On Rest: Part Three

February 23, 2012

If you haven't read Part One and Part Two in this series on Rest, you may want to do that now.

Like I said before, Mark 6 isn't mainly about rest or food. It's about the Gospel. It's about learning how to respond when interruptions come. 

Today is the part where I tell you where these truths found ME. I've been to God's Word. I've journaled and prayed my way through this theme that God is bringing to my attention. And like He almost always does, He keeps bringing it up. Kaycee wrote about rest when she linked up with Renee.  Matthias Media shared a post about One-To-One ministry on their FB page. As I was cooking dinner (brats, alfredo, and salad) for my family last night, I had my iPod set to shuffle and this sermon by Carl Medearis came on. I thought I was done learning what I had to learn from Mark 6, but I was WRONG. 

I was in the mood for music, but something about Medearis's message sucked me in. I didn't hit the skip button. I listened and before I knew it, I was REALLY listening. Things are tighter than they've been in a long time. We're spending more money on gas and theatre stuff than ever before. I know it's what we came here to do, but I put a lot of pressure on myself not to waste a single cent as I keep our pantry stocked with food. It's to the point where I'm terrified that an extra mouth or two will show up for dinner because I know I've only set aside EXACTLY how much meat we need to feed the five of us. I've actually encouraged my brother and sister to plan game nights and get togethers so that people show up after any reasonable meal hour so that I don't have to figure out how or what to feed them. 

And this is me...The one who loves to feed people. The person who has always been complimented on how welcome she makes people feel. The girl who thought hospitality might be one of her gifts. I've turned into the person who can come up with at least five excuses of reasons NOT to invite people over for dinner without even trying. I've turned into the person who guards the nights we have at home to ourselves because they seem to be so few and far between. I've turned into the person who doesn't see interruptions the way Jesus taught His disciples to. And I don't like it. 

I'm beginning to see now that I am in desperate need of God's grace where hospitality is concerned. He's shown me that there will ALWAYS be strength for the work He calls me to. And I want to get this clear, I'm not talking about visiting with widows or taking care of children or feeding homeless people or preparing sermons. I'm talking about staying out at rehearsals and auditions and shows until LATE a bunch of nights in a row. I'm talking about spending anywhere from 1 to 4+ hours in a car in one day driving around in circles getting people to where they need to be. I'm talking about figuring out how to arrange my day around said taxi duties so that the laundry still gets done, the groceries get picked up, and the meals are prepared. I'm talking about being super emotional over the fact that there just doesn't seem to be any time left over to go visit my friends that live only a few hours away. He's granted me strength and shown me that every ounce of it came from Him just when I needed it. I trust that He's about to do the same thing with hospitality. 

Funny that He would choose one (a story about rest) to introduce the other (a lesson on hospitality). That's how He works, you guys. Here a little, there a little. He calls us to BE His people and then He shows us how. 

I don't have the answers. I know what Mark 6 and Medearis have made me WANT to do. I know that I want to stay in the Word. I know that I want to continue consciously basking in the light that God is to His people so that it becomes a habit. I know that I want to take time each day to quiet my soul before Him. And now, I know that I want to view interruptions the way He does and to use them the way He would, as though they are part of the plan. After all, they are. Like one of my favorite Southern Gals always says, "There is no plan B with God." 

I'm writing this on March 9 and by the time you read this, I'll be with friends in MA who are like family. I've had a lot of those over the years and each and every one of them has opened up their home, their family, and their dinner table to me on countless occasions. I've had some amazing examples of what it is to be hospitable, but somewhere along the way there was a major disconnect. 

I know it doesn't have to be perfect. I know it doesn't have to be fancy. And I know that God calls His people to imitate Him. So, ask me how it's going when I get home. 

On Rest: Part Two

May 6, 2014

If you missed Part One, you'll want to go read it now. :) If you read it, then let's pick right back up where we left off! 

So, there they are, pleading with Jesus to send these people away. And Jesus does what He always does. He is moved by compassion for the people, the work His Father is doing, and the concern He has for these men He has gathered to disciple. It's not about rest. It's not about food. It's about the Gospel. A lot is happening here. I don't want us to miss it. Jesus responds to them with a simple sentence. I can imagine the smirk on His face and the gentle tone of His voice. In Mark 6:37, Jesus answers the disciples' pleas like this, he says, "You give them something to eat."

They answer the same way we would. The place is desolate. The crowd is massive. They came here to rest and they are probably just as tired and hungry as the people Jesus has told them to feed. They answer Him accordingly and He tells them to go see how many loaves of bread they have. I think He does this because He wants them to know exactly what is about to happen. They come back with the report, "Five, and two fish." Jesus tells the crowd to sit in groups. He looks to heaven and says a blessing and then gives the food over to the disciples who pass it around to the people. We're very familiar with all of this. We know that everyone got fed and that there were leftovers. We may have even clung to verse 42 which tells us that "they all ate and were satisfied." We know about the five loaves, the two fish, and the 5,000 men.

