Ok gang, sorry if I clogged up your reader this morning... I'm posting all the Clearwater articles for this year and since I backed dated them all to their proper month, here's a go-to if you missed them!
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Showing posts with label Clearwater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clearwater. Show all posts
Thursday, August 4
What Then?
Prayer in itself is an act of faith. For many of us, the offering of the prayer is grounded in faith that God will not only hear us, but supply us with an answer that satisfies our souls. But, what if faithfulness isn’t defined by offering up words of prayer… what if faithfulness is defined by what we do with the answers we are given from God to our prayers.
If you pray and pray and pray, and nothing happens… what then?
If you pray and pray and pray, and the answer is no…. What then?
If you pray and pray and pray, and the answer is yes when you want it to be no...what then?
The true test of our faithfulness in prayer is found in the “what then’s?” What do you do when God’s answer isn’t your answer? Or when you don’t see God’s answer? Or you don’t understand it? Or you just plain don’t like it? Or it isn’t on your time frame? Or it is something radical? What if the answer is not now? What if the answer is never? What if the answer isn’t fair, popular or expected? What then?
If you still choose to believe that God is great, almighty, all-knowing and in total control and that every action, reaction, circumstance, trial, temptation, conviction and pulling is for His glory, then you have faith. If you get to a “what then” and you are disgusted with God’s answer then an examination of your own heart is in order. Faithfulness doesn’t come in offering up the prayer… faithfulness comes in embracing the answer given to us from prayer.
Do you believe when things aren’t easy? When death or sickness comes unexpectedly? When rain is scattered? When people reject God? When you are called to love or serve in an area or to a person or people that make you uncomfortable? What then?
It is as much a challenge for myself as it is for all of us believers. We must choose to glorify God through our
actions and reactions to His answers to our prayers. We must choose Him always. We must trust Him always. We must glorify Him always. We must learn to grow in the “what then’s” so that we are truly rooted in our prayers… not that they are a means to an end that we can control, but that we are fully available to an Almighty God in whatever way He chooses to lead. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
If you pray and pray and pray, and nothing happens… what then?
If you pray and pray and pray, and the answer is no…. What then?
If you pray and pray and pray, and the answer is yes when you want it to be no...what then?
The true test of our faithfulness in prayer is found in the “what then’s?” What do you do when God’s answer isn’t your answer? Or when you don’t see God’s answer? Or you don’t understand it? Or you just plain don’t like it? Or it isn’t on your time frame? Or it is something radical? What if the answer is not now? What if the answer is never? What if the answer isn’t fair, popular or expected? What then?
If you still choose to believe that God is great, almighty, all-knowing and in total control and that every action, reaction, circumstance, trial, temptation, conviction and pulling is for His glory, then you have faith. If you get to a “what then” and you are disgusted with God’s answer then an examination of your own heart is in order. Faithfulness doesn’t come in offering up the prayer… faithfulness comes in embracing the answer given to us from prayer.
Do you believe when things aren’t easy? When death or sickness comes unexpectedly? When rain is scattered? When people reject God? When you are called to love or serve in an area or to a person or people that make you uncomfortable? What then?
It is as much a challenge for myself as it is for all of us believers. We must choose to glorify God through our
actions and reactions to His answers to our prayers. We must choose Him always. We must trust Him always. We must glorify Him always. We must learn to grow in the “what then’s” so that we are truly rooted in our prayers… not that they are a means to an end that we can control, but that we are fully available to an Almighty God in whatever way He chooses to lead. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Hebrews 11:1
Saturday, June 4
Imperfection
There is a place deep within all of us, if we really speak honestly, that lives in anguish against ourselves. It’s place we perceive of imperfection and where we harness and store the reinforcements and scars of our hearts.
The Bible teaches us that no one is perfect outside of Christ Jesus. And while that is certainly the case, it is not that level of imperfection of which I reference here. I am talking about perceived imperfection...the comparing, contrasting, weighing and watching of ourselves versus others.
We are imperfect if we aren’t as crafty as her. We are untalented if we can’t do this as good as him. We aren’t this, can’t do that, don’t do it this way and this makes us imperfect. And what we weigh in as imperfection, is actually insecurity.
