exactly when a tiny thing transforms into a giant ogre and knocks us on our butts. The other enemy has been around since the dawn of time. He slithered into the Garden of Eden with the same bag of tricks he uses today. He whispered a great idea in Eve’s ear. A simply tantalizing and very reasonable idea just popped into her head. The element of surprise is a hallmark of how the Enemy works best. The reason this tactic works so well is that we erroneously think that sudden chances must be acted upon quickly. The Enemy works his evil logic best when we feel that we’re under pressure. “Act now or you’ll lose the opportunity,” he whispers in our ears. Or even more insidious, “This idea just presented itself so suddenly, it must be God talking. You had better obey and do it now.”

New flash for us all, myself included: the Holy Spirit is not a high-pressure salesman. God will always give us time to seek Him. News flash number two: God doesn’t normally provide direction through circumstances alone. If life presents you with a great idea or opportunity, the Holy Spirit will work to provide you with confirmation, usually through specific Scriptures, in prayer, and wise counsel. (If you want to read more about how to hear God’s voice, check out my previous blog post on this topic: part 1 and part 2.)

So let’s go back to Peter for a moment and imagine yourself in his shoes on the night before Jesus was crucified. You have physically walked with the Son of God for three years… seen miracles and even performed some yourself. In your flesh, you might have a feeling that you are “all that and a bag of chips.” You are confident of what God can use you for. You are “mature.” And then, the One whom you believe is the Messiah is suddenly taken from you and brutally beaten. Your confidence is shattered and others look at you with accusing stares. Under pressure, logic tells you to deny that you even know Jesus. After all, self-preservation is paramount at this point. And in an instant, you’ve gone from the height of self-admiration to the pit of self-loathing as you watch Jesus being taken to the cross.

But Peter learned — and so can we — that once we get to the end of ourselves, we will find the beginning of the life He actually intends for us. In John 15, Jesus reveals both the key to letting God make the decisions for our lives and the reward of doing so. Verses 4-5, 11, and 13 say: “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing … These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full … Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

In this amazing chapter, Jesus foreshadows His coming sacrifice and simultaneously counters Peter’s denial with the command to “lay down his life.” He also explains that when we abide in Him, God’s plan for us will be fulfilled. We will bear good fruit by learning to literally breathe, think and move within the framework of our personal relationship with Him. As we abide, He will prune us. It will hurt. But operating under His influence we will be able to see the purpose in the pain and visualize His dreams for us coming true, i.e. the fruit, and ripening into joyous sweetness and savory satisfaction. In this passage of Scripture, Jesus brilliantly covers all of the decisions we’ll face in life — from the smallest to the biggest of all, self-sacrifice for others.

Peter’s transformation after the resurrection gives us all clarity into who we can be if we base our decisions on Jesus’s knowledge of who we are and what’s best for us, rather than our own interpretation and reliance on ourselves. We must determine to reach the end of ourselves and our self-sufficiency in order to realize that there is not a strand of ourselves to rely on again. In that utterly destitute place, we become completely fit to be used by God and receive the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and direction.

Charles E. Hummel in his little booklet Tyranny of the Urgent said, “But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency—independence from the rule of God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength, we are saying with our actions, if not with our words, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is actually a ‘going it alone’?”
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Our natural devotion, abilities, talents, reason and imagination are not enough to bear true spiritual fruit. And if we manage our priorities and make our decisions without taking the proper time — whether it’s a moment or many days — to seek His direction and confirmation, then we will always be straining to produce fake fruit. It might vaguely resemble fruit in some saccharin or plastic kind of way, and we might feel satisfied for a while. But only ideas, opportunities, work and service generated while abiding in Christ will blossom and produce eternity-changing fruit and authentic joyful fulfillment.
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Busyness is Not a Badge of Honor

7/18/2018

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Busyness is not a badge of honor
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Ahhhh, summertime. As kids, it was the season we lived for all year long. It was a chance to get out of the routine of studying, homework, and packed schedules. And although it flew by, we learned to relish every moment of swimming, ice cream cones, sleeping in, and going on the family vacation or camping trip.  ​

And then… we grew up.

In America, that means we suffered through the reality shock that most jobs don’t offer the summer off. Eventually as college finished and we started job hunting, we also woke up to the more subtle but more shocking fact that in order to be admired by our peers and to build a desirable workplace reputation, we must be as productive and dedicated as humanly possible. Oh, and then we found out that this standard didn’t just apply to our jobs. No, to be truly admired, we needed to be well-rounded and interesting. So in addition to insane work hours, we threw in a hefty dose of cultural and social activities, a fitness regime, plus a measurable splash of volunteerism or activism. 

Last time someone asked you how you’re doing, do you remember your reply? Chances are, your response included some reference to being busy. According to multiple studies highlighted in the Harvard Business Review, the vast majority of Americans now view busyness as a status symbol. In other words, the busier you seem, the more likely people will respect you and think that you’re prosperous, highly valued, and hard working. The researchers saw evidence of this perception in social media, interpersonal communications, advertising messaging, and hiring trends. By stark contrast, a century ago, the ability to enjoy free time and leisure activities was universally perceived by most Americans to be a blessing and a sign of success in life. And we are predominantly unique in our obsession with busyness. Studies conducted among Europeans, for example, show that they largely perceive that a more relaxed lifestyle is still a sign of success. 

Researchers speculate that this dramatic shift in American culture is partially due the rise of the knowledge economy, particularly fueled by our insatiable appetite for technology. We practically sleep with our smartphones, which means texting, calendar reminders, to do lists, social media interactions, and a host of other time-intensive demands are constantly vying for our attention. Studies on this topic, repeatedly indicate that as a society, we are multi-tasking more and quite literally reshaping our brains to be less inclined toward reflection, meditation, long-form reading/studying, and deep conversations. 