What I missed and what you may have missed was that the people did not go there intending to teach or feed anyone. They went away to rest at the command of Jesus. They had been working and burying the man sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. Times were tense and they were more than ready for an opportunity to recharge. What I missed all these years is that Mark 6 teaches us how to treat rest. It teaches us that it's important. It teaches us that it requires a desolate place. It teaches us that it gets interrupted. It teaches us that we need to know how to respond when interuptions come and it teaches us what can happen when we respond the way Jesus does.

They obeyed. They tried to reason their way out of one of the most famous miracles in the history of Jesus's time with them. They acquiesced and obeyed more. The crowd that had gathered was satisfied with the words of Christ and the food He gave them for their bodies. The disciples aren't done yet. We keep reading and we watch as another famous experience takes place. They get back in the boat while Jesus dismisses the crowd and stays behind to pray. The wind rises up against the men in the boat. Like so many of us, they are taking the scenic route to a lesson Jesus is trying to teach them.

It never tells us if they ever got the rest Jesus originally called them to seek. What it does do is show us what the disciples would have missed out on if they would have had their own way. If Jesus and His disciples would have sent that crowd away or hid from them or headed up onto the mountain, one of the most encouraging stories we share with one another never would have happened. The disciples would have got their rest, but those 5,000 men and whatever women and children were with them wouldn't have the testimony of the time they were taught and fed by the Messiah. The disciples would have rested and been recharged. They would have had time to pray. But, they would have missed out on an opportunity to be used by God. When Jesus calmed the wind and joined them in the boat, the chapter begins to come to its close. What follows is a sad declaration of the state of their hearts.

We can read Mark 6 and learn so many things. On my most recent read through, I've learned that:

Rest is vital. If the Son of God needed it, then we certainly need it. True rest requires peace and quiet. We have to silence the voices around us and in us and go away to a desolate place where we can be alone with God. We live in a culture that praises introversion. We are all about self-care and treating ourselves. While we can all use a lesson on what true rest is, we don't have to be taught to value rest or to seek it.

Rest is almost always interuppted. Jesus was interuppted time and time again. He couldn't ever truly get away. In Mark 6, the disciples are interuppted. We are interuppted. The phone rings, the children ask for something, the neighbor knocks on the door or calls over the back fence. Our own minds turn to other things and the rest we set out to get vanishes. Interuptions come and we've got to know how to respond. If it wasn't for Jesus, the disciples (and the 5,000 and those of us who have come after them) would have all missed out on something God was about to do.

I've got one more post to share with you in this series...Until then, would you tell me about a time your rest was interrupted as well as the good work that God allowed you to accomplish because of that interruption?

On Rest: Part One

January 11, 2017

For the last few months I've been spending time reading the Gospels. I'll give you a quick snapshot of how my time in the Word works. I choose a book to focus on and then I make why way through it reading anywhere from a few verses to a handful of chapters at a time. I begin each "session" by journaling, then I switch to reading, and then I alternate between reading, copying down key verses, making notes, and praying until I'm out of time. This usually goes on for about an hour or so.

About a week ago, I made it to Mark 6. Mark is the third gospel that I've read in the last few months, so the details of many of the stories are starting to become familiar. I've noticed that this has freed me up to focus less on the WHAT and more on the WHY of each one. When I came to Mark 6, I read about Jesus being rejected in His hometown, Jesus sending the disciples out with the clothes on their back and a staff to call anyone who was willing to listen into repentance, and then I read about the death of John the Baptist. I reached the end of verse 29 feeling the weight of the faith that these men must have had and the heaviness that must have settled onto their shoulders as they faced each of these events.

Then, in verse 31,  Jesus tells them it's time to follow His lead. He says to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." The verses that follow tell us that they got into a boat and headed to such a place. I was marveling at this Scripture and wondering how I had missed it during the countless times I've read this book. I've studied Jesus's habit of going away by Himself to pray over and over again. I've tried to figure out how how He knew it was time and just exactly what He did while He was away. I've tried to imitate Him and cling to the Father the way that He did...Here, in Mark 6, Jesus was teaching His disciples to do the thing that I'm convinced sustained Him during His time on earth. So, I'm reading along and thanking God for finally showing me this. I'm copying down the verses and settling in to read what comes next.

Maybe you already know what comes next or maybe you've disconnected these accounts the way that I have. I'm sorry to admit that it's highly likely that I skimmed over verses 30-33 during my previous encounters with this chapter.

Jesus recognized that the disciples needed rest. He tells them to go away to a desolate place to rest for a while. They obey. They get in a boat and head out. A lot has been going on. Some of the most trying days of their early ministry have happened. They are tired and hungry and they must be looking forward to this rest. Then, comes verse 34. They make it to shore and a crowd had figured out where they were going and was gathered together waiting for them. Jesus gets out of the boat and begins to teach them. Get this. Jesus tells the disciples to rest and they are interrupted. The crowd stays gathered. The teaching goes on and on. It grows late. The men who were tired and hungry are more tired and more hungry and the desolate place Jesus told them to find would be the very place they are in except that all these people won't go away. The disciples ask Jesus to send the crowd away to find food for themselves so that the disciples can get to this "rest" they came to this place to find.