There is no place where we are all created with equal talents, convictions, abilities and gifts. We are all independently created in God’s image. A perfect image of oneness, whether we realize it or not.
A friend shared this quote with me this week, and it spoke directly to my heart:
One reason we struggle with insecurity: we’re comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.—Steven Furtick
How often do we find ourselves doing this? More often than we probably realize at first, because insecurity is a silent attacker. It speaks deeply and pointedly at the heart before it ever manifests itself externally. Insecurity disguises itself as fixable imperfection… I am worthy if I can this, I am as good as them because I also do this, if I can craft it, bake it, make it, lead it, then I am as good, as worthy, as special.
Friends, step back from this lie. We are not fixable imperfections. We are fearless creations of an Almighty God. Our gifts are our own. Our weakness are created so that in them our God can be made great. We can call insecurity, imperfection, we can allow it to keep us struggling in the darkness. Or we can call it what it is, step up to line and knock it out of the field.
I am not less because I am not you. You are not more because you are you. We are all beautiful, talented, perfectly unique individuals made by a God who intends to fully use whatever we are willing to give him, even if it doesn’t involve straight lines, a clean house, or perfectly baked pound cakes.
The Bible teaches us that no one is perfect outside of Christ Jesus. And while that is certainly the case, it is not that level of imperfection of which I reference here. I am talking about perceived imperfection...the comparing, contrasting, weighing and watching of ourselves versus others.
We are imperfect if we aren’t as crafty as her. We are untalented if we can’t do this as good as him. We aren’t this, can’t do that, don’t do it this way and this makes us imperfect. And what we weigh in as imperfection, is actually insecurity.
There is no place where we are all created with equal talents, convictions, abilities and gifts. We are all independently created in God’s image. A perfect image of oneness, whether we realize it or not.
A friend shared this quote with me this week, and it spoke directly to my heart:
One reason we struggle with insecurity: we’re comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else’s highlight reel.—Steven Furtick
How often do we find ourselves doing this? More often than we probably realize at first, because insecurity is a silent attacker. It speaks deeply and pointedly at the heart before it ever manifests itself externally. Insecurity disguises itself as fixable imperfection… I am worthy if I can this, I am as good as them because I also do this, if I can craft it, bake it, make it, lead it, then I am as good, as worthy, as special.
Friends, step back from this lie. We are not fixable imperfections. We are fearless creations of an Almighty God. Our gifts are our own. Our weakness are created so that in them our God can be made great. We can call insecurity, imperfection, we can allow it to keep us struggling in the darkness. Or we can call it what it is, step up to line and knock it out of the field.
I am not less because I am not you. You are not more because you are you. We are all beautiful, talented, perfectly unique individuals made by a God who intends to fully use whatever we are willing to give him, even if it doesn’t involve straight lines, a clean house, or perfectly baked pound cakes.
Wednesday, May 4
Divine Appointments
Michael and I spent a week of this month in Jaco, Costa Rica serving and being ministered to by the Radical Life Ministry team and church family. It was a memorable week that words nor pictures fully captivate and communicate. It was a week of divine appointments.
Often in the lives of Christians, a “mission trip” serves as an instigator to our faith. It pushes us out of our comfort zones, it gives us purpose and a time frame for completion, it unites our hearts and actions with a team of like-minded believers serving others. There is even a time following a mission trip which has been called a “faith high” where all the good feelings and experiences from a mission trip carry over into the lives of those who went for the weeks after they return.
It is no doubt that mission trips give believers a more unique and disciplined time to serve God fully without also having to do basic daily duties, like work a full-time job, buy groceries or clean house. While those tasks may also be completed in some fashion on a mission trip, its just a whole different ballgame. Why is that? I believe it is because the heart and the mind of the traveler is more focused on what they are doing and its eternal validations. Most of the things that are done on mission trips are things that can be done in the life of the traveler at home or in their home area, or in other mission areas. The difference however lies in the state of the heart, mind and attitude of the person who is engaged in the trip.
When we were in Costa Rica we saw God make mighty connections in perfect timing on a daily basis. We never had a plan before breakfast, but our days did not waste away. We knew little of the language, but we loved fully and communicated well enough. We never met the people, but we left as friends of years in the making.