Unfortunately, the cultural value for busyness has also infiltrated and tainted the spiritual outlook of many believers to the point where all margin for rest has been entirely squeezed out of our lives. Some of us volunteer to serve until we teeter on burn out. Others of us justify crazy schedules and overindulgences all week long by not working on Sundays. But overall, most of us aren’t doing much better with finding time for rest than people who don’t profess a belief in God. 

Four Keys to Getting out of the Busyness Habit
So how do we get out of this busy rut? How do we become counter-cultural when every voice and influence around us is saturating us with seemingly important requirements and demands? Do we have the courage to let God take care of how we’re perceived by others, rather than building up our image by appearing to be busy, needed and validated? Four key things really stick out to me when reading the Word or doing a study about God’s design for rest.

1. Understand the broader meaning of the Sabbath principle. God’s design for rest is much bigger than not working on Sundays. In her study, Breathe: Making Room For Sabbath, Priscilla Shirer says, “God always and eternally intended the Sabbath to be a lifestyle — an attitude, a perspective, an orientation for living that enables us to govern our lives and steer clear of bondage.” She goes on to say, “Sabbath margin is the boundary God intended for us to place around the things we enjoy so that we’ll never be a slave to anyone or anything other than Him.” When I went through her study last year, I was immediately convicted about numerous areas of my life where I had allowed myself to be enslaved to either things I enjoyed or by the expectations set upon me from other people. Whether your time is eaten up by things you love or activities you feel pressured to do, anything that prevents you from having the margin in your life to obey the Holy Spirit on a daily basis should be cut back or eliminated. When we cram all our “rest” into Sundays, versus making it a daily lifestyle, we squeeze out the room for God to show up all week long. If you don’t have any margin in your daily schedule, you won’t have any space for God to bless you. Galatians 5:1 says, "For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” 

2. Entrust your time to God and then let Him take care of your reputation. I used to wear the badge of busyness with pride. When I began to recognize that my true worth was found in yielding my time to the leading of the Holy Spirit, versus my desire to please others or get things checked off my list, obeying the command to add Sabbath margin into my life became easier little by little. However, my deep-seated desire to be viewed as an over-achiever has been much harder to release. Jesus wasn’t worried about being regarded for his accomplishments or success. He came to serve and obey His Father’s instructions (John 5:19-20 and Romans 15:8-9). In the same way, we are to do our Father’s bidding and let Him worry about how we’re perceived. Paul also shunned any concerns over his reputation. Galatians 1:10 says, "For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” 

3. Have faith in the Biblical principle of multiplication. One of the many reasons to read and study the Bible is to know and feel confident in the character of our loving, heavenly Father. Over and over throughout the Bible, God makes it clear that He will take care of us when we give up something to Him or in His name. When the widow at Zarephath obeyed and gave up her grain and oil to serve Elijah (1 Kings 17:7-24), God blessed her pantry so that her supplies never ran out again during the famine. In Exodus 16, when the Israelites gave up their temptation to collect extra manna for the Sabbath, God miraculously multiplied their portion so that no one went hungry. In Malachi 3:10, God tells us to test him with the giving of our tithes and offerings and He will “open the windows of heaven” for us. The disciples witnessed the principle of multiplication in Matthew 14:13-21 when Jesus miraculously fed thousands with five loaves of bread and two small fish. Our time is no less valuable than our tithe, but many people struggle to let go of the addiction of busyness to generate breathing room for God to move in their lives. But God’s character is something you can count on every time. If you draw healthy boundaries around the stuff and tasks in your life, effectively making your life more flexible for God’s interventions, He will multiply what’s needed to ensure that He is glorified and you are taken care of. 

4. Get comfortable saying no with love and grace. Drawing boundaries around a blessing that has turned into an over-indulgence is hard, but telling someone else no is borderline traumatic for some people. But through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can grow in strength every time we practice saying no. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” When we step out in faith on that promise, God will always be faithful to help us through the discipline of saying no, whether it’s a volunteer opportunity that’s not a good fit, a promotion at work that would negatively impact your family, or limiting how much time you spend on social media or watching TV. Whenever God prompts you to say no in order to leave margin for Him to interrupt your day or spend more time resting in His presence, He will always provide you with a way to obey Him (1 Corinthians 10:13). It may not be easy, but He wants us to depend on Him for the strength, grace and wisdom to follow His leading.

As a recovering perfectionist who has always struggled to stop and enjoy God’s blessings in my life, I still wrestle with needless busyness. But when that familiar frantic feeling creeps into my day, I recall something the Holy Spirit once whispered to my soul: Things don’t have to be perfect to be incredible. My house doesn’t have to be pristine and tidy if it means I am not able to sit and enjoy the presence of family or friends. If guided by the Lord, the words of my blog don’t have to come out perfect to strike a chord in someone’s heart. If the work piles up, I don’t have to get everything done in one night — God will help me get it all done in the right time if I honor Him first with my commitments and boundaries. Jesus gently but firmly corrected his dear friend Martha to stop and rest when she started wearing the badge of busyness. In Luke 10:38-42, He told her that her sister had chosen the “better portion” by sitting and listening to Jesus rather than preparing for and serving their guests. Each day, you and I also have the option to choose the better portion… to leave breathing room for the movement of the Holy Spirit to change the course of our day. Some days it may be harder to do than others, but those moments are blessings within themselves because they teach us to depend on God and His mercies even more. And the more we depend on Him, the less we’ll be in the way of His amazing plans.
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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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What Do You Want To Break Free Of this Independence Day?

