One day you're just looking at the light playing on the grass or the leaves of the trees fluttering in the breeze, and you hear God whisper His Presence to you. When I was young (elementary school age) I remember drawing my finger through the dusting of snow on a low wall by the school, as I walked to early church. There wasn't another soul about. I loved the early service in the little chapel beneath the main sanctuary, its altar area hewn from stone which, when cut, had revealed fingers of iridescent color within it. There was a peace and a sense of holiness there...and the palpable presence of God. At that time, I hadn't what I would now call a personal relationship with Him; yet, I was very aware of His reality and believed in His goodness. I truly did sense His goodness, not just an impersonal force.
I felt Him there, arms wide open to me. Later, however, I wandered from those arms into the intellectual snobbery and arrogance of the college culture. Obtaining the success and relationship which I had been sure would satisfy, I remember feeling a great emptiness and crying out for something more. As it turned out, it wasn’t something, it was Some One. The One Who had whispered to me from the very beginning.
Now, after over 40 years in His tender care, I’ve never looked back, never even wanted to. It would be like choosing to go back into a dark closet after being in an open field with the sunlight streaming over me and a gentle breeze caressing my face. Like going back into a dark cloud cloaked in the appearance of light.
I’ll never stop being grateful to Him, not only for opening the door and freeing me from my own lost self, but also for showing me the illusory nature of satisfaction in my own self-enthronement.
His peace is deep in my bones, His Person and ministry both that of father and mother to me, His Shepherd nature a balm to my soul.
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Friday, May 18, 2018
Squirrel!
I am currently listening to my favorite contemporary series (Jan Karon’s Mitford) on Audible as I drive. In A New Song, Barnabus (the dog) runs away after a squirrel, whipping the leash from Father Tim’s hand, and scuttles under an iron gate into a forbidden, wild garden. Despite his master’s insistent calls and commands to return, Barnabas heedlessly pursues his prey.
This morning I was feeling a lot like Barnabus, who finally came slinking back, eyes and head downcast, to sit at his master’s feet. He knew he had done wrong (again), despite his love and devotion toward Fr. Tim, and had caused him grief and pain. (You can read what happened in the garden as Tim found it necessary to pursue him, uninvited and unwelcome, into that place.)
Sometimes we pursue our squirrels of gossip, retribution, judgment, rebellion, and even passive aggressiveness, into forbidden territory, heedless of our master’s warning, “Come back! Do NOT go there! Heel! (Stay by My side!). Consumed by our emotions of the moment, we allow our flesh to reign supreme, despite the insistent call of the Spirit. We put our hands over our ears like children, bobbing our heads from side to side saying, “I can’t HEAR you...I can’t hear you...”
Then it’s morning prayer time, and our sorrow at our behavior catches up with us in the quiet of His Presence. He doesn’t have to say anything...like our human parents who sometimes sat us down and didn’t at first speak, yet the sadness in their eyes communicated more than a reprimand. Thankfully, if we were blessed with loving parents, we knew their love was greater than any act of disobedience, and they only wanted us to become the people God planned and created us to be. Even without the gift of loving and wise human parents, our Father is all that and more.
If we return to His side, repentant, He will say, “I forgive you. I love you. Let’s try this again” ...even if You had the same conversation with Him the day before...and the day before that. Keep coming back, sincerely desirous of changing. Embarrassed, maybe, but continually committed to heeling all your days. You will not only find yourself changing, but you will also find that heeling brings healing, as well.
This morning I was feeling a lot like Barnabus, who finally came slinking back, eyes and head downcast, to sit at his master’s feet. He knew he had done wrong (again), despite his love and devotion toward Fr. Tim, and had caused him grief and pain. (You can read what happened in the garden as Tim found it necessary to pursue him, uninvited and unwelcome, into that place.)
Sometimes we pursue our squirrels of gossip, retribution, judgment, rebellion, and even passive aggressiveness, into forbidden territory, heedless of our master’s warning, “Come back! Do NOT go there! Heel! (Stay by My side!). Consumed by our emotions of the moment, we allow our flesh to reign supreme, despite the insistent call of the Spirit. We put our hands over our ears like children, bobbing our heads from side to side saying, “I can’t HEAR you...I can’t hear you...”
Then it’s morning prayer time, and our sorrow at our behavior catches up with us in the quiet of His Presence. He doesn’t have to say anything...like our human parents who sometimes sat us down and didn’t at first speak, yet the sadness in their eyes communicated more than a reprimand. Thankfully, if we were blessed with loving parents, we knew their love was greater than any act of disobedience, and they only wanted us to become the people God planned and created us to be. Even without the gift of loving and wise human parents, our Father is all that and more.
If we return to His side, repentant, He will say, “I forgive you. I love you. Let’s try this again” ...even if You had the same conversation with Him the day before...and the day before that. Keep coming back, sincerely desirous of changing. Embarrassed, maybe, but continually committed to heeling all your days. You will not only find yourself changing, but you will also find that heeling brings healing, as well.
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Concatenation
Life in union with God, I’ve discovered, is a continual process of laying down. Not just lying down (since these words are often confused), but of releasing what we clutch within our heart and placing it at His feet for Him to decide whether or not to raise it up. He promises us ‘beauty for ashes.’ Clutched tenaciously in our hand, things turn to dust, or even worse, to poison. Sometimes we lay them down but hover near, ready to take them back up should He appear to be leaving them there on the ground. Things like hurt, fear, woundedness, rejection, ill-treatment, and the resulting sense of unfairness and injustice, bitterness, resentment....and overall, our own will.
Jesus modeled both this laying down and the corresponding ‘lying down’ before the Father’s will, when he wrestled in the garden...to the extent that it almost killed Him right there. (Matt. 26:38). We have no real comprehension of the extent of the battle that He fought there. However, we get the tiniest taste of it in our own lives when it seems to take everything we have to lay down our own unforgiveness, rebellion, or willfulness after deep hurt and betrayal, most especially when it's perpetrated by those close to us.
