There are many women gathered in prayer today, for Amy Beth of Ministry So Fabulous. I am so encouraged when this happens in the blogging community, because this is the only way to be useful to Amy Beth right now. This girl is suffering. Please lift her name up to the ear of the Father for the healing of her body. If you feel inclined, you can join many others and link your blog to a day of prayer for her. This link can also provide updates and specific prayer needs.
Thank you.
I am doing errands this morning. It is not remarkable, and not even close to heroic. Even in these small tasks I need the covering of the Lord. Perhaps, it is because I prove each day that I can mess up anywhere. Can I get a witness?
I just don't want to miss out on Him. I don't want to miss a thing that He does, today. Because of this, I have to rely on Him to do everything.
This morning, during my prayer time, I wrote,
Cover the thoughts in my head.
Cover the movings of my heart.
Cover the blindness of my choice.
Cover the cruelty of my flesh.
Cover the words from my mouth.Cover the direction of my feet.
Cover the safety of my path.
Cover this woman from the influences of this world.
Cover me with your word, your Spirit and your love.
Cover me, today.
I am about to take a road trip with my mom. It should be a really fun time. The older we get, the harder it is to make those dates together. They are so valuable, but seem to wiggle off the pages of our calendars. These dates create the moments that bring smiles to us when we clean the house, or buy groceries. I know that this trip will fill the storehouse of smiles for a long time to come.
Before we get together for holidays or vacations, our phone time increase exponentially. This is a phenomenon that I cannot explain. I went over my minutes in December because I was arranging plans with people that I would see in the next few days. One might just wait and do everything face-to-face, but we are a people who talk about everything in stages. So, more phone time.
In this tradition, I was talking to my mom on the phone this morning. We were talking about the times in your life when your job is to do little.
Most of the time, I pray for God to do much with me, to work much through me, in me, around me, and use me mightily. When I pray, I think big. God is big. I think that I want to be prepared in case I need to learn how to fly, or I am called to be one of a handful running around my city as it falls. I am all about being prepared.
That was not what we were talking about. We talked about God is calling us to the small jobs. We (my mom and I) are prone to take over a situation when we see better solutions to really easy problems. So, should I just walk in the door with my computer and planner while the theme from Mighty Mouse blares in the background? No, probably not…she says reluctantly.
When we have our big vision, when we know what is best, how do we just sit on the sidelines and leave it to the ones who are clearly under qualified? (My mentor and I have already determined that I am a controller of people…thank you CTO!) WE JUST DO! If God wanted me to work out the plan, he would give me the power of attorney for all the people I need to fix. To date, this has not happened.
My mom and I were talking about how to pray for this. I need to pray for God to show me what my job is, and be open to cameos. I need to ask Him to prepare me for my job. If I do this, I will be able to encourage from the sidelines, to keep my communication from becoming a stumbling block to others, and to support the plan that God has ordained.
Without prayer, I know exactly what would happen. I would appoint myself in leadership of this project. I would assume authority that was not divinely given to me and I would move away from God’s covering and into enemy territory. That is where I find the fear and frustration. That is where the strife will not leave me alone and my Spirit will not rest. This is a tough place to pitch my tent.
Today, my mom and I are praying for our sideline positions. We are praying that we can know, and be prepared for our jobs. In fact, we are planning to be the best stinkin’ sideliners that this world has ever seen. Right mom?
Do you ever “know best”? How do you deal with that?
These are some things that I have been reading.
I think they tie together well.
“Here is the secret of Divine all-sufficiency to come to the end of everything in ourselves and in our circumstances, When we reach this place, we will stop asking for sympathy because of our hard situation or bad treatment, for we will recognize these things as the very conditions of our blessing, and we will turn from them to God and find in them a claim upon Him.” -A.B. Simpson
“When you get to end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” -Theodore Roosevelt
“In this age, which believes that there is a shortcut to everything, the greatest lesson to be learned is that the most difficult way is, in the long run, the easiest”. –Henry Miller
“Life Under God’s Control”
Surrendering your life to God’s control requires relinquishing your control and entrusting yourself to the One who knows far better than you how to manage your life! He created you and placed you in circumstances that are deliberately designed to cast your dependency on Him and to bring your life into submission to His authority. All Him to manifest His life through you! God does not require your perfection, but rather that your life be characterized by the pursuit of holiness.