7/4/2018

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Summer Time Reading Spiritual Growth
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Happy Fourth of July!
This Independence Day, Glimmers in the Fog is taking a bit of a vacation day to celebrate freedom's blessings and all things summer. But if you have a moment this week to ponder the meaning of the holiday, you might ask yourself, what is the number one thing you would love to break free of in your life. Is there something on the throne of your heart other than God or is there a habit that is crippling your freedom in Christ? It could be something that you are not doing that you need to start, or it could be something in your past that still haunts you. No matter what it is, today can be your own personal and spiritual independence day. A fresh start. A celebration of Christ making you a new creation each and every day that you yield to His Spirit working in your life. 

Summertime is the perfect opportunity to start anew with whatever change God is urging you to make. Like an endless blue sky on a cloudless summer day, the promises of God reach as far as you can dream. So take a deep breath and look heavenward for everything you need to move forward. "The One who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." (1 Thessalonians 5:24)

If perhaps you'd like a little jump start with a particular topic, here are some ideas to get you going.
  • NEW! Posts Sorted by Topic -- Glimmers in the Fog now features a list of categories so that you can quickly find posts on the specific topic you are looking for. Just look to the upper right on this page for the categories.
  • Summer Reading Recommendations -- Check out a special list I put together of helpful books on many of the most important spiritual growth topics, such as overcoming anxiety, prayer, trust, and many more. So whether you want to get fit for God or learn how to have joy in suffering, there's a book for you!
  • Read one of the top three Glimmers posts -- Perhaps you missed one of these most visited posts from the blog or you might want to read them again and share them with a friend. Here they are:
    • ​10 Rules to Live By to Have a Contented Heart
    • Three Ways God Wants You to Use Your Imagination
    • How to Turn the Flywheel of Faith.

What is your favorite blog post on Glimmers? I would love to hear which one has made the most impact on you! Leave a comment below. 

Happy summer reading and growing! 
Kim

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Do You Really Believe People Can Change?

6/27/2018

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The expression, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks,” is one of the oldest in modern English language, dating back to the early 1500s. Apparently the doubt about people’s ability to change is so universal, we have dozens of similar expressions across the world and throughout history, like “a leopard can’t change his spots” from the Bible, or “you can’t teach an old monkey how to pull a funny face” from France, or “an old parrot can’t learn to speak” from Spain.

Clearly, most people are more comfortable using animal references to make a joke about their assessment of a person than they are directly addressing the issue. It’s just easier to try and laugh it off than to ponder whether or not we truly believe that a person who frustrates us or has hurt us in the past can really “turn over a new leaf,” to use another common euphemism. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist!)

Many times, we find ourselves falling into one of two mental camps when it comes to the people in our lives, depending on how important they are to us. For some who irritate us or have offended us in the past, we may prefer to avoid thinking about them, their ability to change or not, and simply do our best to evade situations or discussions that may spark certain reactions or behaviors. For others, particularly those who mean the most to us, we can go to the other extreme and spend WAY too much time overanalyzing their words and actions. We constantly try to read between the lines of what they’re saying, or sometimes we don’t let them finish talking because we already think we know what they’re going to say.

Both mental camps are not only unhealthy for us, they are also not where God calls us to hang out.

Unfortunately, I have spent way too much time in both places throughout my life. I have gone out of my way to avoid someone who I don’t believe will ever change, and I have believed the worst about someone based on my own very inaccurate perceptions and erroneous assumptions. I have been known to interrupt someone when I think I know what they’re going to say based on their past behaviors. I have created all kinds of reasons in my mind why someone has or hasn’t done something, and I have assumed that someone doesn’t like me or is angry with me based only on a fleeting look. And all of these barely scratch the surface!

I share all of this so that you know this message is from someone who’s right there in the trenches of life with you. Loving people as God commands us to do so is hard, hard work. John 13:34 says, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” And the fact that we are creatures of habit, often makes that calling even harder. We know our own propensity for bad habits and thoughts, so we make the erroneous assumption on a consistent basis that likewise someone else is acting out of habit or thinking the same way they always do.

In the classic book, Loving God With All Your Mind, Elizabeth George deals with the issue of not believing what other people say or doubting that people can — and do — change. In 1 Corinthians 13, she highlights two convicting principles when it comes to loving others by God’s definition. Verse 5 says love “keeps no record of wrongs” and verse 7 says it “always trusts.” Other translations say love “always believes.” Whenever we make assumptions about what another person says or does, we not only violate these principles of loving them as Jesus would, we stress ourselves out. In a sense, when we question what someone is saying, we are calling him or her a liar in our hearts. By not taking what they say as true and at face value, we are placing ourselves in a position of analysis and judgment, and trying to give ourselves a responsibility that only the Holy Spirit has. We cannot read people’s hearts, minds and motives — no matter how smart, intuitive, and experienced we are. And when we try to do that, we malign them, we cause ourselves emotional stress, and we erode the foundation of trust between us. Imagine how sincere our relationships would be and what good listeners we would become if we spent time truly hearing what another person says to us instead of automatically filtering their words and actions through past mistakes or behaviors.

Philippians 4:8 tells us to think about, or dwell on, only things that are true. That means things that we know are verifiable and clearly true. Not what we speculate. Not what we infer. Not what we imagine. And perhaps, most importantly, not dredging up what happened in the past and assuming that it the same as what’s happening right now. Paul further encourages us to press on in our effort to pursue the Gospel and specifically to forget the past (Philippians 3:12-14). In everything, we are to be forward-looking, believing that God is continually working in us, in others, and in our circumstances to make us new creations for His glory.