When you meet someone who seems to exude beauty and grace wherever he or she goes, you can be sure she has gone through the fire. You may be tempted to think she has had an easy life, because she appears to glow with joy. Think again. God creates beauty in those who love and trust Him enough to do as He wills with their lives, despite, and even through, deep suffering. He tells us He’ll give us “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that we might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified” [Isaiah 61:3]. * His promises are fulfilled when we are willing to let Him make a concatenation of every trial and circumstance.
He never stands above us with His arms folded, waiting to see if we’ll pass the test. He stoops down, wipes the tears from our eyes with His thumb, and cradles us in our sorrow, saying, “Let me make something beautiful out of this for you...and for others. I know your every pain, grief, and struggle, as you sit there in the ashes of your hopes and expectations. Give it all to me, even your right to be angry and hurt, and see what I will do.”
But even if He doesn’t choose to act in the way we hope and expect He will, nevertheless we remain at His feet. Nevertheless, we choose His will over ours. Nevertheless, we stay devoted to Him and thankful for His truly amazing grace. This is nitty gritty Worship.
As Job once said, “Even if He kills me, yet I will trust Him” (Job 13:15). Or as Paul stated, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12). Or as Habakkuk affirmed, 17 Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation! 19 The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]! (Habakkuk 3:17-19}
Or as Jesus, dripping blood from the burst blood vessels in His forehead, spoke in a struggling whisper of affirmation: “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done” [Luke 22:42]. And, oh, what beauty He wrought for all of us. May we receive His strength to declare the same in every circumstance we face.
*concatenation: "a series of interconnected or interdependent things or events."
Jesus modeled both this laying down and the corresponding ‘lying down’ before the Father’s will, when he wrestled in the garden...to the extent that it almost killed Him right there. (Matt. 26:38). We have no real comprehension of the extent of the battle that He fought there. However, we get the tiniest taste of it in our own lives when it seems to take everything we have to lay down our own unforgiveness, rebellion, or willfulness after deep hurt and betrayal, most especially when it's perpetrated by those close to us.
When you meet someone who seems to exude beauty and grace wherever he or she goes, you can be sure she has gone through the fire. You may be tempted to think she has had an easy life, because she appears to glow with joy. Think again. God creates beauty in those who love and trust Him enough to do as He wills with their lives, despite, and even through, deep suffering. He tells us He’ll give us “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that we might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified” [Isaiah 61:3]. * His promises are fulfilled when we are willing to let Him make a concatenation of every trial and circumstance.
He never stands above us with His arms folded, waiting to see if we’ll pass the test. He stoops down, wipes the tears from our eyes with His thumb, and cradles us in our sorrow, saying, “Let me make something beautiful out of this for you...and for others. I know your every pain, grief, and struggle, as you sit there in the ashes of your hopes and expectations. Give it all to me, even your right to be angry and hurt, and see what I will do.”
But even if He doesn’t choose to act in the way we hope and expect He will, nevertheless we remain at His feet. Nevertheless, we choose His will over ours. Nevertheless, we stay devoted to Him and thankful for His truly amazing grace. This is nitty gritty Worship.
As Job once said, “Even if He kills me, yet I will trust Him” (Job 13:15). Or as Paul stated, “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” (2 Timothy 1:12). Or as Habakkuk affirmed, 17 Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, [though] the product of the olive fails and the fields yield no food, though the flock is cut off from the fold and there are no cattle in the stalls, 18 Yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will exult in the [victorious] God of my salvation! 19 The Lord God is my Strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds’ feet and will make me to walk [not to stand still in terror, but to walk] and make [spiritual] progress upon my high places [of trouble, suffering, or responsibility]! (Habakkuk 3:17-19}
Or as Jesus, dripping blood from the burst blood vessels in His forehead, spoke in a struggling whisper of affirmation: “Nevertheless, not my will but yours be done” [Luke 22:42]. And, oh, what beauty He wrought for all of us. May we receive His strength to declare the same in every circumstance we face.
*concatenation: "a series of interconnected or interdependent things or events."
Saturday, March 10, 2018
"An Unutterable Beatitude"
"Where the Holy Spirit is permitted to exercise His full sway in a redeemed heart, the progression is likely to be as follows: First, voluble praise, in speech, prayer or witness. Then, when the crescendo rises beyond the ability of studied speech to express, comes song. When song breaks down under the weight of Glory, then comes silence, where the soul, held in deep fascination, feels itself blessed with an unutterable beatitude." --A.W. Tozer
This has been my experience, as well as others I know who have been blessed to worship "where the Holy Spirit is permitted to exercise His full sway." (See the post He is not a Tame Lion.) If you find yourself dry as a bone, perhaps you have not had this opportunity, at least recently. Seek it...seek Him, as 'in a dry, weary land without water.' The Ruach Hakodesh, the Holy Spirit, is Manna to the soul, spirit, and even to the body. Put on your Bride sneakers and run after Him, and you'll find yourself very still in the midst of an unutterable beatitude.
This has been my experience, as well as others I know who have been blessed to worship "where the Holy Spirit is permitted to exercise His full sway." (See the post He is not a Tame Lion.) If you find yourself dry as a bone, perhaps you have not had this opportunity, at least recently. Seek it...seek Him, as 'in a dry, weary land without water.' The Ruach Hakodesh, the Holy Spirit, is Manna to the soul, spirit, and even to the body. Put on your Bride sneakers and run after Him, and you'll find yourself very still in the midst of an unutterable beatitude.