What's about to happen is the account of the time five loaves of bread and two fish fed 5,000 men until they were satisfied. Get this. The story they taught you about in Sunday school every year happened because people who were seeking rest in a desolate place were interrupted. I'm still going over all of the implications of this story. The fact that Jesus knew exactly what they were going to find when they reached that desolate place is weighing on my mind. The emotions the disciples must have been feeling are the ones I find myself relating to. The point of the whole encounter is something I do not want to miss.

And since this post is long enough already, I'm going to leave you hanging. We'll pick up part two next week. Until then, I'd love to hear about what you're reading and what God has been teaching you through it! 

You Might Enjoy

January 11, 2017

Since the middle of February I have been consciously collecting a list of things that will help me (or have prepared me to) DO this thing called BASKING that I've set out to do in the year ahead. If I'm honest, the occasional blue skies and the sun poking out from behind the clouds are my steadiest reminder, but there are things along the way that have done a lot of work too.

Here are some resources that have prepared me for 2017:

A sermon: The Glory of God in the Good Resolves of His People by John Piper - I'm not sure how many times I've listened to this sermon, but I've had it on my iPod for two whole years now. It's a theme that's on my mind often. I wrote about it here and it influenced the word I chose to focus on last year.

A book: Grace For the Good Girl by Emily P. Freeman - I've read Freeman's blog for YEARS. She writes the way I long to write, connecting her faith to the most ordinary of moments in her everyday life. I read this book a while ago, but it was in its pages that I finally GOT what it was for Jesus to be about His Father's business. This book made me DIG around in the Bible. It encouraged me to look to Christ's example as I sought to BE a Christian. This is NOT another women's book about "letting go and letting God". It will breathe TRUTH into your soul and it will  challenge you to stand firm.

Some prose that reads like a poem: Scrolling through instagram one day back in October, I came across these words by C.S. Lewis (it turns out they were taken from a section out of Mere Christianity). It goes like this:

NEARER

"If you want to get warm

             you must stand 

            near the fire: if

           you want to be 

               wet you must get 

           into the water.

             If you want joy, 

                    power, peace, eternal 

              life, you must get 

                  close to, or even into,

        the thing that 

 has them."

                         - C.S. Lewis

Here are some things that are keeping me focused in 2017:

A playlist: Bask 2017 - This won't be for everyone, but it's the kind of music that I can't help but be grateful to have in my life. These songs have been encouraging me and teaching me and challenging me for years. Hit shuffle and ENJOY!

A plan: Stay in the Gospels - In light of the task this word spurs me onto, I felt the best place to go was to the example of Jesus Christ, Himself. So, I've been spending time with Him in the Gospels. I started with John, then moved on to Mark, and I'm going to start Matthew today. I can't remember who said it, but a theologian of old encouraged every Christian to always have their thumb in the Gospels no matter what other Scripture they were focusing on. In different seasons, I've attempted to do that.

Resolves: Going for walks in silence. Keeping a list of prayer requests handy and going over it or checking back in with the people that have asked me to pray. Journaling out Scriptures and lessons and prayers and preaching the Word to myself. Staying in touch with friends and listening to the stories of grace that they have to share or the burdens of faith they are carrying.

Is there anything you would recommend to me? 

What are some things that have been pointing you to God lately? 

Called to Bask

January 11, 2017

I'm struggling with how to introduce this post. I want to write about what it is to live out my word for 2017 and to be honest about how it's going.

On a superficial level, it's going WELL. I'm thinking about God, delighting in the small things, feasting on His gifts, praying over people, and using music to preach to myself. As far as having a disciplined soul goes, it's going HORRIBLY.

The whole purpose of this word is taking time out to be with God. It's about following Jesus Christ's example of slipping away and withdrawing and getting alone with God to pray. It's about going to God for the strength and grace and sustenance that comes from Him alone. If Christ needed this and devoted Himself to this and depended on this, it is something I most certainly cannot live without.

I KNOW this, but somehow, the discipline is lacking and it shows. I had to tell my friend Abigail that I hadn't been in the Word. My bad attitude proves to my family that I'm not actively submitting my spirit to God. The anxiety creeping in proves that I'm not abiding in His Spirit.

You ready for a peek into my journal? (This is for you, Mom!)

via Dec. 29, 2016 //

As I go into 2017, I want to remember that I am waiting on God. I want to BASK in the light of God. I want to bathe in the Word. I want to be one who waits on Him constantly. I want the storm to rage on while I cling to Him. I want to seek His strength and find it and show that I have it. I want to trust His will and His timing for all my hopes.

Isaiah 8:20-22 says, "To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness."
My attitude lately has been of one who has no dawn. One who looks around beholding distress and darkness and is hungry and in anguish and even enraged. I've felt it. I've taken it out on my family. God's light has shined into my darkness and I want to remember it. His strength came along showing me where my strength is to be found, namely, in Him. He has shown me on whom I wait, namely, on Him. He has granted me light to bask in and is ever ready with strength to endure.