Now, I’m sure someone reading this is wondering about discernment. What about wisely protecting yourself from someone who’s repeatedly hurt you? What about someone who has deluded themselves and does say things that aren’t true? Are we supposed to listen to them?

This is where it is critical to understand the difference between Spirit-guided discernment and self-centered judgment. Life presents us with all kinds of complicated situations and relationships, and each of them needs to be approached by praying, studying scripture, and seeking wise counsel when needed. That being said, at the most fundamental level, we can boil the difference between judging others and Godly discernment down to a humble attitude and a loving approach. Martin Luther said that we should preach the Gospel to ourselves daily, in that we are all sinners in need of grace. If our motivations lie anywhere outside of complete humility and love, then we are in danger of judgment. When we have to say something difficult to someone based on what is true, we are not only called to treat them with the same kind of love Jesus did, but also model His humility in our approach. Sure, there are the rare occasions where it wouldn’t be healthy for you, or someone who’s hurt you, to continue a conversation or perhaps even continue the relationship. But God’s word gives explicit instructions in Matthew 18 on how to address conflict and move on in grace. (If you are particularly struggling with a conflict right now, here is ahelpful article that walks through the Biblical process with very practical application.)

For most of life’s daily interactions, however, it really is about acting on what we profess to believe. If we truly believe that God can change people, and if we want to love others like Jesus did, then our actions will reflect that belief. If we truly believe that the Holy Spirit is working in our lives and that our hearts are in His hands, then we can trust that He will take care of what we cannot see, what we do not know, and what people’s true motives are. We only have to yield to the Holy Spirit and let Him give us fresh ears, renewed eyes, and a gentle tongue with every conversation… with our spouses, our kids, our friends, our co-workers, our teammates, our neighbors… simply everyone. Loving others as Jesus did is like changing a leopard’s spots for a human being — it is impossible on our own. But loving others by letting God do the work through us is like teaching an old dog new tricks — it is possible with patience, consistency and repeated obedience.

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Why BelievE In A God You Can Comprehend

6/20/2018

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Only a mysterious God is one who can be worshipped.
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A call to leap off the cliff of self-reliance into the free fall of complete trust
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God simply cannot be understood or completely explained by human beings. Perhaps this is an obvious statement to many, yet billions of people in the world — particularly intellectuals and those under 40 — are increasingly choosing to be atheists because they can’t prove or comprehend God or His ways.  Just a little bit of research unearths countless articles and studies about the rise of atheism. Yet how do we explain to unbelievers why it is impossible to have a personal, deep, life-guiding faith in God unless you can delight in His mysterious nature and incomprehensible sovereignty?

Perhaps even more disheartening are the many prominent self-professing Christians who spend countless hours writing and speaking about the mysteries of the Bible as if they are only allegories, legends, and hyperbole, in order to make belief in God more comfortable and acceptable in our modern culture.

At the other end of the spectrum, many conservative Christians seem to do everything they can to avoid people with challenging questions, particularly those grounded in science and logic. And while God is indeed sovereign and we should have a child-like faith in terms of our trust in Him, we often hide behind those two truths in order to squash any signs of unbelief, doubts and contradictions from those who are struggling with the existence of God.

Put this all together, and you come down to one essential issue: atheists don’t want to believe in a God they can’t comprehend or prove, and many Christians across the spectrum aren’t offering anything relevant to them. So the question I have been asking myself is, do I have the courage to reflect the true incomprehensible God, without watering anything down or putting up walls to avoid being challenged on the hard questions, like suffering, evolution, and global inequities?

When I think of having great courage for Christ in today’s culture, one person keeps inspiring me, particularly because he stands up for what he believes on a daily basis in a secular, science-driven, politically-charged workplace. And most of us think that our working conditions are non-conducive to living out our faith! He is both an MD and a PhD in physical chemistry, which means he is brilliant. He was appointed to his role by a Democrat and he has survived under a Republican, which means God’s hand is upon him. His name is Francis S. Collins and he is currently the director of the National Institutes of Health. For a decade from 1993 to 2003, he headed up the National Human Genome Research Project, leading a team to completely map the entire language of our DNA. Francis is one of the world’s foremost geneticists and an evangelical Christian who is unafraid to address the hardest, most intellectual questions anyone can ask him. Although you may not agree with his personal convictions about Biblical theology on every detail, his unabashed declaration about the existence of a loving, involved God to the scientific, medical, political, and intellectual communities is nothing short of a miracle. Of course, Francis is quick to say that his influence is none of his doing, but a humble submission to God’s work in his life.

In an in-depth interview with NPR back in 2007, shortly before his bestselling book, The Language of God was released, he said that there is no reason to believe that faith has any less evidence than science. He goes on to explain that science is only valid for investigating nature, and that while he sees evidence of God’s existence in nature, God would not have any meaning if He were constrained or contained within the bounds of nature. In his DNA research and in his medical experience, he says he repeatedly saw proofs or “signposts” of God. The problem is, he said, is that many scientists and intellectuals reject faith because they believe it must be arrived at through emotion, versus clear thinking and logical evaluation. “But just because science hasn’t caught God in our microscopes, doesn’t mean there isn’t enough evidence to prove that He doesn’t exist … I actually do not believe that there are any collisions between what I believe as a Christian, and what I know and have learned about as a scientist. I think there's a broad perception that that's the case, and that's what scares many scientists away from a serious consideration of faith.”