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Terrified
My sisters and I (plus one adopted sister) were at a timeshare together one year, having a perfectly delightful time. Late at night I became gradually aware of shouting and pleading and other outcries from the stairwell outside our door. Earlier that evening we had met a ‘nice’ couple at a restaurant. It turned out they were staying right across the hall from us. As my fuzzy brain began to discern the wife was being abused right outside my door, terror overcame me. The extent of the evil hovering just outside was palpable. I knew I should rush out and stop this man and protect this woman. Yet I was frozen in fear. I was just glad our door was locked so that evil couldn’t attack me or my sisters.
If you had asked me previous to this experience what I would do if I heard some crying for help outside my house, I would have in no uncertain terms told you I would immediately rush to her aid, if only by calling the police (which might, unfortunately, be too late). However, I did none of these things. I couldn’t even remember the name of the development in which we were staying or its address. I was paralyzed with fear and found myself in total self-preservation mode. One of my sisters also awoke and came down and we sat huddled together in terror that seemed totally disproportionate to the event, as insidious as is all spousal or child abuse. You would have thought Nazi officers were about to break through our door. Even the next morning, as we headed home, there was a heavy spirit hanging over us. We neither laughed nor joked until we finally started praying together and singing praise songs on our journey.
When Jesus fell prostrate to the ground in the garden of Gethsemane and sweat blood through his
forehead, all the powers of evil were trying to keep Him from carrying through with what the Enemy
knew would totally defeat him and save us for all eternity. I can’t even conceive of what that was like. But I had the tiniest, minuscule taste of it and of my own weakness and selfishness in the face of the desperate need of another. That Yeshua persevered through it without turning back, despite unimaginable opposition, fear, sorrow, depression and grief....bearing all our sins for all time and combatting overwhelming evil, makes me fall at His feet in gratefulness and heart-wrenching love. To blithely take His sacrifice for granted with spoken religious platitudes and self-absorbed lifestyles is to cheapen what it took for Him to stand back up in the garden and walk that horrific road for us
I no longer (or at least less frequently) judge those I hear about who haven’t done what they should to help others. I hope and pray for the fortitude and grace from God to act differently next time I face
a similar situation. Even Peter the Rock vowed his own strength would be sufficient and then failed miserably in the test. His three-fold affirmation of love following his three-fold denial of Yeshua was not a new vow but rather a confession of the state of his heart. Humbling yields an awareness of our own inadequacies and at the same time a greater appreciation for how willing ADONAI is not only to forgive, but also to lift us up and give us His own strength for the tests coming our way. He knew Peter would not fulfill His vow, but afterward He lifted him up from his failure and made him head of His Body, because He knew his heart. What hope this should give us after our own broken vows,
most of which we should never have made in the first place. We should vow neither in judgment of others nor in presupposition of our own strength of character. Let our Yes be yes and our No be no,
yet with complete awareness of our own fallability. May we rely on His heart’s desire to carry out His saving action through us in every situation; to make us right, just, and effective in the face of another’s need, knowing that we are all sometimes as Paul confessed: desiring to do one thing yet doing another.
***********************
“Then Peter declared, ‘Though they all are offended and stumble and fall away because of you, I will never do so.’ “ —Matthew 26:33
“Then all the disciples deserted him and, fleeing, escaped.” —Matthew 26:56
“Just let your ‘yes’ be a simple yes and your ‘no’ be a simple no. Anything more than this has its origin in evil.” —Matthew 5:37
“I don’t understand my own behavior: I don’t do what I want to do. Instead, I do the very thing I hate.” —Romans 7:15
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Lawlessness
You don’t have to watch the News to see the increasing lawlessness in our society. You can witness it firsthand any time you drive your car. I’ve lost track of the number of times drivers have seriously endangered my life or the lives of those driving nearby. It’s now a daily occurrence. At within ‘five-over’ in the right lane, I am regularly tailgated to the point where I can vividly see the driver’s face but not the front of his or her car. Cars zoom across three lanes, squeeze themselves within an inch of my life and squeeze back across two lanes to the far left again. All to end up sitting with me at a red light, unless they run it long after it has turned red.
It used to be the occasional driver who drove like a maniac. Now it’s the regular modus operandi of our populace, including mothers with their children sitting next to them in the front seat. I feel like the tortoise who’s spun around in circles as the rabbit whizzes by him, just because I’m trying to obey the law.
I’ve been told by international travelers that there are a number of countries whose drivers systematically ignore the stoplights, and everyone has to fight to move through the intersection...’survival of the most aggressive and reckless.’ I think I would get an ulcer if I had to do that every day. (When I was in NYC, I felt like that as a pedestrian.)
This morning I was reading in Matthew 24 about what Jesus said it would be like ‘at the end of the age’: “And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity...but he who endures to the end will be saved.”
When my emotions rise in intense anger on the road of life at the lawlessness around me, God reminds me that I am in a different kingdom than many of those around me. In fact, I have to recite that to myself to still my own resulting feelings of road rage: “I’m in a different kingdom, I’m in a different kingdom, I’m in a different kingdom....ADONAI is my King.” He also reminds me to turn my anger into sincere prayer for the reckless drivers around me (and even for myself for my own occasional reckless actions).
As we all know, it is not just on the road that we see increasing lawlessness. In Portland, there are
groups who have to decide what the day’s protest and disruption will be...rather like today’s special menu item. And there are those elsewhere who have stated they will keep killing police officers until they get what they say they deserve. Hmmm, gives one pause about the answer to that demand, doesn’t it?
But what do we all deserve? Suddenly my anger turns to self-conviction. Are there areas of my own life where I’ve chosen to flout the authority over me? Am I participating in lawlessness in its subtler forms? Because I think I know better, do I ignore instructions from my boss or try to create a quiet rebellion among my coworkers, rather than speaking my concerns forthrightly and respectfully? Am I honest in all my dealings, financial and otherwise? Do I ‘fudge’ on my taxes to get a better return? Lawlessness can take many forms, and we, as Christians, are called to the highest level of integrity by our Boss, whom we honor and obey out of affectionate reverence, respect, and love.