My prayer through this…
Isaiah 30: 20 & 21, NRSV,
Though the Lord may give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself any more, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Just by writing this, I feel that I am letting down women everywhere.
I am a horrible multitasker.
It can be done, but as I was standing at the refrigerator getting a glass of water while trying to empty the coffee pot of any unused portion, I realized that I was sliding into the splits on my kitchen floor. Ironically, I maintained that I had it under control as my glass of water ran over and I spilled the coffee trying to right myself in front of the coffee pot. It got me thinking.
Recently, I was at Women of Faith, where Marcus Buckingham spoke. In his book, Find Your Strongest Life, he asserts that multi-tasking is a myth. He says, “…the average worker’s functioning IQ drops ten points when multitasking, more than double the four-point drop that occurs when someone smoking marijuana. (The analogy the researchers used is that a ten-point drop in IQ is equivalent to missing one night of sleep).”
Hmmm.
I was with a dear old friend of mine, yesterday morning. Yep. I visited, instead of blogging. We went to high school together and the stories flowed. I found that they were mostly one-sided. He would tell something and I would tell him that I vaguely recalled it, but I have a horrible memory for those kinds of things.
The truth is that I have a horrible memory for a lot of things. My husband comes home at night and asks me about my day. I freeze. I have to work to recall what happened to me.
A woman’s life, my life specifically, lends itself to this multitasking lifestyle. So many things happen around us that we find minutes and days passing which are marked by the memory of enduring simultaneous tasks, and not specific events. Memories of layered processes are being formed with nothing remarkable to hold on to. I guess that we need those 10 IQ points for the remarkable.
I also need those 10 IQ points to keep from breaking glasses, burning food in the toaster oven, forgetting about things on the stove, leaving the water running in the bathroom, accidentally cutting myself, and getting frustrated because everything needs me at once. It doesn’t. I just create an immediate environment, where I feel like I will buy myself five minutes through simultaneous tasking. It is never true.
One of the greatest aids in analyzing my tendency to multitask and lose valuable life moments is also something that I mentioned in an earlier post. I have started running (click here for the gory details), well, let’s call it light jogging. The comment that I hear from people who hate running is, “It is so boring”. The truth is that it is not boring, but it requires that you entertain yourself.
It has really challenged me, because when you are running you have to think about something, besides hating it, to get it done. Then there is a point that you reach where you no longer think about not thinking about it. You just go somewhere else where your brain can empty itself and think one thought at a time. Revolutionary, I know! It gives a point of reference for the rest of my day.
I think that I have been urged to singleness of thought by this exercise. I am alone, with no distractions but a little worship music. It is easier to accomplish a run if I submit to the action, rather than count the seconds left in my miles. I want to transfer this mentality to my daily life. I want to honor the task at hand and move quietly from one to the next. Living in this moment and moving to the next with the possibility of remembering something usually lost in the shuffle. Think of conversations that could benefit from those 10 IQ points.
There are women, with whom I have spoken, who express real concerns about prayer time. To many women, quieting the mind for prayer is another task to endure. Does anyone else have trouble unwinding?
I am convinced that this lifestyle affects our quiet times. Part of saying no to multitasking is devoting all attention to one task. When we sit before God we twitch, make the grocery list, make mental trails, and work ourselves into a tizzy because we feel that we are dishonoring God by our brain in motion.
Prayer requires one line of thought. Reading the word becomes a conversation with the Spirit when there is one line of thought. When my life goes haywire, this is where I see the difference. If I can sit down and rest in the word and rest in prayer, it is a good day.
These are just some thoughts shared with the knowledge that there are other multi-taskers out there. I would love to know how you combat this tendency to spread yourself over the tasks of the day.