The Bible tells us straight up that we cannot understand God, but that by believing despite our doubt, we will be made complete in Him and thus overcome our doubts. Ephesians 3:19 says, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Renown theologian AW Tozer said that humankind was created to think with fully engaged minds in partnership with the Holy Spirit. Even the most scholarly of minds is incomplete until his or her spirit receives the breath of the Holy Spirit. “If I can understand God, then I cannot worship God. I will never get on my knees and say, ‘Holy, holy, holy’ to that which I can figure out.”

The Bible makes specific, and sometimes shocking, truth claims, and they are facts whether or not our personal experience or intellect confirms them to be so. Some of these truths are hard for even Christians to accept, so why are we shocked when non-believers, particularly those in the scholarly community or younger generations, reject them and pose smart, intelligent questions to us? We weren’t there when God spoke the stars into existence or hung the rainbow following the global flood. We can’t fathom the depths of love He has for us by giving up His own son so that we might live forever in fellowship with Him, no matter how sinful we’ve been or weak our faith has been. We cannot see the full span of history and infinity of the future and understand why things happen as they do. But His word and history have proven His truth and steadfast love over and over.

Francis came to Christ because his highly intellectual mind recognized the “signposts” of God through experiences in the scientific and medical fields. By the time he approached a neighborhood minister, he had developed a list of extremely challenging, if not polarizing, questions. Instead of getting defensive, evasive or downplaying them, the minister talked lovingly and openly with Francis and recommended that he ponder the words of another scholar who turned from atheism to belief — CS Lewis. Reading Mere Christianity was the beginning of Francis’ faith journey and now God has placed him in one of the most influential roles in our nation.

For those who follow Christ, Paul gives us a great example to follow when it comes to addressing the hard questions. In Acts 17:11-12, we read about a group of Jewish scholars who were exceptionally intellectual. “Now these Jews were nobler than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men.” Paul was not afraid to engage with them as they “examined the Scriptures daily” to test what he was saying. Later in that same chapter, we see Paul visiting Athens, where he encountered non-religious intellectuals steeped in the traditions of Socrates and Plato. Again, he was firm on Biblical truth, direct in addressing their questions and misguided conclusions, but very compassionate toward their need to understand the mysteries of the Christian faith. We read in verses 32-34 that some of them mocked him, but others were curious and became influential ambassadors of Jesus. I believe that none of them would’ve come to Christ if Paul had been too afraid or ashamed to speak the truth in love, even if it meant some ridicule. And you may be thinking, “You don’t understand — I am no Paul.” None of us are, but all believers have the same power inside of us that Paul did, capable of producing supernatural courage. If we’re willing to walk into a verbal challenge for Jesus, the Holy Spirit will come through for us with the words needed in the moment of action, and not beforehand.

Our calling is not to dismiss, argue, condemn, ignore or evade the ones who bring challenges, no matter how smart, stubborn, or misguided they may be. We are not called to change to their minds or convince them that the Bible is true, only the Holy Spirit can do that. Therefore, if it is not our responsibility to convert anyone, the pressure is off. We don’t have to assert our rightness, we just need to offer a loving, open, and responsive heart to receive, listen and answer as best we can. When we don’t know or don’t understand something ourselves, all we need to do is humbly say so and try to thoughtfully point the person to credible experts or resources they might appreciate. And, most importantly, we pray. Pray a lot. Pray to ready yourself before the encounters come and pray for the questioner after every conversation. God allows every person across your path for a reason. And it’s your job to just let Him shine through you. That’s it. The questions might be complex, but living out our love for Jesus is quite simple.
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How To Blossom In The Hard Places

6/13/2018

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It’s that time of year when everything is growing and blooming like crazy in Maine, so that means our yard is finally alive with resplendent color… and constantly coated with a thin film of yellow pollen. It somehow finds its way into every corner of my house, prompting my inner clean freak to wipe surfaces incessantly and creating the need for me to take an allergy pill daily. But just when I start to get really annoyed, I pass by the snow shovels in our garage and immediately adjust my attitude with the not-so-distant memory of long, dark icy days when nothing can survive in my yard.

Without that much-needed attitude adjustment, I doubt I would’ve even noticed the most remarkable thing in my yard. Early one morning this week, I was looking out my window and saw a determined purple iris growing right out of an area covered in gravel and rocks. Just feet away, there was soft, fertile earth beckoning, but that single iris was growing right where it was originally planted many, many years ago by the previous owner of our property. Because we’ve lived in this location for more than a decade, I was not only surprised by the perennial’s hardiness, but equally disappointed by my lack of attention to it before.

As I pondered the struggle the iris must face each year to rise up among stones and then blossom in unpleasant conditions, I couldn't help but think about the times in our lives when God plants us in places we don’t want to be in. He sees the hard, unforgiving stones and gravel as opportunities for growth, and we tend to see them as nothing but bad luck, adversity, and disappointment. He wants us to learn to depend more on Him and become a bright spot of color on an otherwise barren landscape. But we tend to focus on the lack of comfort and companionship, and beg the Master Gardener to plant us somewhere else… anywhere else.

When we enter a season of life that places us in unfamiliar terrain that is rough and demanding, we may feel the angled, painful edges of rocks around our hearts, minds or bodies. Sometimes we resist, wilt and give up. Sometimes our stubbornness kicks in and we try to push through even when we know we shouldn’t go in a certain direction. And other times we do what God calls us to do — to completely trust Him, even in the midst of extreme discomfort. This means persevering, praying and waiting on Him for strength, relief, or perhaps replanting somewhere else next spring. When this time of waiting and endurance happens, whether you are in that difficult place for an hour, a day, a month, a year or a decade, you will always come out of it having leaned into Jesus more deeply and more fully than you could have ever imagined.   