At every turn I'm reminded of God's grace and strength and peace. I'm reminded that He is ruler over all (Psalm 29). That everything is in His hands. And then, waiting becomes sweet. I'm not waiting on anyone but Him. I'll say that again: I am waiting on Him. His timing is perfect and His will is best. Even if the road is slow or lonely, by it I will know Him and become like Christ and it is on that road that I've been begging Him to keep me all these years...If you're looking for me, you'll find me there.

//

And yet, here I am. I've reached the middle of February being reminded of these things and being beckoned into His strength only to disregard the call to BASK. If I'm going to keep this resolve, it's going to take effort and it's high time I do whatever it takes to get back on track.

via Dec. 31, 2016 //

I will need to learn from men like Paul and Christ and Whitefield and Washington. To set time out to be alone with God reading and praying and seeking Him. My priorities need shifting. I know that. My "defaults" need resetting.

//

I'm sharing all of this as a kick in the pants to myself, but also as an encouragement to all of you! Our resolves drive us back to God. They keep us seeking Him and depending on Him and rejoicing in Him, and praising Him.

For me, this going to look like imitating Christ's practice of going away to be with God. I struggle with this because I don't like going away. The thing is, if I'm going to receive God's strength, I've got to go to Him. If I'm going to be one who represents Christ to those around me, I've got to go to the Father just like He did.

If I'm going to bask, I have to bask. 


Let's look to Christ. Let's reset our defaults. Let's put in the effort. Let's BASK. However dark the day, the sun is out!

Butterfly Minds

September 24, 2015

"Our culture encourages us to have butterfly minds, flitting from one thought to another without going deep into anything." J.I. Packer

We are constantly surrounded by all kinds of things seeking to grab our attention, even if we only give them a few seconds of our time. Chances are that before you clicked on the link to this post, you had just finished reading a post or two before it. Perhaps you were scrolling through some form of social media.

The fact is, Packer's words are spot on and I firmly believe that this is not the way God meant for our minds to function. I will be the first person to admit that I am so guilty of using my mind in ways that are in direct rebellion to God. I've been very open about my tendency to worry. These words by Packer clued me into the diagnosis of another problem that I was only vaguely aware of.

I don't have to tell you how butterfly minds work. You know and I do too. If you find yourself lost in the fog of flitting from one thought to another, you're not alone. BUT, we don't have to give into the tendency that our culture encourages.

The mind is a gift and a tool and when the Spirit breathed new life into our soul, He also did a work on our minds. Our minds are not part of this culture. If we let allow them to fit into it, they will, but there is grace that shows us the way out of this trap.

When I read the Gospels, Christ's relationship with the Father is what inspires me more than anything else. I want to have the mind of Christ living in me. The mind of Christ was no butterfly mind - it was focused, it was sure, and it was aimed at guiding the body of the God-Man to live and think and act for the glory of the Father.

The fact is, that same mind is ours because of Christ. In Philippians 2:5 Paul exhorts believers to, "Have this mind [of humility] among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus..." We know from reading the Bible that Christ was no flitter. We know from experience that flitting does not satisfy.

We are here to experience and share and magnify the name of our Lord. Romans 12:2 explains the importance and result of being freed from all of this flitting, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

 It's up to each of us to figure out what it will take to teach our minds to stand strong against distractions. The outcome will be worth the effort because transformation happens by the renewal of our minds.

Do you share this struggle?

How have you or are you working to overcome it?

Heart Check

August 18, 2015

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4

I've seen these verses three or four times over the last few weeks. Everywhere I turned, they just kept popping up. Sometimes, when you see a couple of verses on a little plaque or quoted on someone's status, you read them slowly and you notice something you've never noticed before. That's exactly what happened to me when I saw it on a printable a the Wednesday before last.

I stopped my scrolling and read it. I let it sink in. "Do NOTHING from rivalry or conceit." NOTHING. Words like that can't be confused for any other word or meaning. When we read words like that, we really must listen.

Rivalry (and conceit) is one of our biggest motivators. If you don't believe me, pay attention next time there is a small child around. Listen to their taunting voice when they're really proud about something, "I can do thiiiiisssss annnnnnddddd yyyyyooouuuuuuu cannnnnnn't." "Myyyyyyyy shooooooooesssssss liiiiiiiiighhhhhht up annnnnnd yyyyyyooooooouurrrrrrsss dooooonnnnnnn't."

We love one-uping and outdoing the people around us. We love getting praise and admiration and applause. When we read verses like these, they serve as great reminders of the wickedness that dwells in our hearts. God put these words in His Bible because the fact is, that on their own, His people LOVE doing EVERYTHING out of rivalry and conceit.

The surrounding verses make it pretty clear: we're to replace our doing out of rivalry and conceit with imitating Christ and acting out of humility with the same mind for the glory of the Father that He had. The encouragement we have in Christ, comfort we have in love, participation we have in the Spirit, and affections and sympathy that are ours in Him are to be the grace that keep our hearts turned toward His example (verse 1).