Or, I guess that I should start by asking the question, are you combating it? Leave me a note in the comment section, and let me know how you deal with multitasking.
I write this short, little word to you today,
a) because it has been a spiritually crazy week, with lots of things for me to sort out before I throw them at you
b) because I have done more this week physically than any other week since my back surgery, and I am tired but feeling good (woohoo!)
c) because I am a little fussy about the fact that we will have temperatures almost reaching 100 degrees this weekend…again (isn't it fall somewhere?)
d) because my air conditioning broke again and it is going to be almost 100 degrees this weekend (I will not lose it like I did over the dishwasher, promise)
e) because, don’t we all want a break going into the weekend?
So, I was reading this verse this morning.
This has happened to me three times in the last two days, so I want to share…
Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive. (Matthew 21:22, NRSV)
Asking things that are in line with God’s will and commands, should be like asking a bird to fly. It is a given. The tipping point is my faith. Do I believe that God is who He says He is? Do I believe that He is capable of all things, including changing my feelings about my circumstance?
It is a wonderful comfort to me when I see God reciprocate in this way. He cares about all of my little things, as well as the big, reassuring me of His nearness.
So, this weekend, if you have a request, ask knowing that the Lord desires to give you His best.
Have a great weekend!
Building on our discussion, yesterday…
This morning I ran across this,
As they were leaving
Old Road From Jericho to Jerusalem, Israel
I was so inspired by these verses.
Cry out
Call Him by name
Ask Him for mercy
Listen to Him asking what I need
Ask Him to open my eyes
See His compassion
Wait for His touch
Know that He can do for me what he did in Jericho 2000 years ago
I sat in my living room, calling out for His attention as if He was passing on a road in front of me and I could not miss this opportunity. My life depended on it. I called to Him for mercy, my Father, my Savior.
I need to be free from the lies of the enemy that mentally shackle me. Lord, open my eyes to see the truth. He heard me because of who He is. He knows the urgency of my request. I sat and waited.
I know that He is working in me to free me from untruth, and opposition from the enemy. This is what Jesus does. He frees His people.
Thank you, Father.
Does pride keep us from crying out like our life depended on it?
Everyone has their quirks. I am sure that you have little idiosyncrasies that your friends know and love. It makes you, you. I would love to hear what they are, so have some compassion on this blogger and make me smile by telling me one in the comments section.
I have certain qualities that cause me some amount of grief. I am horrible with idioms. Yesterday, I was talking to our beloved church secretary, and I asked her if I was going up a dead tree. It made perfect sense to me. She informed me that I was mixing my idioms. This offers my husband minutes of head shaking and smirking every day of our marriage. I could stop using them, but then what would I say?
So, this morning one of my “qualities” caught my attention. I am stubborn as a mule ox. I don’t think that sounds quite right, either, but moving on.
I was doing laundry. Completely ignoring the heeding of Emily, over at Chatting at the Sky. I stopped to think half way down the hall. The laundry is sorted, so all that I have to do is get it to the washer. So, I take a pile.
This sounds easy, but no. I stoop to the ground raking in clothes, piling them to the point of explosion in my arms. I cannot carry them completely upright because I am relying, partially, on the tops of my legs as a barricade. Bent legged and without adjustment, for fear of losing the load, I hobble to the laundry room looking more like a troll than a woman.
I had to stop and think because when you carry the laundry in your arms like this, the inevitable will happen. I heard the soft pattering of my usual defeat. Behind me lay the carnage of those discarded in the process, a sock, a sports bra, a shirt.
To complete the process, I actually do it all twice. In order to get everything to the laundry room, I unsuccessfully carry the first load and then go back to clean up the mess I left behind.
Some of you would say, “Buy a laundry basket”. Yes, you hit the nail in the board? Excellent advice. I happen to have one, five steps from where I stoop to scoop. It is lovely and tall with wheels. It is the perfect laundry cart. So, the problem does not lie with resource. The problem is me and my “the hard way is faster” mentality. I am stubborn as an ox mule, or is it the other way around?