I have no doubt that God works the same divine appointments into our everyday lives wherever we call home… just like we all have different places we would consider to “missionary.” The difference in our ability to recognize and engage in those appointments is more on our instability as faith-driven actors. God is as fully present here as He is in Costa Rica. He still directs our paths. He still has a purpose and a plan and a future for all of us. He carefully weaves our days and years together. He gives us people to love and minister to. He gives us opportunities to learn and grow and serve. The difference is that our heads and hearts are often distracted at home. Oh, how I pray that we can come to daily battle distractions and seek Him in our appointments.
Often in the lives of Christians, a “mission trip” serves as an instigator to our faith. It pushes us out of our comfort zones, it gives us purpose and a time frame for completion, it unites our hearts and actions with a team of like-minded believers serving others. There is even a time following a mission trip which has been called a “faith high” where all the good feelings and experiences from a mission trip carry over into the lives of those who went for the weeks after they return.
It is no doubt that mission trips give believers a more unique and disciplined time to serve God fully without also having to do basic daily duties, like work a full-time job, buy groceries or clean house. While those tasks may also be completed in some fashion on a mission trip, its just a whole different ballgame. Why is that? I believe it is because the heart and the mind of the traveler is more focused on what they are doing and its eternal validations. Most of the things that are done on mission trips are things that can be done in the life of the traveler at home or in their home area, or in other mission areas. The difference however lies in the state of the heart, mind and attitude of the person who is engaged in the trip.
When we were in Costa Rica we saw God make mighty connections in perfect timing on a daily basis. We never had a plan before breakfast, but our days did not waste away. We knew little of the language, but we loved fully and communicated well enough. We never met the people, but we left as friends of years in the making.
I have no doubt that God works the same divine appointments into our everyday lives wherever we call home… just like we all have different places we would consider to “missionary.” The difference in our ability to recognize and engage in those appointments is more on our instability as faith-driven actors. God is as fully present here as He is in Costa Rica. He still directs our paths. He still has a purpose and a plan and a future for all of us. He carefully weaves our days and years together. He gives us people to love and minister to. He gives us opportunities to learn and grow and serve. The difference is that our heads and hearts are often distracted at home. Oh, how I pray that we can come to daily battle distractions and seek Him in our appointments.
Monday, April 4
Conviction & Provision
There are many times in our lives that we await on the Lord’s provision for us. Sometimes that provision may come in the form of money, or security, of family or babies, of healing or of freedom. The way we approach provision greatly reflects on our full surrender to Christ and to the will of God in our lives. We can not await
provision without the faith that God will provide. Likewise, we can not ask for provision without the faith that God will hear.
However, provision is not a bestowment from heaven which requires a simple request. Provision requires
conviction, release and pursuit.
We must be convicted of the areas in our lives to which we cling to our own controls, our own wills and our strengths. We must be willing to let God be completely in control to find ourselves in the midst of His provision. Conviction will reveal the places in our hearts and souls that are tainted or withheld from Christ. This may be convictions about the music and television that we expose ourselves or our families to. It may be convictions about material objects, money, fame or personal power. It may be convictions about unhealthy thought processes or relationships. It is allowing God to point out our weaknesses and instead of trying to hide them, to oust them into the spotlight. Conviction is perhaps the largest hurdle to true faithfulness. We must be willing to be convicted and then act upon our convictions (and in our healing and growth) in order to live in God’s will.
Once convicted, we must release our hold and our grasp and our insistence on understanding the immediate and extended forecast for our lives. We must let go of any means of trying to control or manipulate God, or control or manipulate the situations we find ourselves in. We must completely remove our minds and live from the inmost dwellings of our hearts. We must let God lead, even we can not see where we are going… or even when we can see where we are going and aren’t sure that’s where we want to be. Release is the second stumbling block to the fullness of God’s provision.
Finally, to find ourselves in the midst of provision, we must be in pursuit of a Holy and Almighty God. We must surround ourselves in His words and in prayer and dialogue with Him daily. We must pursue Him through prayer and worship. We must fight ourselves to be secondary and our God to be primary. We can not simply ask and then wait, without action on our part. God so wishes to bless and lead our lives and to give us power in our faith. He has more than enough to provide for you… will you give Him pursuit?
provision without the faith that God will provide. Likewise, we can not ask for provision without the faith that God will hear.