I'll tell you, I have always been a lover of rules. I don't care how silly the rule is, I'm 99.9% likely to keep it and to try to help others do the same. I'm this way because a) I don't want to get in trouble and b) I want to make people happy. I'm a rule keeper out of conceit. This verse (like so many others) flips my soul upside down and makes yet another aspect of my life centered on God.

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 2: 12-13

When I do my rule keeping, I must consciously tell myself that it's about serving those around me and living in a way that will not tarnish the name of God. When my motives are pure (aka not wrapped up in ME), then even my rule keeping turns into a way for me to work out my salvation.

What is something that you do out of rivalry or conceit?

What verses have been following you around lately?

When 25 Is One Month Away

When I was growing up I was always thinking about what it would take to make the best of my future. After becoming a Christian, I started seeking God's will for my life. I remember being in high school and honestly telling people that what I wanted to do with my life was whatever God had for me to do. This wasn't a cop out. I had allll kinds of plans and even more short and long term goals to make them happen. I was so diligent (and proud) that I knew I needed to step back and seek God. 

Somewhere in my early 20's, my high school self found herself LOST. I was listening to God and seeking Him, but I also began to think about what would make me happy in the long run. I began to realize that I could move anywhere and do anything. That freedom really appealed to me. It is so easy to get caught up in possibilities and to let those possibilities trick your soul into forgetting to ask God what He might have in store. 

I'm going to be 25 in exactly one month. When summer starts coming to a close and my birthday draws near, I always take some time to step back and evaluate things. 

This year, I'm thinking about one thing, namely, how to get my heart back to the place where it's set on pleasing God and trusting that pleasing Him will please me. The first half of my 20's has flown by. They've been full of completely unexpected things. My 15 year old self couldn't have dreamed of where the first half of my 20's would take me. The theme of these last five years has been fighting sin, digging into God, and living by faith (or at least, trying to). Now that I think about it, those three things have been the theme since I was 9 years old and will be the theme until I die. 

The thing is, the first half of my 20's put those three things to the test. 

I faced my pride head on and learned that it's something I really have to guard against. I dealt am dealing with a major family conflict that has shown me how ugly I get when someone shows me I can't trust them. I faced depression. BIG time. 

I recovered from that bout of depression ONLY by pouring over God's Word, clinging to Him in prayer, and with the support of other Christians. I read through the entire Bible. I learned how to really study the Bible with help from this book. I continued journaling, even when it hurt to do so.

I didn't finish college, but worked really hard at it (I'm still going to finish, by the way). I've lived in five homes on two coasts. I found myself being served by a family while I did student teaching, doing life with my family, working at a Christian retreat center, helping an older woman recover and make it through a rough winter, and helping my best friend welcome her new baby into the world. 

For the first time in my life, I've slowly settled into a place where I really don't have a long term plan for myself. I only have two things I'm really working on: being a faithful Christian and a better writer. Other than that, I don't have a clue. 

I find myself remembering what my high school self said about doing whatever it was God had for me to do and asking my nearly 25 year old self if this is really it. It doesn't seem right. It doesn't seem like enough. It doesn't seem wise. It seems like I'm coasting and heading nowhere. It seems like my 30 year old self, and more likely, my 65 year old self will look back and give my 25 year old self a good whack and ask her what in the world she was thinking (and doing). 

25 is one month away and I'm battling the temptation to make my life about what I think will make me happy by reminding myself that following God is the only thing that will. 

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

Listen

May 10, 2015

It's the last Monday in July and our life got turned upside down over the last few weeks. My dad is no longer a business owner (he sold it and we don't really know what's next). The camp that meant a week of vacation got cancelled at the last minute. Friends had car trouble and ended up spending a long weekend with us while they got it figured out (only they didn't and ended up borrowing another friend's car until this Friday - the story is long and full of God working everything out). So...God is doing all kinds of things and none of us really know what is going on!

In the midst of all of this, I'm making my way through Packer's "Keep In Step With The Spirit" and Paul's letter to the Galatians. It's what I call God's perfect timing. These books have been showing me what the Gospel is (and what it isn't) and teaching me more about the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people. Packer puts it simply by saying that the Spirit exists to mediate the presence of Christ.

Christ told us to abide with Him and then He promised that when He left He would send the Spirit. Packer's words make total sense, but somehow, I've been walking around with allll the wrong ideas about this Spirit. It's strange how you can be walking with God for so long and yet miss something so major. Understanding the Spirit is going to change things...It's already changing things. Being AWARE of the presence of Christ and the very real ministry of the Spirit happening all around me is something I can't quite describe and I haven't even experienced to the full yet.

At that conference that changed it all back in 2006, Adam said, "Ignorance is miss, not bliss." And he was so right. My ignorance in this area has had me totally missing out on being aware of this piece of God's work in my life. BUT, no more!!!

My Mom has been listening to a sermon at the kitchen table this morning. The pastor opened with this question, "What voice would you like to tune into?"

And that is my question to myself and to you this morning...What voice would you like to tune into?