In an overly simplistic way, this is the history of my prayer life. I know what to do, that is not the problem. I had to train myself to pray because I am a go-at-it-on-your-own, stubborn girl. I will pick up the mess of clothes strewn from one side of the house to the other several times before I say, “Why didn’t I just use the laundry basket?”
My spiritual life is not complete without constant awareness of His presence and dedicated time in front of the Father, but I still have to sit myself, in time out, to get it done some days. After I do this I say, “Why didn’t I just do that first?”
This decision is my act of worship. I turn myself to him in spite of my mental white noise, actively choosing Him. These choices make the difference in my walk.
I encourage you today to do it the easy way. Use a laundry basket, number one. Secondly, stop and think of the resources that are available to you. The Spirit has access to the depths of heaven. Thirdly, remember
Are you an ox mule? Let me know how that is going for you.
When I used to do singles ministry, as I was a single myself, I noticed commonality in prayer life. There are lots of life events that you wait for when you are single. You wait for a husband, a house or a pet. You wait for time to start hobbies or you wait for promotions. This is not to say that you only wait. As you wait, you fill your schedule from morning until night.
I recall many a women’s group at prayer request time. Someone would say, “How can I pray for you?” Without fail the answers rung out, “Pray that I will have patience”. It is interesting how a life can be so busy and, yet, require so much patience. It is like living on both sides of a coin. They were waiting for something.
I was an oddball. Did I pray for patience? False, I did not pray for patience (said like Dwight Schrutte of The Office). This prayer terrified me. Ask God to refine you and He will. There is only one way to get that lesson and I happen to encounter it, still, every time I leave my house. I do not want an extra dose of the lesson ending in patience.
I have also noticed that young mothers do not pray for patience, and if you do maybe that is the problem. God listens and He listens perfectly. Don’t say what you don’t mean. Can’t you imagine Him sitting there thinking, “What in the world is she saying, didn’t I give her a screaming baby, yesterday?”
I have good news for all of those who bravely traverse this land of patience, however. I have found your verse. You are the righteous ones it turns out, so congratulations.
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire? 13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home (2 Peter 2:11-13, NRSV).
It says it all right there, what kind of persons should we be if our goal is to look more like our Lord? We need to be waiting people. We are waiting for the return of Jesus and the completion of His promise. Waiting is the active verb in these verses.
Active? Waiting can be active. Although I have been, sort of, kidding about praying for patience, this kind of waiting requires acts of patience, as I am sure you know. Our lives need to settle like a laser beam toward the future, resting only on one prize, going home. In the meantime, we actively wait.
This patience rests in righteousness and promise. It is not patience based on the what-ifs, and I wants. It is generous for God to tell us exactly what we are waiting for, so we can focus our energies on Him. Some days I have to refocus myself, more than once, to remember that my primary act of waiting is not when I start dinner.
So, will I pray for patience? Only if I mean it. I know that it is already promised to me through the Spirit. So, it is a matter of retrieval, not access. I have found that most of my patience problems come from my surrendering problems in the present. You know what I mean?
So, let’s set our laser beams on our future promise, actively waiting together.
Is there something wonderful that you are waiting for in the meantime?
Father, thank you for revealing our destiny to us. Teach us how to actively wait for your return. Fill us with this hope for your promise.
Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective (James 5:13 - 16, NRSV).
I read this a few weeks ago and never completed a thought on it. This morning I was looking through my margins during my quiet time, or my TAWG (time alone with God, thank you Amy for emailing me a new name for my devos).
I wrote “never be rescued but act”.
I certainly have been the object of rescue, although I usually sense it in hindsight. The present takes the act of rescue and turns it into steps of logic. Often, we go from one step to the other without thought. One reason could be because steps are hard. Hard does not mean rescue to us.