Let’s ask him to show us any areas of our lives where our actions do not reflect His will. He is kind to not overwhelm us, but rather to show us, a little at a time, areas in need of sanctification. And let’s not forget to turn our anger and frustration with others into prayer for their own encounter with and transformation by the Lover of their souls.
*************
“I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart”. —Psalm 40:8
“There is a kind of universal reaction which becomes an acceptable philosophy; that ‘if this is what is wrong with everybody, then. nobody need worry about it’....The Holy Spirit never meant to give anyone a sense of comfort in universal depravity.” —Tozer
It used to be the occasional driver who drove like a maniac. Now it’s the regular modus operandi of our populace, including mothers with their children sitting next to them in the front seat. I feel like the tortoise who’s spun around in circles as the rabbit whizzes by him, just because I’m trying to obey the law.
I’ve been told by international travelers that there are a number of countries whose drivers systematically ignore the stoplights, and everyone has to fight to move through the intersection...’survival of the most aggressive and reckless.’ I think I would get an ulcer if I had to do that every day. (When I was in NYC, I felt like that as a pedestrian.)
This morning I was reading in Matthew 24 about what Jesus said it would be like ‘at the end of the age’: “And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity...but he who endures to the end will be saved.”
When my emotions rise in intense anger on the road of life at the lawlessness around me, God reminds me that I am in a different kingdom than many of those around me. In fact, I have to recite that to myself to still my own resulting feelings of road rage: “I’m in a different kingdom, I’m in a different kingdom, I’m in a different kingdom....ADONAI is my King.” He also reminds me to turn my anger into sincere prayer for the reckless drivers around me (and even for myself for my own occasional reckless actions).
As we all know, it is not just on the road that we see increasing lawlessness. In Portland, there are
groups who have to decide what the day’s protest and disruption will be...rather like today’s special menu item. And there are those elsewhere who have stated they will keep killing police officers until they get what they say they deserve. Hmmm, gives one pause about the answer to that demand, doesn’t it?
But what do we all deserve? Suddenly my anger turns to self-conviction. Are there areas of my own life where I’ve chosen to flout the authority over me? Am I participating in lawlessness in its subtler forms? Because I think I know better, do I ignore instructions from my boss or try to create a quiet rebellion among my coworkers, rather than speaking my concerns forthrightly and respectfully? Am I honest in all my dealings, financial and otherwise? Do I ‘fudge’ on my taxes to get a better return? Lawlessness can take many forms, and we, as Christians, are called to the highest level of integrity by our Boss, whom we honor and obey out of affectionate reverence, respect, and love.
Let’s ask him to show us any areas of our lives where our actions do not reflect His will. He is kind to not overwhelm us, but rather to show us, a little at a time, areas in need of sanctification. And let’s not forget to turn our anger and frustration with others into prayer for their own encounter with and transformation by the Lover of their souls.
*************
“I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart”. —Psalm 40:8
“There is a kind of universal reaction which becomes an acceptable philosophy; that ‘if this is what is wrong with everybody, then. nobody need worry about it’....The Holy Spirit never meant to give anyone a sense of comfort in universal depravity.” —Tozer
Sunday, January 28, 2018
We aren’t heavy...He’s our Father
My younger readers (as in, not senior citizens) probably won’t get the joke here, so I’ll let you know there’s a song from the late 60’s called “He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.” It’s been awhile since God made me laugh. I guess it’s part of my realignment (see New Years Chiropractic post). No one is funnier than God, and I miss His jokes when I don’t hear them.
I was lamenting to God my burdensome nature of repeating the same cycle of sin in a particular area. It seemed He always has to do the ‘heavy-lifting’ in my life for anything to change, despite my
best intentions. Brother Lawrence once said, “O Lord, this is what you may expect of me if you leave me to myself.” Not that God did leave me to myself, per se. He prompted me before I spoke that critical word about an associate; I just ignored the prompting...repeatedly. Daily repenting and heading into the day, I determined to put duct tape over my mouth but found it wasn’t quite as strong as touted, even with those fibers woven through it.
Finally admitting complete defeat, I lay myself down in despair of ever changing. That’s when He told me, “It’s ok...you aren’t heavy; I’m your Father.” Breaking into a loud guffaw followed by repeated outbreaks of laughter, I realized that He had used humor, once again, to break through my attempts at serious, teeth-gritting self-sufficiency.
In this partnership we have, He does all the heavy-lifting, His yoke easy and His burden light. It’s only an illusion on our part that we are holding up our end. Just as our fathers once let us ‘help’ them with a heavy object and we proudly assisted, thinking our strength was contributing to their success. As our fathers hopefully did, He is looking at us in tender love, encouraging us to give our very best in this partnership with the Creator of the universe. He doesn’t condescend or demean our efforts. Yet when our meager strength gives out and we fall down exhausted in our tracks trying to be good, He bends down and lifts us up and whispers, “It’s ok, I have you; you’re not heavy...”
I was lamenting to God my burdensome nature of repeating the same cycle of sin in a particular area. It seemed He always has to do the ‘heavy-lifting’ in my life for anything to change, despite my
best intentions. Brother Lawrence once said, “O Lord, this is what you may expect of me if you leave me to myself.” Not that God did leave me to myself, per se. He prompted me before I spoke that critical word about an associate; I just ignored the prompting...repeatedly. Daily repenting and heading into the day, I determined to put duct tape over my mouth but found it wasn’t quite as strong as touted, even with those fibers woven through it.
Finally admitting complete defeat, I lay myself down in despair of ever changing. That’s when He told me, “It’s ok...you aren’t heavy; I’m your Father.” Breaking into a loud guffaw followed by repeated outbreaks of laughter, I realized that He had used humor, once again, to break through my attempts at serious, teeth-gritting self-sufficiency.