This summer I've learned that the Holy Spirit is the most important communicator in my life. He has been there comforting and leading and pleading on my behalf and mediating the presence of Christ. Up until now, I've been totally unaware of it all! Christian, do your soul a favor and think about the voices that you are tuned into. Join me in really tuning into the voice of the One that Christ has sent to His people to open their ears to His voice.

And then. Listen.

Today

August 9, 2014

Yesterday morning, I wrote that post about God's people knowing His voice.

Today, I have been bombarded with the news that "love wins". Over the last few months, this issue has been something that cannot be ignored any longer....While so many people are celebrating, my soul is grieving.

I don't want this to be true of America. I don't want my children to grow up in a society like this. I want to wake up tomorrow and be told that it was all a big mistake.

But it is true, our society is following the desires of their hearts, and if tomorrow comes, it will all be the same.

This is America and she is in rebellion to God. This is the America that has forgotten who she is and what her founders designed her to be.

God said that this would happen (Romans 1:18-32). God is not surprised. God is not standing with His hands in the air.

Tonight, the grief has reached a high. My friends and family are joining in on the celebration. I hoped over to my blog to re-read the last post (I do that to edit any errors) and you know what...The words that I wrote yesterday morning were just what my soul needed to hear tonight.

We must not give up. We must not back down. The Shepherd is gathering His sheep and they'll know Him when they hear Him.

They'll Know Him When They Hear Him

March 3, 2015

"...and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice." John 10:4

This verse carries so much meaning. As sheep, it assures us that our Shepherd knows us and that we know Him and will follow Him. As people with good news to bring to the world, it assures us that when a sheep hears, they'll recognize the voice of their Shepherd echoing in the words that we bring to them.

I heard an evangelist say, "I only work with people that God has already been working with." He went on to explain that as he ministers to people, it's only the ones that have been wrestling with God for a while who come to find him or make the phone call to ask to meet with him again. He spends a lot of time bringing the Gospel to people in his town, but he doesn't expect it to appeal to everyone.

I'm always saying that God is laboring for His people. Chapters like John 10 assure me that this is really true. This particular passage jumped out at me weeks ago and I just keep coming back to it in my mind. "The know His voice" is something every Christian can relate to. 

May this verse carry us through the roughest of times and be our joy in the best of times. May this verse inform the way that we serve other people, especially as we are able to share the gospel with them. 

Don't give up. Don't back down. The Shepherd is gathering His sheep and they'll know Him when they hear Him.

Still Grateful

Knowing God is the greatest joy of my life. Spending eternity in His presence is what keeps me going. There was a time when I didn't know why I existed or why my life was so hard. I became a Christian at a VBS program when I was 9 years old. They told me to read my Bible, pray, and go to church. I did that. I tried to be even better than I was before. I had a certain sense of peace that was new, but life was still miserable and I was certain that something was missing.

Everything changed during the summer that I was 15. A man named Greg helped his son Josh and his friend Adam put on a conference. Together, along with material from John Piper and RC Sproul, these men brought me face to face with the glory of God. For the first time in my life, the Scriptures that I had been underlining in the magazine style Bible my Mom had given me began to come together. I realized that the glory of God was what was missing from my Christianity. I remember being so glad to finally SEE, but also so mad that nobody had told me this before. I wondered how I had been a Christian for six years without being told the rest of the story (or really seeing it for myself).

From that moment on, I was sure to share what I had learned with anyone who would listen. I started my first blog after returning from that conference. Any chance I was given to turn the conversation or to lead a group always had me pointing people to the "WHY"  behind everything and the answer to the "Now what?" question that I had been struggling with for so long. I was grateful to those men for defining the glory of God and helping me to see that I was made to see that glory and savor it and declare it.

Nine summers later, I'm still grateful. My life and my Christianity were changed. I recently came across this post on Desiring God that took me right back to the moment when God opened my eyes:

A lot has changed over the last nine summers. In fact, I can hardly believe everything that has happened as I look back on them all. One thing remains them same, namely, the reality of the glory of God being the end all and be all of my life. My fight against sin continues, but that summer I learned that I don't fight alone. God is fighting with me and for me. He has given me everything I need and everything I'm striving for, in Himself. As I press on in Him, His glory is displayed.

"In love He predestined us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved." 

Ephesians 1:5-6

The Reason Why

January 25, 2015

"...for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me [Jesus Christ] and have believed that I came from God." John 16:27

I've been going through the book of John over the last few days. Today, that verse in chapter 16 stopped me in my tracks. I've read over it countless times, but on Good Friday 2015, I realized that Jesus Christ made clear the REASON for God's love. 

Scripture tells us that the fulness of God dwelt in the person of Jesus. That's what made Him THE Christ. Everyone did not believe that. That's what made them gather together with shouts of, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" 

Sometimes I wonder what that day was like... What did those who DID believe go home thinking? What was it like for the sky to go dark and for the earth to quake? Were there people IN the temple? How far away could the voice of Christ be heard?

Today, Christians throughout the world are remembering the day their Savior died. We are contemplating what He did and looking forward to celebrating what came next in just a few days. That Friday was good because it was a day that the glory of God was on display. Nearly two thousand years later, we haven't forgotten. 