Rescue removes us from a situation unscathed, unmarked, and without fatigue. Rescue allows us to powder our nose before we make a hair-flipping exit. Rescue is appealing, but this life has not provided me much of this. My rescues happen by the skin of my teeth. I have scars and mental images left from these near misses. My rescues are born out of a million tiny decisions in a direction, but they are still unlikely and leave me on my knees, grateful.
This verse is centered in the present. It is the hard and fast how to, of “I have a problem”. I have often sat with people who did not want to hear this verse. They do not want to act, but be rescued. They want to say that cool one-liner existing only in movie land, as the building blows up behind them. Personally, I would like to be rescued of these 15 pounds, instead of having to get on the treadmill.
James say, no. If we suffer, we pray. If we are cheerful, we sing. If we are sick, we call for the body of Christ. If we sin, we ask forgiveness, we confess. It is in action, not in rescue that we demonstrate faithfulness, a steadfast love for Jesus.
Are you in a place where it would be easier to be rescued than to act?
Father, thank you for your methods of rescue. Thank you for showing us that we are the beloved in the way that you are in relationship with us. Where we struggle, let our hearts turn to you in prayer. Let every moment of this weekend turn us to you in celebration and in sorrow. Amen.
There are two reasons why I want you to rest with me this weekend.
One, it is a holiday. Not a normal holiday, but one that calls for a rest from laboring. I think I have read about that command somewhere. Have a Sabbath! Don’t we need that?
When I was teaching the little kids in VBS, I explained that God wants a day free of distractions from Him. He wants all of your attentions. Good news, we can do that with our families, and what a blessing to make Jesus the center of a day with the family.
This weekend looks good already, but this is just what our bodies do in space. Does this give the whole picture?
Number two, maybe some of you, like me, will have to face something of which you are unsure, during this holiday weekend.
I was praying this morning and was told, in no uncertain terms, that Jesus will have His way. I can’t screw that up. I don’t need to fear the outcome because it is already finished. I have handed it to Him every morning. I can rest. You can rest.
Let’s not disguise rest, though. I have mocked the fundamentals of rest through the stillness of my costumes. One can be still while holding a dinner party for angst. While maintaining repose, my thoughts can race until I am inwardly unraveled into a pile of useless dread.
Rest is what our bodies do; but, even more, it is inward. It is the way that air fills your chest. It is the way that your muscles choose to hold your frame. It is the content of your thoughts.
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28, NRSV
This is my prayer for you and for me this weekend.
Do you need rest?
First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. 3 This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:1-4, NRSV).
I don’t want for this to serve as a confessional, but I am putting something out there. I rarely pray for our government leaders. I pray for the leaders in my church regularly, but not my government.
Is it because I didn’t vote for the current administration? I don’t know. Do I have an, “if you didn’t do it my way then you are on your own”, mentality? Oh, I hope not.
For whatever reason, I am not fulfilling this necessary role in the body of Christ. Everyone needs our prayers, especially those in authority over us. My pastor was saying that intercessory prayer is an act of love. I like to think that I am giving little hugs to the people I pray for, even if I will never meet them. I especially like to think of hugging people who do not want to be hugged. So there.
I am putting this out there because I want to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. I want that, and scripture says that this is part of that puzzle. Therefore, sign me up.
You know the other reasons that Paul conveniently gives us? It is the right thing to do, and God likes it. And, if God wants for me to do this, I need to get out my colored pens and add it to my prayer list.
This month I am going to set a habit for myself of praying for the Presidency, Senate and House every day during September. I am also going to pray for the leaders of my state and city. My prayer will not only be for their leadership under God, but that they would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. I will pray for freedom from deceit and conceit, so that this truth can guide them decisively.
I am hoping that this will put me into overdrive so that I can pray for these people more frequently after this time is over.
Plus, how fun is it to think of hugging all of these important people without their security guards pulling me off?
Want to join me?