In this partnership we have, He does all the heavy-lifting, His yoke easy and His burden light. It’s only an illusion on our part that we are holding up our end. Just as our fathers once let us ‘help’ them with a heavy object and we proudly assisted, thinking our strength was contributing to their success. As our fathers hopefully did, He is looking at us in tender love, encouraging us to give our very best in this partnership with the Creator of the universe. He doesn’t condescend or demean our efforts. Yet when our meager strength gives out and we fall down exhausted in our tracks trying to be good, He bends down and lifts us up and whispers, “It’s ok, I have you; you’re not heavy...”
Saturday, January 27, 2018
“He is not a tame lion...”
My fellow Narnia fans will recognize the above quote. I was reminded of it as I read this morning’s entry from my A.W. Tozer devotional: “Illumined hearts are sure to agree at the point where the light falls. Our only real danger is that we may grieve the blessed Spirit into silence and so be left at the mercy of our intellects....We’ll have the bush pruned and trimmed and properly cultivated, but in the bush there will be no fire.”
Sometimes no matter how powerfully our churches may have been birthed from fire, our tendency is to eventually ‘bulletinize’ our worship times into submission. Otherwise, they can become much too messy, too unpredictable, too much out of our control and careful planning. We may even say we’re open and flexible to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but when push comes to shove (or an order of service turns to Power), we are reluctant to live what we promised.
How will this ‘outbreak’ of God’s manifest Presence affect the schedule? Will some be offended? Will some leave and never come back? What about the usual order of things on which we’ve come to depend? What about our lunch date after church? What if some people 'become emotional' in response to what the Holy Spirit is working in them? What if time begins to lose it’s structure in response to the appearance of the One who created it? What if the only thing He’s calling us into at the moment is silence before His palpable Presence? Will this drive someone (the pastor, the music worship leader, a parishioner) to feel compelled to fill the ‘void’...the Spirit-filled silence which is actually the antithesis of ‘void’?
I am blessed to be part of a tiny congregation meeting in a manger of a building, where the best part
of our ‘service,’ in my eyes, involves sitting, standing, kneeling, lying...in the Presence of God, bathed only in quiet, anointed, instrumental music...where often no one speaks aloud unless praying for another at the altar. Sometimes not a word is spoken. God appears to like this, because He manifests Himself both powerfully and tenderly, in ways I’ve rarely experienced elsewhere. We couldn’t be worshiping Him in a more humble setting. But in a similar fashion, isn’t the humblest setting of our hearts the place He delights to dwell?
Many believers and unbelievers alike have yet to experience the manifest Presence of God. Their belief (or unbelief) comes from intellectual assent. This foundation can crack with the winds of circumstance and the prevailing philosophies of our culture. Yet once any of us actually ‘meet’ the Lion of Judah through His manifest, oh-so-real Holy Spirit, we are stopped in our tracks. There is no denying His existence or His love for us.
Let Aslan move wherever and however He desires, in the biggest to the smallest congregations and see what He will do. Be fearless and let go of the reins. Stop the program...get off the scheduled train and wait on Him. He will not disappoint, and we and our churches will never be the same.
***********************
“Farther up and further in...!”
—The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis
Sometimes no matter how powerfully our churches may have been birthed from fire, our tendency is to eventually ‘bulletinize’ our worship times into submission. Otherwise, they can become much too messy, too unpredictable, too much out of our control and careful planning. We may even say we’re open and flexible to the leading of the Holy Spirit, but when push comes to shove (or an order of service turns to Power), we are reluctant to live what we promised.
How will this ‘outbreak’ of God’s manifest Presence affect the schedule? Will some be offended? Will some leave and never come back? What about the usual order of things on which we’ve come to depend? What about our lunch date after church? What if some people 'become emotional' in response to what the Holy Spirit is working in them? What if time begins to lose it’s structure in response to the appearance of the One who created it? What if the only thing He’s calling us into at the moment is silence before His palpable Presence? Will this drive someone (the pastor, the music worship leader, a parishioner) to feel compelled to fill the ‘void’...the Spirit-filled silence which is actually the antithesis of ‘void’?
I am blessed to be part of a tiny congregation meeting in a manger of a building, where the best part
of our ‘service,’ in my eyes, involves sitting, standing, kneeling, lying...in the Presence of God, bathed only in quiet, anointed, instrumental music...where often no one speaks aloud unless praying for another at the altar. Sometimes not a word is spoken. God appears to like this, because He manifests Himself both powerfully and tenderly, in ways I’ve rarely experienced elsewhere. We couldn’t be worshiping Him in a more humble setting. But in a similar fashion, isn’t the humblest setting of our hearts the place He delights to dwell?
Many believers and unbelievers alike have yet to experience the manifest Presence of God. Their belief (or unbelief) comes from intellectual assent. This foundation can crack with the winds of circumstance and the prevailing philosophies of our culture. Yet once any of us actually ‘meet’ the Lion of Judah through His manifest, oh-so-real Holy Spirit, we are stopped in our tracks. There is no denying His existence or His love for us.
Let Aslan move wherever and however He desires, in the biggest to the smallest congregations and see what He will do. Be fearless and let go of the reins. Stop the program...get off the scheduled train and wait on Him. He will not disappoint, and we and our churches will never be the same.
***********************
“Farther up and further in...!”
—The Last Battle, C.S. Lewis
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Drifting out of Lane
After my faithful Prius was flooded in a storm, I spent days attempting to resurrect it. Finally, I admitted defeat to the Insurance company and purchased a newer Toyota Corolla. Although we weren’t planning on taking on car payments at this time, we were grateful God led us to an otherwise inexplicably good deal. [Even the salesman, a wonderful Christian man, wasn’t sure how it had been priced the way it was.]