However, provision is not a bestowment from heaven which requires a simple request. Provision requires
conviction, release and pursuit.
We must be convicted of the areas in our lives to which we cling to our own controls, our own wills and our strengths. We must be willing to let God be completely in control to find ourselves in the midst of His provision. Conviction will reveal the places in our hearts and souls that are tainted or withheld from Christ. This may be convictions about the music and television that we expose ourselves or our families to. It may be convictions about material objects, money, fame or personal power. It may be convictions about unhealthy thought processes or relationships. It is allowing God to point out our weaknesses and instead of trying to hide them, to oust them into the spotlight. Conviction is perhaps the largest hurdle to true faithfulness. We must be willing to be convicted and then act upon our convictions (and in our healing and growth) in order to live in God’s will.
Once convicted, we must release our hold and our grasp and our insistence on understanding the immediate and extended forecast for our lives. We must let go of any means of trying to control or manipulate God, or control or manipulate the situations we find ourselves in. We must completely remove our minds and live from the inmost dwellings of our hearts. We must let God lead, even we can not see where we are going… or even when we can see where we are going and aren’t sure that’s where we want to be. Release is the second stumbling block to the fullness of God’s provision.
Finally, to find ourselves in the midst of provision, we must be in pursuit of a Holy and Almighty God. We must surround ourselves in His words and in prayer and dialogue with Him daily. We must pursue Him through prayer and worship. We must fight ourselves to be secondary and our God to be primary. We can not simply ask and then wait, without action on our part. God so wishes to bless and lead our lives and to give us power in our faith. He has more than enough to provide for you… will you give Him pursuit?
Friday, March 4
A Pep For Our Step
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:5-8
The divine providence of God is that faithfulness creates more… more faith, more wisdom, more
understanding and more like-mindedness with Christ. It brings out the fruits of faithfulness...holiness,
righteousness, goodness, mercy, grace, self-control, perseverance. We are not created complete in our knowledge and understanding of God and Christ upon our salvation...it is instead, that our salvation brings us into God's divine promises and provisions. It is then up to our diligence to further ourselves into a more complete knowledge and understanding of Christ through daily diligence in belief.
The more we read His word, the more it is ingrained in our hearts and minds. The more we embrace and remember His promises. The more we are reconciled with the type of people and the traits of believers that God wishes to grow into fruition in all believers. If we are ushers of Truth, then Truth overtakes our lives. If we put our Bibles down, if we don't join in the fellowship of other believers, if we aren't praying,
worshiping, seeking...then it is not God who has fallen short on His promises of divinity in our lives...it is us who has dropped the ball, spiritually speaking. If we are not doing all we can to further our knowledge,
understanding and time spent in the presence of God, then we are also not getting the fullness of his blessings and the fullness of that which He wishes to grant us... traits that make our lives fuller and better.
For every effort you pour into knowing your Savior, the further He will take you in your development... If you are faithful, you will find more goodness... with goodness follows knowledge, with knowledge we gain self-control, which will grant us perseverance... from perseverance, godliness and from godliness to love. The ultimate of gifts is that of love.. love is not granted in step one of our spiritual journey, although it is no doubt present there. But to see everything to its utmost we must be willing to put the work into developing lasting habits of each of these traits. Godliness comes from perseverance because it is in times when we must wait, trust, persevere that we seek after God the most. We gain self-control from a knowledge of the provisions of
discipleship that are outlined in the Bible. We must walk daily in order to find ourselves in the fullness of Christ eternally.
The divine providence of God is that faithfulness creates more… more faith, more wisdom, more
understanding and more like-mindedness with Christ. It brings out the fruits of faithfulness...holiness,
righteousness, goodness, mercy, grace, self-control, perseverance. We are not created complete in our knowledge and understanding of God and Christ upon our salvation...it is instead, that our salvation brings us into God's divine promises and provisions. It is then up to our diligence to further ourselves into a more complete knowledge and understanding of Christ through daily diligence in belief.