Father, thank you for guiding us so specifically with your word. Lord, today I pray for your Presidency and your Cabinet. I pray for your House of Representatives and your Senate. I pray that they would know, in a very real way, that they are leading under You. I pray that you would guide the leaders of your state and your city today. I pray that your agenda would be accomplished in these offices. Father, I pray that you would put people in their paths that would lead them to salvation, and the knowledge of your truth. I pray that your truth would be used to act decisively each day. Free these people from the deceit that surrounds them and the conceit that can accompany leadership. Father, place this prayer in my heart so that we can live quietly, peacefully, and in dignity that can only come from you. Amen.
It is actually my bedroom closet, which serves me perfectly well for the hanging of my clothes and a house for my shoes, but it has the ability to transform. I guess that it would be a dinner closet if I served food in it.
There is a history of “business” getting done in the prayer closet. It is not that I don’t pray every day, but sometimes we have to get “business” done. This is the searching; letting the Spirit open the gates where the wild animals live. I can’t give myself any excuses or benefits of the doubt in there. I am shown the root of my actions, patterns, fears. Roots can go deep.
This is the protocol. I shut the lights off before I get in (the switch is on the outside). Then I just sit down with my back to the door, in the dark. Then I wait.
I have learned about confession and forgiveness in this closet. I have experienced freedom from things that have shackled me, possibly for most of my life. I have fought for my beliefs. When I had no legs to stand on, my feet were found, standing on the Rock. In there, I have told God that I have no idea how to be a wife so many times, that I cannot count them. All these things have happened in my prayer closet.
The good thing about sitting in the closet, in the dark, with the door closed, is you will be alone. People don’t want to sit in any closet with you. They do not look for you there; and, all of those clothes buffer sound. You can speak as candidly and as loud as you want, who is going to stop you in your closet?
This morning I woke up at about 3:15. This seems to be a norm these days. It is the end of my first round of sleep. This morning it was helped by a sick dog. I was reading some blogs yesterday that talked about surrender and trust. So, I told God that I trust Him. I told Him that I surrender all of the crazy things that role through your mind at 3am.
It is funny that all day I can think, “I can”, but from about 3-4:30am, I am plagued with, “I can’t”. It makes for some good prayer time as I look at the ceiling, and then the right wall, and then the left wall, and then the ceiling.
This morning, while lying there, I knew that I was headed for the closet this morning. I won’t say that God didn’t believe that I trust Him, but I was having trouble believing it myself. That surprised me. I knew that I had business to be done.
After my husband went to work, I went in. There I sat. Waiting, and pouring every emotion out through my eyes. I always take a box of tissues. It is strangely cathartic.
Once again, I was taught a thing or two. Once again, I had to forgive and confess. Once again, I sat at the foot of the cross and saw what is real. I love the time in the closet.
Where is your “prayer closet”?
I am so lucky to have been a part of vibrant ministries. I have also been a part of ministry for the sake of ministry. It feels different. We have all been there.
There are even some that have encouraged temporary seasons of growth for me, but could not be productive long-term. They offered guidelines and new rules geared toward making my behavior holier. Lots of these happened while I was in singles ministry. I will have to think about why there are so many rules, in print, for singles.
In retrospect, I can say the only practices that have any potential for holiness are wrapped up in the time that I spend living in Christ, every day. The first of this time is spent in His word and prayer. My verse this week is a refresher for me because it is only when I am devoted to prayer that I become different. I have to pray about praying…that is how much help I need! Out of that time comes everything else.
I am settling into Colossians today and remembering these times of forced obedience. They all point me to these verses,
All these regulations refer to things that perish with use; they are simply human commands and teachings. 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-imposed piety, humility, and severe treatment of the body, but they are of no value in checking self-indulgence (Colossians 2:22 & 23, NRSV).
All of the rules in my life could not change me. They did nothing for my desires. They did nothing to check my indulgences. They structured me and set wobbly, beautiful fences around me. My intention was good, but I was accepting a regulation in place of relationship.
Sometimes with the purist of intention, we fall for a shadow.
Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God (Colossians 2:16, NRSV).
The substance belongs to Christ…
sub•stance \ˈsÉ™b-stÉ™n(t)s\ n
MW Collegiate Dict. (11th Ed.)