With one of the standard features, you can set up a warning, should you start drifting out of your lane. [It also has an emergency stop feature if you get too close to another car.] It’s easy to get distracted when you’re driving, as we all know. If you’re driving at night after a long day or on a long trip, it’s also common to get sleepy. I’m delighted to have these warnings available on my car.
I wish it were so in the rest of our lives. What if we had built-in antennae which beeped when we started drifting away from God? It’s not the radical turns but the slow drifts that are the problem for most of us. Our minds are elsewhere, not focused on the road. Perhaps we’re fiddling with the entertainment possibilities, or we’re picturing in our mind’s eye what our next step should be to find success at work. Maybe we’re pondering pursuing a relationship (possibly one God’s Word has warned us about). There are a myriad of physical, mental, and spiritual distractions which can draw us off the road God designed to truly fulfill us and accomplish the purposes and plans He has for us.
The good news is that He does, indeed, give us spiritual antennae....the Voice of His Holy Spirit within us. He lovingly prompts and warns, guides and directs. The problem comes when we choose to ignore those inner promptings. If the warnings are directly stated in His written word, we’re just
being rebellious in order to get what we think we want. However, there are so many situations in our lives that are not as clear cut. We sense there’s danger, but the area is grey enough for us to keep moving in that direction anyway, because that’s where our ‘flesh’ wants to go. Or perhaps the intellectual appeal is great or our own logic so compelling that we find ourselves in a whole other lane than we planned.
That lane is a comfortable one because it is the road most travelled, if I can borrow a turn of phrase from Frost. Everyone seems to be going that way. It is not strange and challenging territory. No one is staring at us wondering what in the world we’re doing and why. GPS is happy with us. She doesn’t keep telling us to make a legal U-turn and go back the other way.
Staying in God’s lane will ultimately and absolutely prove the best road, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy one to travel. There seem to be more potholes and things lying in the road that must be avoided. In fact, sometimes the way ahead has only one lane, and it is foggy up ahead. Don’t worry. Be assured that when we set our destination in line with His, He will send His own special form of alert when we’re starting to drift. We just have to heed it quickly to avoid a crash.
With one of the standard features, you can set up a warning, should you start drifting out of your lane. [It also has an emergency stop feature if you get too close to another car.] It’s easy to get distracted when you’re driving, as we all know. If you’re driving at night after a long day or on a long trip, it’s also common to get sleepy. I’m delighted to have these warnings available on my car.
I wish it were so in the rest of our lives. What if we had built-in antennae which beeped when we started drifting away from God? It’s not the radical turns but the slow drifts that are the problem for most of us. Our minds are elsewhere, not focused on the road. Perhaps we’re fiddling with the entertainment possibilities, or we’re picturing in our mind’s eye what our next step should be to find success at work. Maybe we’re pondering pursuing a relationship (possibly one God’s Word has warned us about). There are a myriad of physical, mental, and spiritual distractions which can draw us off the road God designed to truly fulfill us and accomplish the purposes and plans He has for us.
The good news is that He does, indeed, give us spiritual antennae....the Voice of His Holy Spirit within us. He lovingly prompts and warns, guides and directs. The problem comes when we choose to ignore those inner promptings. If the warnings are directly stated in His written word, we’re just
being rebellious in order to get what we think we want. However, there are so many situations in our lives that are not as clear cut. We sense there’s danger, but the area is grey enough for us to keep moving in that direction anyway, because that’s where our ‘flesh’ wants to go. Or perhaps the intellectual appeal is great or our own logic so compelling that we find ourselves in a whole other lane than we planned.
That lane is a comfortable one because it is the road most travelled, if I can borrow a turn of phrase from Frost. Everyone seems to be going that way. It is not strange and challenging territory. No one is staring at us wondering what in the world we’re doing and why. GPS is happy with us. She doesn’t keep telling us to make a legal U-turn and go back the other way.
Staying in God’s lane will ultimately and absolutely prove the best road, but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy one to travel. There seem to be more potholes and things lying in the road that must be avoided. In fact, sometimes the way ahead has only one lane, and it is foggy up ahead. Don’t worry. Be assured that when we set our destination in line with His, He will send His own special form of alert when we’re starting to drift. We just have to heed it quickly to avoid a crash.
Monday, January 1, 2018
New Year Chiropractic Adjustment
A few months ago I finally followed through on visiting a chiropractor. I have known things weren’t right for quite awhile, not the least of my symptoms involving bones rubbing together when I bent over or turned from side to side. Sciatica had become my regulator visitor, as it has for many senior citizens. In addition to pain, there was just an overriding sense that things weren’t right, including my being easily fatigued and out of whack, so to speak. I was amazed at how much of a difference my first treatment made. Sometimes when you’ve been feeling poorly for a long time, you forget what it is like to feel good. My second visit, however, with a different chiropractor from the same office, was a completely different experience. The treatment was painful, and I felt ‘all wrong’ afterwards. I determined to afterwards only see the original chiropractor. I also knew that my back initially needed frequent, regular treatment so the muscles wouldn’t keep returning to their previous state, as your body tends to do.
This morning, God brought these experiences to mind related to our spiritual condition. We begin to realize that things aren’t right, that something is out of alignment and has been for awhile. However, we have become so used to this subtly and gradually changing state, that it has become our new normal. We have forgotten what it feels like to be healthy in our souls and spirits. We’ve lost the joy and delight, that natural, free flowing relationship with the Lord in which we were once carried along in His grace, enjoying the sweetness of His friendship. Our spiritual muscles have set themselves in new, unhealthy patterns.
Perhaps we’ve turned to other ‘chiropractors,’ to solve our problems. We’ve pursued other avenues to make ourselves feels better. We’ve been lured by the glittering promises of happiness from mere imitators of our Great Physician. Although they had the appearance of offering relief, our experience with them only ended in dissatisfaction or even pain.