May we praise God for making Himself known to us. May we praise Christ for taking the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin. May we praise the Holy Spirit for teaching us what He received from Christ. As we love Christ and have believed that He came from God, may we know that that is the reason for the Father's love for us. 

We go by the name "Christian" for a reason....On this, the day He died, may we pause to ponder yet another facet of exactly what He accomplished.  

 

How to Stop Wasting Your Life

Yesterday at Desiring God, Marshall Segal put up a great post that I just had to share with you here. You can view the content of the original post HERE. Feel free to click around Desiring God - you will find TONS of food for you soul!

Just in case you aren't in the mood to click over to Desiring God right now, I thought I'd share this video from the post right here:

Three Steps to Stop Wasting Your Life from Desiring God on Vimeo.

Living an unwasted life has been a passion of mine ever since I read Piper's book (Don't Waste Your Life) when I was 15. Nearly ten years later, I need all the encouragement that I can get.

Wasting our lives, that is, spending it on ourselves and our glory, is way too easy. The wasted life is one that comes to us naturally.

There is a different life. A better life. A life that leaves us more satisfied and promises eternal joy. That life is the unwasted life, namely, the life lived in the pursuit of God for the glory of God. This life will look like so many things and it will change as the seasons of our life and responsibilities change, but the God centeredness of it never changes.

You've probably highlighted verses like Proverbs 3:5-6. They've probably meant a lot to you. When we take a minute to really think about how these verses can impact our daily life, they came come to mean even more.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

Trust God.

Resolve to NOT be self reliant.

Keep turning to God. 

Don't waste your life. You'll be so glad you didn't!

Grace Upon Grace pt. 2

I'd just really like to get right to God's grace today!

1. I know that getting home safely on Friday night was by God's grace alone. It was a long day, an even longer drive, and I was barely awake. After one 15 minute nap on the side of the road, I was only a little better, but we had to get home.

2. My Mom and I decided to go geocaching yesterday afternoon. We ended up running into some friends who don't get to see often. Lauren and Mikaela, our visit was fantastic! Thank your family for waiting so we could catch up. :)

3. At some other friends' VBS program, I was reminded of the time the Gospel became real to me. It was precious and made me even more excited about "Victory in Jesus" (click HERE, if you missed the invitation to link up!).

4. I'm grateful for the future grace that I know God's got for me over the next few months (read: my LIFETIME). I'm an anxious little monster this morning!

5. Time to go to God's Word and then His nudging me to pray. You'll be hearing more about 1 Peter this week. I feasted on a few more verses this morning and found some great weapons to use on that anxious heart of mine. For now, I'll share the words with you:

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

'All flesh is like grass 

and all its glory like the flower of grass. 

The grass withers, 

and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.' 

And this word is the good news that was preached to you."

1 Peter 1: 22-25

Tell me about God's grace in YOUR life lately! 

One Phrase

We hear it all the time, "I just want God's will for my life."

Jesus Himself said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do y own will but the will of Him who sent me." (John 6:38)

He also said, "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49b)

And that makes us wonder...WHAT is the Father's will? 

Through His Word, God makes His will clear. 

Jonathan Edwards put it this way, "It appears that all that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God's works is included in that one phrase 'the glory of God.'" 

I'll give you a few examples:

Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him."

He created ALL things...For Himself. 

1 John 2:12 "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake." 

He forgives sins...For His name's sake. 

Isaiah 48: 11 "For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."

Here God was speaking to Israel and promising to defer His anger in order that He would not cut them off...For His own sake, so that His glory would be seen.

God acts, God sent His Son to act, God saved you to act. In all these things He is working. He has a will and that is that He would be glorified. 

Whoever you are, wherever you are, God DOES have a will for you life. He calls you to know Him and He leads you in living for His glory. 

Can your plans today be summed up in glorifying God? 

Oh, you have a floor to mop? Or maybe a letter to mail? There is good news! Glorifying God does not ONLY pertain to things that seem in themselves "holy". 

Remember that quote I shared before by Samuel Taylor Coleridge? He said, "Christianity is not a theory or a speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a life and a living process." 

Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

God's will is NOT far off or unknowable!

His will is that He would be glorified.

Jesus came for His Father's glory and in His coming He made it possible for us to live with that same purpose.

We live for that glory by reading His Word and remaining in communion with Him...Our lives stay centered around Him. With Jesus we say, "I must do His will." With Jesus we shine because, "I delight in His law." 

His glory is plain to us and made known through us and THAT is His will in all that He has ever done. 

A Motto

April 30, 2014

We have seen that Jesus' purpose and sustenance was doing the Father's will.

From our own lives we know that it takes more than purposing to do something in order to continue doing it. 

Isaiah 50:4-5 tell us what that something more was in Jesus' life...Jesus stayed faithful to His purpose of doing the Father's will and clung to it as to food because morning by morning He was awakened by the Father to be taught by Him. 