Unfortunately, many believers never experience the kind of joy that flows from a heart that accepts God’s sovereignty to either place us in — or allow us to be taken to — a hard place. Sovereignty: now that’s a word you don’t hear every day. While most of us probably think of a monarch, like the Queen of England, the truth of the matter is that no king, president or dictator in history has ever possessed real sovereignty, which is defined as “supreme power and authority.” God tells us in Daniel 4:25 that, “The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”

Wow. Think about that. That’s hard for you and me to swallow, isn’t it? What about cruel dictators or embarrassing world leaders? What about our personal pain, like cancer, a job loss, or a failing relationship? What about the dreams God has planted in our hearts that seem to take years to materialize? The trials of life and negative thoughts come at us from every angle and Satan will attempt to use every single one of them to make us doubt God’s sovereignty. That’s because the evil one knows that our belief and unwavering trust in God’s authority and power is crucial for our spiritual “success” in life.
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Imagine being an early follower of Jesus in the years of hardship after His resurrection and ascension. The apostle Peter was crucified upside down for the cause of Christ. Paul was beaten, jailed, bitten by a snake, and suffered great personal affliction on an ongoing basis throughout his life. They, and the countless believers who suffered gracefully in the centuries that followed, all looked to Jesus as a role model for accepting and thriving under God’s sovereignty. When Jesus was enduring the beating, the ridicule, and agony of his trial and crucifixion, He laid His life down of His own accord in willing surrender to his Father’s sovereignty (John 10:18). We know from scripture that He had to be willing to surrender and play the position God had put Him in. Luke 22:42 tells us that Jesus earnestly pleaded with God about the difficult position He faced: “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.”

Waiting, seasons of suffering, and learning to glorify God in the role He’s placed you in is an uncomfortable thing to ponder. If you’re in a season of comfort and rest right now, going back to a place of stone and striving is not something you want to think about. The subject of God’s sovereignty can also be unsettling and even divisive depending on who you’re talking with about it. Yet understanding it, accepting it, and trusting in this attribute of our Heavenly Father is one of the most important keys to finding true peace and joy in this life.

Most importantly, the very existence of God’s sovereignty means we are not in control. Acknowledgment of this fact, and the ramifications of it in our lives, is the most uncomfortable feeling of all. The majority of people spend a lifetime denying God’s sovereignty and struggling needlessly with the stony places. The more they resist being where God has placed them, attempt to control the situation, and try to change things on their own, the more hardness and bitterness take over. And before any of us think that denial is always obvious and overt, remember the last time you worried about something or coveted something… even a little thing. Anytime we allow the desire for something we don’t have, whether it’s a person, a feeling, a healing, an opportunity, or material possessions, to take up more of our thoughts, actions and time than our desire for God, then we are denying His sovereignty.

So the next time you’re upset about something that seems unfair, wrong, unbearable and utterly insurmountable, remember that while you may not understand it, God is sovereign and His knowledge, foresight and complete love for us far surpasses anything that our very, very small minds can fathom. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”

When you stop fighting the place where He’s planted you and you learn to depend on Him for every nutrient of life, you will blossom in the hard places, bringing the fragrance of hope and the color of God’s glory to the many struggling around you. When we root ourselves in love, we will then emanate that love to others, no matter where we’re planted (Ephesians 3:17-19).

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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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Does God Care If I Eat Chocolate?

5/30/2018

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God Cares about what we eat; chocolate too
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God Cares About What We Eat, including Chocolate
Ahhh, the beginning of Summertime… I realize that most of the country has already experienced temperatures above 70, but here in Maine, we are just now getting a taste of warmer days and colorful blooms in the garden. Today, I am simply determined to take my desk outside, which means wearing a sweatshirt and draping a beach towel across my legs while I sit in the shade. But as a Mainer, or should I say, “Maine-nah,” I am incredibly grateful for today’s abundant sunshine even if it’s only a balmy 68 with a cool breeze.

In a few short weeks, however, I will not be able to hide under my favorite baggy sweatshirt or the bright beach towel, and so begins my annual spring slim-down-torture ritual –– okay, I have really procrastinated this year, so make that my early summer torture ritual. This is the first year I’ve had a blog, so now you get to hear about it … and hopefully hold me accountable. After all, I need to feel the potential of public scrutiny if I were to fail and end up digging through my pantry like Jack Sparrow with his latest treasure map.
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From those Trader Joe’s chocolate bars (dark chocolate with pecans and raisins!) to the Humpty Dumpty dill pickle potato chips (it’s a Maine thing), there are all kinds of junk food treasures waiting to be discovered in my moments of greatest weakness. But through the years of pursuing Jesus, I have come to realize my weakness for food (and believe me, it’s a big one) is not just a matter of willpower, or hormone levels, social indulgence, a misplaced avenue for comfort, or any of the other hundreds of reasons that all the diet gurus holler about. Of course, all of those factors are certainly real contributors to my cravings, but in the end — at least for me — I’ve learned that they are a smokescreen hiding the real truth. Like any set of distractions, they have to each be identified, understood and dealt with in order to see and conquer the real culprit: selfishness.

Now, before anyone sends me hate mail, I am absolutely not minimizing the real biological issues that can cause people to overeat. And this post is not about weight — not at all. I am a firm believer that someone can be healthy, spiritually and physically, and not necessarily be at the “ideal” weight listed on the CDC’s recommended guidelines. It’s also not about legalism or about following a set of rules and punishing yourself for breaking them. And finally, this post is not about banishing naughty foods (or any foods for that matter) from our diets. This message is strictly about our heart before God and what He asks of us. It applies to all things in life that tempt us, but I just happen to have a weakness in this area.