1 : essential nature : essence
2 : ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestations and change
Christ = the substance, what is essential to us, the ultimate reality of our lives that underlies all outward manifestations and changes.
Everything that we create to draw closer to Him is simply a shadow.
This takes us to two places. We need to put our best efforts into these shadows because they reflect the substance of us and our churches. This will matter when we give our account.
Next, we need to remain in the source, in the substance itself to find out what is real and essential. I don’t know about you, but I can get off track so quickly. I have to constantly check to see if my flesh is playing tricks on me. The substance belongs to Christ, not to me or my shadows. That is real.
There is no ministry, no regulation and no self-abasement that could bring me closer to Christ than Himself. The ultimate reality already lives inside of me. Tapping into our substance has to be moment by moment, holding fast to Him. When we hold fast, these shadows of Him (ministries, relationships, homes) become more powerful. They look more like the substance…more like Jesus.
What if all of our shadows looked like this?
Father, thank you for giving us completely freedom from anything that could distract us from you. You are our substance, Father. Separate the shadows from reality and make us aware of what is real in our lives.
Again, I have been entrusted with my nephew for a week. It is so interesting to go from no child to a thirteen year old. From the time he was little, I have felt that God could speak to me through his little words.
I just looked through an old journal this morning to find one such moment. Eight years ago, God changed my entire life. I was living in another state with a good job, and lots of prospects. One day, I hit bottom and everything changed.
John Stott writes in Basic Christianity, that intellectual prejudice and moral self-will are the two greatest hindrances to genuinely seeking God. Amen to that. Some people are even intellectually open enough to accept truth, but they do not have the self-will to implement moral change. I did not want moral change, until this one day.
I quit my job, broke my engagement, bought a house in another state and started packing boxes. That was it. I knew that God was promising me that if I had the courage to obey Him, He had plans for me. “The scripture says, ‘No one who believes in him will be put to shame’” (Romans 10:11, NRSV). So, I went.
Right before I moved, I was feeling a little down so I called my sister. It was really to talk to my nephew. What cuter thing can you hear than the voice of a five year old? So, I told him that I was feeling a little lonely. He said, “Don’t be lonely because I will ask God to protect you”. He pulled the phone away from his ear and prayed, right there while I listened.
Of course, I was crying by now. He told me that God will be there, “so fast”. I asked him if God could come that fast, and he said, “God is fast, like Ravey (his favorite dog)”.
At this point my dog, Maggie, had to excuse herself outside. Ben said, “Maggie wants to go outside to make the snakes go somewhere else”. I said, “Oh, is she protecting me?” He said, “God is protecting you”.
At a time in my life when I was so confused, hurt, and hopeful, God sent my nephew’s little voice to me. God was there fast, and I was, indeed, being protected.
So this morning, when I walked into the hall and said, “I haven’t blogged, yet”, he told me what to write about…character; specifically, the self-destruction involved in greed.
I am trying to interpret his notes as best I can.
My dogs were stealing food from each other this morning which left one completely without breakfast. The one is Tess, the doggie in the picture. This happens often, actually. She is just not much of an eater, and even less of a defender. She takes after Dwight on the eating.
The others look at her and see that she has a bowl full of food and they do not. Then they wait for me to leave and one of them eats it all, while she stands staring at them. Pitiful sight, I know.
This exercise drives me bananas. In I go, yelling the name of one dog, or the other. I ask Tess why she is not eating her food, and why she is letting the others eat it. We repeat this every couple of days, just to keep me listening astutely to the pattern of jingling dog tags against the food bowls.
It seems fun until I charge in, I am sure. When one is greedy, everyone is left with nothing.
We can all learn from being greedy. We are the ones that suffer in the end. I can’t really say that Maggie was suffering much as she had her mid-morning snack, but…
I was greedy with my life. I felt that I had to protect myself from God’s change, and as a result everyone lost. I lost that time of relationship with God, and He lost because of my hardness.