The more we read His word, the more it is ingrained in our hearts and minds. The more we embrace and remember His promises. The more we are reconciled with the type of people and the traits of believers that God wishes to grow into fruition in all believers. If we are ushers of Truth, then Truth overtakes our lives. If we put our Bibles down, if we don't join in the fellowship of other believers, if we aren't praying,
worshiping, seeking...then it is not God who has fallen short on His promises of divinity in our lives...it is us who has dropped the ball, spiritually speaking. If we are not doing all we can to further our knowledge,
understanding and time spent in the presence of God, then we are also not getting the fullness of his blessings and the fullness of that which He wishes to grant us... traits that make our lives fuller and better.
For every effort you pour into knowing your Savior, the further He will take you in your development... If you are faithful, you will find more goodness... with goodness follows knowledge, with knowledge we gain self-control, which will grant us perseverance... from perseverance, godliness and from godliness to love. The ultimate of gifts is that of love.. love is not granted in step one of our spiritual journey, although it is no doubt present there. But to see everything to its utmost we must be willing to put the work into developing lasting habits of each of these traits. Godliness comes from perseverance because it is in times when we must wait, trust, persevere that we seek after God the most. We gain self-control from a knowledge of the provisions of
discipleship that are outlined in the Bible. We must walk daily in order to find ourselves in the fullness of Christ eternally.
Monday, February 14
Clearwater's Gone Bloggy!
While Michael is still updating the website for our ministry, you can now find our still-under-development-but-getting-there blog for the ministry. I hope that we'll be able to do updates about projects and things that we are working on and our monthly newsletters will also be posted there... right now, it only showcases our January 2011 newsletter articles, and its most frequently updated content will be what I'm calling "Daily Bread"... which is my take on the daily scripture posted by Biblegateway.com. (What can I say? I struggle with daily quiet times but blogging keeps me centered and accountable (even if no one reads it) )
Check It Out Here:
www.clearwaterministries.net/blog
Check It Out Here:
www.clearwaterministries.net/blog
Friday, February 4
Divenly Orchestrated
One of the most divine aspects of God’s provision in our lives is that He holds the bigger picture. Always. He is omnipresent and omnipotent. Always with us and always in full knowledge.
Yet, we, as humans who are in what we perceive to be control of many aspects of our lives, like to think that we know what is best for us, and how to get there from here.
Oh, how God must laugh at our plans! How he must delight in just how we underestimate ourselves and Him… yes, I said delight. I think it brings God joy to show us just how great He is, how much better His plan is, and just how many ways He provides our every need and so much more.
I have often heard, don’t pray for just anything, you just might get it! At the heart of that lightly-toned quote is a certain truth… just because we want a certain end result, doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily like what it takes to get there. In God’s world, the means of getting there is just as important, if not more so in most cases, than the end result. Because at the end of it, we’re still all, whether we like to admit it or not, works in process.
That being said, I asked for patience while praying. I got a 2-year-old that has reached the whiney, emotional meltdown phase. You want patience? You have to practice it, choose it and embody it.
I studied Isaiah 42 with my women’s group… I focused on the phrase “Bring Forth.” I found myself in the midst of what I’ve named the Flu Crisis of 2011 for 7 days. Nothing, and I mean, nothing, will bring a faith that is discouraged back in humility to the feet of God like sick children, whose return to health is out of their parent’s control.
Yet through the means, that may be less desirable for us than we plan for, the fine-tuning of our souls and ourselves through that process is where we find the tangible work of God in our lives.
Do not pray for it unless you are ready to practice it. Do not lightly embrace a promise of God unless you are ready to see it through its completeness. Do not forget that the journey is long, the road narrow, and the God Almighty. You will not understand it all. You won’t like it all. The road may veer right when you were thinking left. But through it all, God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called to His purpose. Be sure to be one of those. Romans 8:28
Yet, we, as humans who are in what we perceive to be control of many aspects of our lives, like to think that we know what is best for us, and how to get there from here.
Oh, how God must laugh at our plans! How he must delight in just how we underestimate ourselves and Him… yes, I said delight. I think it brings God joy to show us just how great He is, how much better His plan is, and just how many ways He provides our every need and so much more.