So now that my disclaimer is out of the way, the bottom line (sorry, I couldn’t resist the pun) is that if you are a follower of Christ, then you are His dwelling place (I Corinthians 3:16-17). His temple. His abode. He has plans for you (Jeremiah 29:11 & Ephesians 2:10), even if you can’t see them or have any clue what they are right now. He has things for you to do here on this earth until one day He calls you to your eternal home. Everything you do in life requires your body. Even the least physically demanding of spiritual endeavors, like studying and meditating on Scriptures, requires your body’s participation in some manner. So God makes it clear that we are to keep our temples in the best shape that we can for His use and His glory. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice to set us free, which means we are not to be enslaved to anything — and that includes food (Galatians 5:13). Ironically, the most visible and identifiable thing about us — our bodies — is not designed for us. It is designed and equipped for God and His purposes.

As you might have guessed by now, the answer to the question posed in the title of this post is both yes and no. Does God care if we eat a piece of chocolate or indulge with an In-N-Out burger (another delicious favorite)? No, I believe He doesn’t care, as long as those “gifts” are not fruits born out of our selfishness. But I think He cares immensely when we let any kind of pleasure dominate our heart’s desires long enough and often enough to jeopardize our ability to fulfill our callings or numb our ability to find our greatest delight in Him. So while the specific type of pleasure might not matter (as long as it is not an inherently sinful one), our dependence on — and the pursuit of — them matters during every second of our lives. This is because the very presence of God, the Holy Spirit, may ask you to use your temple to serve Him at any moment. He is with you and capable of being glorified in everything (I Corinthians 10:31) that crosses your lips, slips through your fingertips, captures your attention, and motivates you to move. We are called to view every detail of life as an opportunity to worship God. Romans 12:1 tells us that whatever we do, we should present ourselves as living sacrifices. I love The Message version of that passage, which says, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life — your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life — and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him.” We are to embrace and receive every good gift, but not overuse or glorify the gifts available to us. As Paul says, not every good gift is beneficial at all times.
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My early summer diet is a course correction. A spiritual journey to remind me that while all of God’s gifts are meant to be enjoyed, I have enjoyed a few of them a little too much through the long winter months. While I feel the diet the most in my growling stomach, it is really all about the heart. It’s a way to reset my compass to His heading and not my own direction, which left unchecked would eventually leave me physically, spiritually or emotionally unfit to serve Him in the full capacity He created me for. Sometimes God purposefully gives us physical limitations to better serve and glorify Him, as He did with so many of our Biblical heroes. But as the ultimate Sovereign over my life, that decision is exclusively His prerogative and not mine. To allow selfishness to erode and sabotage my body, which is His temple, is no different from rejecting His best for my life… a usurping of His authority. It is essentially creating limitations He didn’t intend. Resisting chocolate (when needed) is always going to be hard for me. I don’t ever expect that to change. But knowing that the simple act of doing so is spiritual training to keep me in “fighting shape” for the King of kings, is one of the sweetest motivators I can ever imagine.
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Part 2: What Does God's Voice Sound Like?

5/23/2018

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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?

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When Things Go Bump In The Night

5/9/2018

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Finding true rest on a sleepless night
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Vessels for God
Nighttime is a wondrous and mysterious thing to me... I was never one of those kids who imagined monsters under the bed, but I can remember thinking that ghosts lurked at my great grandmother’s house. I’ll never forget the night that I forced my mother to come pick me up because I had convinced myself there was a ghost sleeping in one of the guest bedrooms. I think I was about five years old. Apparently, my crying fit was enough to mess up everyone’s plans that night and generate one of those “when you were a kid” stories that our parents tell when we’re older to embarrass us in front of friends or love interests.
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As we grow up and leave behind the ghost stories and fairy tales, we often fool ourselves into believing that we are immune to being afraid of things that go bump in the night. And then we find ourselves in the middle of a rough night’s sleep (or no sleep at all), and suddenly everything seems magnified in the dark stillness. It can feel like we’ve checked our ability to reason at the bedroom door and all the problems of the day seem worse. In our tired minds, a little issue with a co-worker becomes the thing we might get fired over. A simple headache becomes a brain tumor. An unspoken word by a spouse becomes a novel-length saga in our minds, complete with a blow-by-blow dialogue.

We may no longer imagine monsters under the bed or in the closet, but a lack of sleep is one of the surest ways to create monsters in our minds and pain in our bodies. Whether it’s racing thoughts of an endless to-do list, a fixation on a particular worry, or a nagging pain, once we find ourselves awake at that odd hour, we all know how hard it can be to drift back off into the sweet ignorance of blissful sleep. No matter how much our society changes, how many technologies we invent, or number of drugs we develop, nighttime will always have a way of mysteriously magnifying problems in the human mind. But why is that? Why does everything seem worse at night (if you’re not sleeping)?

Is nighttime our enemy? No, but the enemy loves the dark. So having recently endured a bout of insomnia myself, I researched not only the reasons why everything seems worse at night — it’s one of the most common questions asked on Google --  but also what God calls us to do with those sleepless nights. As with every other problem humans face, not surprisingly, the Bible has a prescription for our nighttime woes, and it’s as current and relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.