The best way to explain it was self-hoarding. I was keeping my abandonment for the cause of my choosing, instead of the safest place in the world. I withheld for an invisible payoff. I had no idea how close I came to complete self-destruction.
I was praying about going into one more day with my nephew, this morning. The beauty about living in Jesus is the safety of giving it all away. I can recklessly show him love because my Father does it with me.
There will be no self-hoarding, and no self-protection, today. He will know the love of the Father through me. This is going to be a great day!
Is there someone in your life that needs to be loved recklessly today? Are you willing to do it?
Father, thank you for calling us out of our selfish state to give us the hope of eternal glory. Let us love like you have shown us. Put people on our heart who need us today.
During my daily prayer time, I get business done and I don’t invite others. It is a time when I come before the throne and call a spade, a spade. I confess things that I would not tell anyone. I ask God to show me my warts and I weep over them. It is well…messy, in the best way. So, I understand prayer as intimate. You would know A LOT about me if you were a fly on the wall.
So, as I read it, John 17 is a private, although public, moment between Jesus and the Father. He is about to be betrayed and arrested, and He prayed. By the time that you reach it, this is almost a love story to the ones who believe in Him and the Father. I think that in a moment like this, it is really important to hang off of His words because we…now…are mentioned in it.
First he prayed for the disciples, not just the twelve but those who had become believers in His time on earth. He had been here protecting them. Now He would be gone. He prayed for God to intervene and protect them. He prayed this so that they would be one, like the Son and the Father, like the vine grower and the vine. We need protection from this world to remain one, the branch in the vine. If you have ever been on a committee, in a club, in a church or on a mission trip, you understand this.
Next, we see wonderful evidence of the One who loves them. He is going so His joy is made complete in his disciples. What a time to talk about joy. In the next chapter Jesus is betrayed. We miss this key element of faith sometimes, but it was so important that Jesus prayed over joy before His death on the cross. We are to have His joy, John 17:13, “But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves [or among themselves].”
Here is a big one, Jesus prays for the disciples’ protection, but not just so that they can be one…in other words protection between themselves. Jesus prays for protection from the evil one. This is a threat that we cannot ignore. It is something that Jesus knows His disciples would contend with and we contend with it. I once heard to be careful if I didn’t see the devil running around because he might be walking along side of me (horrible paraphrase).
Lastly for the disciples, John 17:17-19, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” Jesus wants for the disciples to have their eyes open. He wants for them to be deep in the word, because they are going to be out there, in the world. To apply this to today…there is no way that we will survive out there if we are not sanctified by the word in our homes and hearts.
And here it is…the very next sentence is where we come in, two thousand years later. John 17:20, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word”. We came from the words of Jesus to the disciples. Again, Jesus asks that we will be one. That we will know that God is one, the only one, who sent Jesus Christ to earth. Amen. Amen.
This is how Jesus said it, John 17:23, “I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” He wants us to be completely one, the Father, the Son, and each other so that the world will see that God loves us like He loves His own Son. I say again, God loves us like He loves Jesus.
I was speaking to a friend of mine and we were talking about letting God love us. There is a lie that comes straight from the evil one that we are unlovable or undeserving. Hear this, God already loves us this much. There is nothing that we can do about that. He is constant, while we are buying into lies. Jesus wants for us to be so completely one with Him that we will get the fact that we are loved…and the world will know it because that is what people are looking for. Then we have the chance to multiply through His words.
Finally, and I consider this completely over the top, like the cherry on the sundae. He wants for us to see His glory. Oh, Lord, let us see your glory! That is exciting. It isn’t enough that he wants us to be safe, joyful, one (God, Son and believers), sanctified in truth, and loved. He wants for us to be around for the glory of Him. Saying all of this is just decadent.
Since these are the things that Jesus desired for us, where are they in our lives? Are we one; are we joyful, do we know that we are loved? Just something to think about today…
Father, thank you for your generosity and extravagance. Thank you for calling us your own from this rich legacy. Show us what is offered to us that we push away or can’t believe. Give us wisdom and belief where we lack it.