On this New Year’s Day, let’s turn our faces to the light of His benevolent one and confess that we need His chiropractic adjustment. We cannot fix ourselves, but we know He can, and that He is not only willing but delighted by our request for help. Just looking at His smile changes everything right from the start. We know it cannot be a one-time visit, but rather an ongoing interchange that will ultimately transform us. If our discs have slipped or our vertebrae have begun to fuse, if we’ve forgotten to make and keep our appointments with Him, let’s make this our most important resolution for 2018 and for all the years we’re blessed to have on this earth.
*****************
“”Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus..”
“...not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God”
“Lift your heart and let it rest upon Jesus and you are instantly in a sanctuary.”
—A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
This morning, God brought these experiences to mind related to our spiritual condition. We begin to realize that things aren’t right, that something is out of alignment and has been for awhile. However, we have become so used to this subtly and gradually changing state, that it has become our new normal. We have forgotten what it feels like to be healthy in our souls and spirits. We’ve lost the joy and delight, that natural, free flowing relationship with the Lord in which we were once carried along in His grace, enjoying the sweetness of His friendship. Our spiritual muscles have set themselves in new, unhealthy patterns.
Perhaps we’ve turned to other ‘chiropractors,’ to solve our problems. We’ve pursued other avenues to make ourselves feels better. We’ve been lured by the glittering promises of happiness from mere imitators of our Great Physician. Although they had the appearance of offering relief, our experience with them only ended in dissatisfaction or even pain.
On this New Year’s Day, let’s turn our faces to the light of His benevolent one and confess that we need His chiropractic adjustment. We cannot fix ourselves, but we know He can, and that He is not only willing but delighted by our request for help. Just looking at His smile changes everything right from the start. We know it cannot be a one-time visit, but rather an ongoing interchange that will ultimately transform us. If our discs have slipped or our vertebrae have begun to fuse, if we’ve forgotten to make and keep our appointments with Him, let’s make this our most important resolution for 2018 and for all the years we’re blessed to have on this earth.
*****************
“”Faith is a redirecting of our sight, a getting out of the focus of our own vision and getting God into focus..”
“...not a once-done act, but a continuous gaze of the heart at the Triune God”
“Lift your heart and let it rest upon Jesus and you are instantly in a sanctuary.”
—A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
Saturday, December 30, 2017
The Other Side of the Door
“Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.” How many times have we recited or sung this quote from Jesus? Yet have we ever really thought about where that door leads? Salvation? Heaven? Certainly....Absolutely. But is there something more? Was Jesus talking about walking through Himself as the entrance to Heaven? Certainly. Yet does that Open Door offer even more than eternal life insurance? Certainly His ultimate gift born of agonizing sacrifice is something to be intensely grateful for every day of our existence here. Yet is there even more in His invitation? To what is He inviting us?
As He often does, God keeps giving me images of parenting and grandparenting to help me understand who He is and what He desires. This morning, after continuing my reading in Tozer’s The Pursuit of God, I was struck by his reference to time and space in our relationship with the Trinity of God. We only pursue God in response to His pursuit of us. When we respond to that pursuit, we find Him right there with us, as near as our breath. He has been waiting there all along, hoping we’ll ‘knock’ so He can fling wide the door of His heart to us. Right now, in the present moment, His immanence scoops us into His waiting arms.
When I visit my new granddaughter, I try to wait patiently in the wings, hoping for the opportunity to scoop her into my arms and hold her against my heart. I know there are many wanting time with her, desiring her attention. So I wait, aching to hold her close, to comfort her when she cries, to make her smile, to help her fall asleep when she’s taken in so much ‘input’ that she has trouble finding that place of peace. When she hears her father’s voice, she immediately stills and listens for him. It is sometimes he alone who can comfort her.
I have come to understand, though I know that understanding is only partial, how much God longs for us to turn our face to Him, to realize how near He is, how He waits there longing for us to choose to respond to His overtures of love. How He longs for us to hear His voice whispering our name and fling ourselves into His arms.
I remember one evening Emma fell asleep over my heart as I rocked her. I could have happily held her all night long, my heart nearly bursting its confines, like the Grinch of the Christmas tale. And I remember rocking her mother and her two brothers and feeling the same way. I didn’t love one child more than the others; I loved each one as if he or she was an only child. With each one, it was as if my heart would explode with love (and that love has never diminished). Our tender-hearted Father loves us more than this. There is so much more beyond the door than we can imagine...not just in Heaven, but right now. Don’t leave Him waiting with unrequited love. Pursue Him and you will find that you don’t have to take a single step; you will bump right into Him.
***************
"You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek..." [Psalm 27:8]
"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened." [Matthew 7:7-8]
"...always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures."
"It is not a sovereign and irresistible force which comes upon us as a seizure from above. It is a gift of God, indeed, but one which must be recognized and cultivated as any other gift..."
[Tozer, The Pursuit of God]
As He often does, God keeps giving me images of parenting and grandparenting to help me understand who He is and what He desires. This morning, after continuing my reading in Tozer’s The Pursuit of God, I was struck by his reference to time and space in our relationship with the Trinity of God. We only pursue God in response to His pursuit of us. When we respond to that pursuit, we find Him right there with us, as near as our breath. He has been waiting there all along, hoping we’ll ‘knock’ so He can fling wide the door of His heart to us. Right now, in the present moment, His immanence scoops us into His waiting arms.
When I visit my new granddaughter, I try to wait patiently in the wings, hoping for the opportunity to scoop her into my arms and hold her against my heart. I know there are many wanting time with her, desiring her attention. So I wait, aching to hold her close, to comfort her when she cries, to make her smile, to help her fall asleep when she’s taken in so much ‘input’ that she has trouble finding that place of peace. When she hears her father’s voice, she immediately stills and listens for him. It is sometimes he alone who can comfort her.