I have often heard, don’t pray for just anything, you just might get it! At the heart of that lightly-toned quote is a certain truth… just because we want a certain end result, doesn’t mean we’ll necessarily like what it takes to get there. In God’s world, the means of getting there is just as important, if not more so in most cases, than the end result. Because at the end of it, we’re still all, whether we like to admit it or not, works in process.
That being said, I asked for patience while praying. I got a 2-year-old that has reached the whiney, emotional meltdown phase. You want patience? You have to practice it, choose it and embody it.
I studied Isaiah 42 with my women’s group… I focused on the phrase “Bring Forth.” I found myself in the midst of what I’ve named the Flu Crisis of 2011 for 7 days. Nothing, and I mean, nothing, will bring a faith that is discouraged back in humility to the feet of God like sick children, whose return to health is out of their parent’s control.
Yet through the means, that may be less desirable for us than we plan for, the fine-tuning of our souls and ourselves through that process is where we find the tangible work of God in our lives.
Do not pray for it unless you are ready to practice it. Do not lightly embrace a promise of God unless you are ready to see it through its completeness. Do not forget that the journey is long, the road narrow, and the God Almighty. You will not understand it all. You won’t like it all. The road may veer right when you were thinking left. But through it all, God works for the good of those who love Him, who are called to His purpose. Be sure to be one of those. Romans 8:28
Tuesday, January 4
Just A Touch of Christmas
You local folks probably know by now how we spent the later part of our Christmas… but for those of you who don’t, we welcomed a nephew at 7:15 a.m. on December 26th, which means we arrived at the hospital around 4 p.m. on Christmas Day. Both Mom and Baby Boy, whose real name is Grady William Smith, are home and doing well and we’re all still working on catching up on our sleep from our hospital night.
I couldn’t help but think how Mary must have felt on the night of Jesus’ birth… and how very different that must have been from what we know of labor now. There was not a nurse, there were not pain medicines, there certainly wasn’t a nursery staff waiting to clean and bath baby Jesus and a doctor wasn’t standing by to proudly catch the baby and call the time of birth.
They were in a stable… a dirty, animal filled, most un-hospital of locations. We don’t know if Mary had any family with her other than Joseph. We don’t even know if anyone heard her labor pains and came to assist the teenager welcome her first son. There was no lactation nurse to coach her through those first feedings and no pediatrician to reassure her nerves that her baby was doing fine.
Yet, she had the hand of God upon her, even more than the way He holds mothers now. Her son, the Christ child, Heaven sent in the most literal of ways. In her lap, from her womb. I mean, woah. And as if that isn’t enough the largest army of angels arriving to glorify. You have to wonder if Mary and Joseph really thought it was happening to them… even after the angels visits, even with all of the prophesies aligning in their lives.
How do you wrap your mind, your heart around the events of Christ’s birth? Especially if you are His mother and father… first-time parents, scared, unsure, young and far, far away from your hometown. It is no wonder that the Nativity story is the most widely known story of the Bible, and yet, still one of the hardest for us to completely embrace. We don’t know what life was like outside of the words of Scripture, but I’m sure that it wasn’t all roses and rainbows in the days of Mary’s pregnancy and delivery.
As we go into another year, which came all too quickly I might add, I urge us all to look at the world around us and the roads we travel, and find in them the way Scripture is God-breathed in our every days. May our struggles bring us to the place of Job, our joys to the face of Elizabeth, our loyalties to Ruth and Naomi, and our salvation to our Lord.
I couldn’t help but think how Mary must have felt on the night of Jesus’ birth… and how very different that must have been from what we know of labor now. There was not a nurse, there were not pain medicines, there certainly wasn’t a nursery staff waiting to clean and bath baby Jesus and a doctor wasn’t standing by to proudly catch the baby and call the time of birth.
They were in a stable… a dirty, animal filled, most un-hospital of locations. We don’t know if Mary had any family with her other than Joseph. We don’t even know if anyone heard her labor pains and came to assist the teenager welcome her first son. There was no lactation nurse to coach her through those first feedings and no pediatrician to reassure her nerves that her baby was doing fine.
Yet, she had the hand of God upon her, even more than the way He holds mothers now. Her son, the Christ child, Heaven sent in the most literal of ways. In her lap, from her womb. I mean, woah. And as if that isn’t enough the largest army of angels arriving to glorify. You have to wonder if Mary and Joseph really thought it was happening to them… even after the angels visits, even with all of the prophesies aligning in their lives.