Nighttime can make us feel helpless and vulnerable, but God gives us a Spirit of power, love and a sound mind. First, you can’t make yourself go to sleep. And the harder you try or the more you think about it, the worse it will get. Second, because you feel abnormal for not sleeping, you naturally wonder what else is wrong with you. Even more frustrating, is the inability to take action on anything in the middle of the night. At 3 in the morning, you just don’t have the same options that you have at 3 in the afternoon. It’s not like you can call your best friend and discuss the issue. You could wake up your spouse, but why bring them into the same mess you’re in? And if you get up and start doing things, you’ll probably worry about waking up the whole house. But 2 Timothy 1:7 makes it clear that we can press onward with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit’s power, love, and a sound mind (or self control in some versions). Prayer and meditation during sleeplessness empower us, destroying the Enemy’s attempt to make you feel helpless, weak and vulnerable. Resting in the truth that God will provide for you the next day, no matter how little sleep you get, can ease your striving, reduce your anxiety, and help you release control over the situation (which is something you don’t have anyway). If you’re looking for verses about sleep to meditate on in the night, here’s a list of 21 scriptures to ponder.

Nighttime can make us feel isolated and insignificant, but that’s exactly when we can feel closest to Jesus. When you can’t sleep and it seems like everyone else is able to, it’s easy to slip into a place of feeling alone, abnormal and disconnected. And there’s just something about the darkness and quiet of night that seems to whisper vastness to us. This is primetime for the Enemy to tell you that you are insignificant to God and that He isn’t going to rescue you. It gets even worse if you’ve been praying and still don’t have any relief. Sometimes He provides miraculous relief and other times God allows us to go through a testing in order to have us press into Him all the more. The more we learn to depend on Him, the more He will make Himself known to us. Psalm 34:18 says the Lord is close to the brokenhearted. James 4:8 says to draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Hebrews 4:16 says, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” In my last round of insomnia, God reassured me that He was allowing it to happen in order to teach me to surrender yet another layer of control to His loving sovereignty. So although relief wasn’t immediate, His presence was vivid and His instruction became clearer and clearer. God was providing me with personal, intimate insight into control issues I didn’t even know were hiding inside of me. With this kind of personal attention from the King of the Universe, how could I not feel valued, significant and loved? He knew me before I was born (Psalm 139), and He tells me to fear not because He will strengthen me, help me and uphold me (Isaiah 41:10).

Nighttime without sleep can shine a spotlight on the things that are bothering us the most, but Jesus wants us to focus on Him and lay all our burdens down. During the day we have plenty to distract us from any deep-seated or latent concerns going on in our lives. In fact, our over-scheduled days and the noise of social media and TV can completely numb our hearts and minds, keeping us from addressing things in our hearts that desperately need attention. So while our jobs, school, social outings, entertainment, etc., can occupy our time and focus during the waking hours for an extended period of time, eventually we all come face to face with our unaddressed problems in the middle of the night. Sometimes God uses the distraction-free solitude of night to make us aware of the things we’re not surrendering to Him, unconfessed sin, unhealthy habits, or any other issue that is keeping us from becoming all that He wants us to be or the abundant life He offers. When we’re hanging onto something tightly, the nighttime has a unique way of revealing the pain of that grip. Jesus said in Matthew 11:28-30 that He wants to carry our burdens. I love The Message version of that passage: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Nighttime triggers our biological drive for self-preservation, but God wants us to trust Him that the timing of our lives is in His wise and loving hands. As sleep evades us, anything that prevents us from finding peace in the night is more pronounced, including physical pain. So everything we feel seems to be serious and appears to require more analysis. This is a nightmare for anyone with hypochondriacal tendencies, but almost everyone has entertained a wild thought or two in the middle of the night. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, so our Creator knows that we can’t help but be concerned about our health. However, He wants us to believe in Him enough to completely rest in the fact that He alone should determine the length of our days. He also wants us to spend the primary aim of our days glorifying Him and loving others well (Matthew 22:36-40). We can’t fulfill either of those commands if we are walking around consumed with worries about ourselves all the time.

This gets to the heart of perhaps the most difficult issue of sovereignty that any human faces. We can exercise, eat right, and take fantastic care of our bodies, but we cannot control the timing of illnesses, injuries, and eventually death. I certainly haven’t found the secret to complete peace with this, but God has reminded me repeatedly that I will find the greatest peace and joy in my daily life, when I don’t dwell on that which I cannot control. This is the great mystery of faith: when we choose to trust God with our lives, He will always help us live more abundantly. When we dwell on that which we can’t control, we will always find misery. Max Lucado says in his book Anxious For Nothing, “We want certainty, but the only certainty is the lack thereof. That’s why the most stressed out people are control freaks. They fail at the quest they most pursue. We can’t take control because it’s not ours to take. Peace is within reach, not for a lack of problems, but because of the presence of a sovereign Lord.” He goes on to remind us about Isaiah who was afraid after King Uzziah died. Isaiah’s problems didn’t go away, but God’s divine power and presence swelled within him to sustain and strengthen him in miraculous ways. God made Isaiah to be a vessel that displays His divine glory through the fractured lines of human weakness. He does the same for us, and that’s what we put our hope in. Not that the problems go away. Not that we can regain a sense of control over our future. Our hope must rest squarely on the deeply stirring knowledge and unwavering belief that God is sovereign and that no matter what comes our way, He will be with us, He will be glorified, and He will somehow use it for good. Trusting in His sovereignty helps us respond to problems not with fear, but with the resolute confidence that helps us exclaim, “I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do with this.” 2 Timothy 4:18 says, “And I know the Lord will continue to rescue me from every trip, trap, snare, and pitfall of evil and carry me safely to His heavenly kingdom. May He be glorified throughout eternity. Amen.” If Paul could say that with such confidence in prison, then we can certainly say it in the comfort of our warm, snuggly beds with our favorite pillow. So next time the night comes without any sleep, take heart that you can still find true rest in the One who never slumbers, never leaves you, and never fails. He is the only constant in a world completely out of your control, and you have the privilege of holding His hand 24 hours a day.
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