I have come to understand, though I know that understanding is only partial, how much God longs for us to turn our face to Him, to realize how near He is, how He waits there longing for us to choose to respond to His overtures of love. How He longs for us to hear His voice whispering our name and fling ourselves into His arms.
I remember one evening Emma fell asleep over my heart as I rocked her. I could have happily held her all night long, my heart nearly bursting its confines, like the Grinch of the Christmas tale. And I remember rocking her mother and her two brothers and feeling the same way. I didn’t love one child more than the others; I loved each one as if he or she was an only child. With each one, it was as if my heart would explode with love (and that love has never diminished). Our tender-hearted Father loves us more than this. There is so much more beyond the door than we can imagine...not just in Heaven, but right now. Don’t leave Him waiting with unrequited love. Pursue Him and you will find that you don’t have to take a single step; you will bump right into Him.
***************
"You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek..." [Psalm 27:8]
"Keep on asking and it will be given you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking [reverently] and [the door] will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; and he who keeps on seeking finds; and to him who keeps on knocking, [the door] will be opened." [Matthew 7:7-8]
"...always He is trying to get our attention, to reveal Himself to us, to communicate with us. We have within us the ability to know Him if we will but respond to His overtures."
"It is not a sovereign and irresistible force which comes upon us as a seizure from above. It is a gift of God, indeed, but one which must be recognized and cultivated as any other gift..."
[Tozer, The Pursuit of God]
Friday, December 8, 2017
Don’t Shoot the Messenger
This week my Vipre security software on my phone came up with a malware warning, but it was for Google Play, which operates all the Android apps. What do I do with that, I thought. Vipre proceeded in an endless loop of not being able to clean by uninstalling (of course) and I could not get it out of the loop to do another scan. Vipre has a reputation for trustworthiness. I finally just turned off my phone until I could figure out what to do (to the distress of my family who couldn’t get hold of me). The people at the AT&T store couldn’t really help me except to advise removing Vipre, which I did. My phone then seemed happy again.
Immediately God showed me the analogy to our current culture...and all the way back to Israel’s history with the prophets. When your prophetic watchmen begin to annoy you with their warnings, you find a way to either ignore them or get rid of them. That way you can have a false sense of security that all is well and you don’t have to change anything in your life. All the while, something insidious is eating away at your foundation. You go blithely on your merry way like Scarlet O’Hara, setting aside dealing with any serious issues for ‘another day.’ Isaiah 28:15 says, “...for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we taken refuge.”
Sometimes we choose false prophets because we like what they have to say. Your computer sometimes pops up a virus warning, via some unheard of security application, advising you to take instant action to solve the virus problem they say you have. However, what they're really trying to do is download spyware on your computer. The very program that is offering to solve your problem is trying to rob you. So with the false prophets, who are really self-serving wolves in sheep's clothing. Isaiah 28: 16-17, however, leads us back to the Cornerstone and the Plumbline for all truth. We musn't be deceived by gladly receiving something 'our itchy ears want to hear.' [2 Timothy 4:3]
If you find yourself spending less ‘real’ time in quiet with the Father, search your heart to see if
you’re ignoring Him because you’re afraid of what He might have to say to you. If we turn off or delete the prophetic because it makes us uncomfortable, we’re still walking down the same dangerous road, whether we admit it to ourselves or not. Been there, done that. In the end, we always need to come back, knowing every course correction He gives us is out of love. He’s not trying to spoil our fun, He’s trying to keep us from spoiling our lives, the lives of those we love, and, ultimately, our entire nation and world. I guess the phrase, “Don’t shoot the messenger” is applicable here. If the messenger is a trustworthy, untainted one, he’ll always alert us to danger and point us back to the Cornerstone. Our spiritual antennae should start beeping when we realize we have appeased our consciences by removing the source of the warning from our visual screens, instead of addressing its content.
*********************
2 Timothy 4:3
Isaiah 30:10
They say to the seers, ‘See no more visions!’ and to the prophets, ‘Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.’
Immediately God showed me the analogy to our current culture...and all the way back to Israel’s history with the prophets. When your prophetic watchmen begin to annoy you with their warnings, you find a way to either ignore them or get rid of them. That way you can have a false sense of security that all is well and you don’t have to change anything in your life. All the while, something insidious is eating away at your foundation. You go blithely on your merry way like Scarlet O’Hara, setting aside dealing with any serious issues for ‘another day.’ Isaiah 28:15 says, “...for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood have we taken refuge.”
Sometimes we choose false prophets because we like what they have to say. Your computer sometimes pops up a virus warning, via some unheard of security application, advising you to take instant action to solve the virus problem they say you have. However, what they're really trying to do is download spyware on your computer. The very program that is offering to solve your problem is trying to rob you. So with the false prophets, who are really self-serving wolves in sheep's clothing. Isaiah 28: 16-17, however, leads us back to the Cornerstone and the Plumbline for all truth. We musn't be deceived by gladly receiving something 'our itchy ears want to hear.' [2 Timothy 4:3]
If you find yourself spending less ‘real’ time in quiet with the Father, search your heart to see if
you’re ignoring Him because you’re afraid of what He might have to say to you. If we turn off or delete the prophetic because it makes us uncomfortable, we’re still walking down the same dangerous road, whether we admit it to ourselves or not. Been there, done that. In the end, we always need to come back, knowing every course correction He gives us is out of love. He’s not trying to spoil our fun, He’s trying to keep us from spoiling our lives, the lives of those we love, and, ultimately, our entire nation and world. I guess the phrase, “Don’t shoot the messenger” is applicable here. If the messenger is a trustworthy, untainted one, he’ll always alert us to danger and point us back to the Cornerstone. Our spiritual antennae should start beeping when we realize we have appeased our consciences by removing the source of the warning from our visual screens, instead of addressing its content.
*********************
2 Timothy 4:3
For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear.
They say to the seers, ‘See no more visions!’ and to the prophets, ‘Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.’
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