How do you wrap your mind, your heart around the events of Christ’s birth? Especially if you are His mother and father… first-time parents, scared, unsure, young and far, far away from your hometown. It is no wonder that the Nativity story is the most widely known story of the Bible, and yet, still one of the hardest for us to completely embrace. We don’t know what life was like outside of the words of Scripture, but I’m sure that it wasn’t all roses and rainbows in the days of Mary’s pregnancy and delivery.
As we go into another year, which came all too quickly I might add, I urge us all to look at the world around us and the roads we travel, and find in them the way Scripture is God-breathed in our every days. May our struggles bring us to the place of Job, our joys to the face of Elizabeth, our loyalties to Ruth and Naomi, and our salvation to our Lord.
Friday, December 3
The Burden of Joy
When the Lord brought back the captives to Zion, we were like those who dream. Then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with singing. Then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for us. Yes, the Lord has done great things for us and we are filled with joy! - Psalm 126: 1-3
How sweet is it to rest in the assurance of God’s provision. To be encompassed by His never-ending love and affections for us. To be loved beyond all measure. Unrequited, perfect, all-knowing, bestowing love. Those secret moments where our lives are overcome with the goodness of a God who has provided, yet again, in the midst of our brokenness. We are filled with joy!
One of the heaviest burdens we carry as disciples of Christ is the burden of joy. Yes, I called it a burden. We know from the Bible that the Lord delights in bestowing blessings upon us, and that joy, in its essence, it’s the highest form of happiness that we can fathom on earth. Yet, for many believers, joy is also a burden. Why would I say such? Have you ever met a Christian brother or sister who has lived their life in complete joy? That has been so enamored by God’s provisions that they can forgo stress, worry, concern, fear, anxiety, pressure, expectations, disappointments, and just wrap up in the joy that God has given them?? I have met few… they are out there, but they are not as often found as one would hope.
I believe a large part of our joy burden lies within ourselves, the expectations we have of ourselves and the way we allow others expectations to affect us. Joy is not always happiness or getting our way or seeing others not get their way. Joy comes from true peace with one simple fact: God is in control. Not sometimes, not when we want it to be, not when someone else says so. All. The. Time. God is in control. The big picture is out there and its wonderful. Not to say that all the brushstrokes of our pictures are smooth and beautiful at first glance. So joy becomes a burden, something that we carry and strive for within the same mental constraints of making it through the every day parts of life. But oh, the sweetness of joy. If you only find it for a small moment, cling tight to it, don’t fight it, don’t fear it, don’t regret it, but savor that divine encounter with the King of kings.
I challenge you to find joy in the midst of the coming months. That you rest your head on God’s shoulder and watch Him move through your life. Go ahead and plan to take lots of deep breaths and lots of steps back… the next month and a half will have plenty to keep your head spinning and your heart distracted. Instead, be filled with joy. The Lord has done great things for you, for me, for us.
How sweet is it to rest in the assurance of God’s provision. To be encompassed by His never-ending love and affections for us. To be loved beyond all measure. Unrequited, perfect, all-knowing, bestowing love. Those secret moments where our lives are overcome with the goodness of a God who has provided, yet again, in the midst of our brokenness. We are filled with joy!
One of the heaviest burdens we carry as disciples of Christ is the burden of joy. Yes, I called it a burden. We know from the Bible that the Lord delights in bestowing blessings upon us, and that joy, in its essence, it’s the highest form of happiness that we can fathom on earth. Yet, for many believers, joy is also a burden. Why would I say such? Have you ever met a Christian brother or sister who has lived their life in complete joy? That has been so enamored by God’s provisions that they can forgo stress, worry, concern, fear, anxiety, pressure, expectations, disappointments, and just wrap up in the joy that God has given them?? I have met few… they are out there, but they are not as often found as one would hope.