John Snyder summed it up quite well with these words, "His food was to do the will of the Father, and He understood that a life of obedience could only be sustained by having an open ear to all that the Father was saying."

The Father's will and the Father's words kept Jesus. 

In Luke 2:49, Jesus says, "...Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"

In Psalm 40:8 we see His heart, "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart." 

Again John Snyder writes, "Here the whole service of Jesus is described: I must. I delight."

April 28, 2014

The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "What is the chief end of man?" The answer is this: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

As children of God, we too are here to do the Father's will.

Like Jesus, we need to have an open ear to all that the Father is saying.

We too can live by the motto: I must. I delight. 

It is true. We ARE here because we MUST glorify God and we HAVE been made alive to the DELIGHT that is enjoying Him forever.

Christian, delighting in God and doing His will are your calling. The Holy Spirit is with you to help you and to lead you in that Word of truth that will preserve you in this purpose that is yours in Christ.

You have the purpose, you have the treasure, you have the Helper. Open your ears to be taught by God by setting your eyes on His Word.

Why...

May 14, 2014

I have a question for you... Why did you wake up today? Why did you get up and get dressed? What is your goal for this weekend?

Now let me ask you another question...Why was Jesus on earth? Why did He get up and get ready each day? 

The best answers for these questions will be found in the Bible. 

In John 4:32-34, we read,  "But He said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' So the disciples said to one another, 'Has anyone brought Him something to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." 

Food is that essential element that gives us both strength and determination. Without it we are weak and pretty much have one goal, which is, to get food NOW. 

In John 6:38 Jesus says these words, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me." 

DOING the Father's will was EVERYTHING to Jesus. 

Jesus was on earth to do the Father's will.

Jesus woke up and got ready each day to do the Father's will. 

May 14, 2014

Actually, the same is true for you! Once we have been made alive in Him we can see that just like Him, our life is to do the Father's will.

Think about your unrest as a call to eat the food that is doing the Father's will.

Think about each day and getting ready and even weekends as wrapped up in doing the Father's will. 

That's all for today but I'll be writing about WHAT the Father's will is as well as HOW we are to continually accomplish it soon. 

The Strength

April 25, 2014

Was it helpful to stop and realize that as Christians, we are what God guaranteed Jesus?

Does it change things when you see that as you live by God's strength with your hope set in Him that you are proof - even to Jesus - of God's faithfulness?

I hope so!

It changed things for Jesus. He did all that He did for His Father's glory and He was able to do it because He was convinced that His Father was faithful.

In Isaiah 50, we see exactly what got Jesus through His ministry on this earth.

In Isaiah 50:4-5 Jesus says, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward."

Jesus is saying that He was taught by God .  Jesus says that He is always listening to the Father who opened His ear.

In Isaiah 50:6 Jesus says, "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting."

That's just SOME of the torment He endured...He knew it was coming and He knew that it was going to take His cooperation.

Jesus tells us about what it was that gave Him the ability to go through with it...By now He has been assured that God is faithful and guaranteed that His work will not be in vain. It was not you and I that got Him through...Isaiah 50:7 says, "But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame." 

Jesus lived and was killed and rose again and ascended because He was driven by these words: "but the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced"! 

Disgraced and put through terrifying things, He wasn't really disgraced. The Lord God helps Him, the one who is faithful would make everything right.

Christian, piece of living proof, your Savior pressed on with His "face set like a flint" because He knew that God was His strength!

At the heart of Jesus' faithfulness was the Father - His glory, His Word, His strength, His plan, and His faithfulness. 

He is YOUR guarantee and you are His guarantee.

God is faithful.

P.S. Remember that these words were recorded about 700 years

 before Jesus Christ was born to the virgin Mary! 

Living Proof

May 6, 2014

In Isaiah 49 we get a closer look at the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. In this chapter, we learn exactly what it was that gave Jesus the wherewithal to be obedient to God, even to death, and that death on a cross!

This morning out on the patio as the sky was blue and the birds were singing, something HUGE happened.

Isaiah 49:4 says, "But I said, 'I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God."

Did you see that? Jesus was "worried" (if you can call it that) that everything He did was for NOTHING, for VANITY, and it was done all in VAIN.

Do you know what the Father's answer is?

In Isaiah 49: 6 He says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." 

He goes on at the end of verse 7, "...Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." 

April 30, 2014

Of these verses, John Snyder wrote "He has guaranteed His Son that countless multitudes from every nation will love and worship Him! With this before us, we can continue serving. Duties are ours; results are the Lord's."

I realized something...

We are what God guaranteed Jesus! 

Do you understand what that means?

Your salvation, your life, your suffering, your joy...They make you part of what God guaranteed to Jesus as He assured Him that His strength was NOT poured out for nothing. 

Christian, as you live and love and serve in THIS hope that is yours because of Christ, knowing that God is working, you are PROOF - even to Jesus- that God is faithful! 

I hope this encourages your soul like it did mine.

Go read Isaiah 49. While you're at it check out 42, 50, and 53...I've always said Ephesians was my favorite book, but over the last few years Isaiah is catching up.