I believe a large part of our joy burden lies within ourselves, the expectations we have of ourselves and the way we allow others expectations to affect us. Joy is not always happiness or getting our way or seeing others not get their way. Joy comes from true peace with one simple fact: God is in control. Not sometimes, not when we want it to be, not when someone else says so. All. The. Time. God is in control. The big picture is out there and its wonderful. Not to say that all the brushstrokes of our pictures are smooth and beautiful at first glance. So joy becomes a burden, something that we carry and strive for within the same mental constraints of making it through the every day parts of life. But oh, the sweetness of joy. If you only find it for a small moment, cling tight to it, don’t fight it, don’t fear it, don’t regret it, but savor that divine encounter with the King of kings.
I challenge you to find joy in the midst of the coming months. That you rest your head on God’s shoulder and watch Him move through your life. Go ahead and plan to take lots of deep breaths and lots of steps back… the next month and a half will have plenty to keep your head spinning and your heart distracted. Instead, be filled with joy. The Lord has done great things for you, for me, for us.
Tuesday, November 16
Your welcome
Clearwater articles are now up to date.
You can access all of them by clicking on the "Clearwater" linky over here to the right.... and not have to search month to month.
You can access all of them by clicking on the "Clearwater" linky over here to the right.... and not have to search month to month.
Saturday, October 16
Rinse, Lather, Repeat
In August Michael and I helped lead a youth group through a DNow weekend. The focus of the weekend was “Sequence” and the lessons focused around the four steps of discipleship. Identify Christ. Deny Self. Take Up Your Cross. Follow Him.
As the words were coming from my mouth, I had my own divine encounter with Truth. Isn’t that the way it often works? We go into things thinking we’ll be the blessing, but in return we are also blessed. But I digress.
The truth of all sequences is that they are an ongoing,
living, breathing, conscious stream of thought and action that takes deliberate process to complete. And in most of the teachings that we share as Christians, there isn’t much talk of sequence past the steps it takes to become a believer. More often times than not believers paint the picture that believing in God and claiming Jesus as Savior is the end all of the Christian process—everything past that is just faith.
But how untrue this is! Believing in God as Almighty and embracing Jesus as personal Savior is just the
beginning...its the start to the rest of your life. It’s the first choice in a lifetime of choices to live faith, believe truth and express that commitment through word and deed together.
The Bible teaches us that there will be joy and sorrow, trial, tribulations, blessings, mercy and grace to sustain us. That is our sequence. Greater still than the sequence is the urgency for believers to make the sequence after acceptance of salvation made known to new, and I’d even wager, established believers. The Bible calls us to discipleship...which is more than just believing that God is who He is, but living a life that expresses that God is who He is, always.
It is time for believers to step into the sequence. Identify Christ. Know Him, learn Him, love Him, obey Him. Deny yourself. Get your head and your heart and your emotions and your fears out of the way. Push away the social comforts that restrain you from whole-hearted faith-based living. Give up on things being your way, ever. Take Up Your Cross. Don’t step into the batter’s box empty handed, be prepared to carry the load which God has for you, be it heavy at times and light at others. Follow Him. Don’t just read about Him, don’t just talk about Him, don’t pretend to live for Him, step out, one foot in front of the other for the rest of your life.
Its so much bigger and so much better than cutting out early.
As the words were coming from my mouth, I had my own divine encounter with Truth. Isn’t that the way it often works? We go into things thinking we’ll be the blessing, but in return we are also blessed. But I digress.
The truth of all sequences is that they are an ongoing,
living, breathing, conscious stream of thought and action that takes deliberate process to complete. And in most of the teachings that we share as Christians, there isn’t much talk of sequence past the steps it takes to become a believer. More often times than not believers paint the picture that believing in God and claiming Jesus as Savior is the end all of the Christian process—everything past that is just faith.
But how untrue this is! Believing in God as Almighty and embracing Jesus as personal Savior is just the
beginning...its the start to the rest of your life. It’s the first choice in a lifetime of choices to live faith, believe truth and express that commitment through word and deed together.
The Bible teaches us that there will be joy and sorrow, trial, tribulations, blessings, mercy and grace to sustain us. That is our sequence. Greater still than the sequence is the urgency for believers to make the sequence after acceptance of salvation made known to new, and I’d even wager, established believers. The Bible calls us to discipleship...which is more than just believing that God is who He is, but living a life that expresses that God is who He is, always.
It is time for believers to step into the sequence. Identify Christ. Know Him, learn Him, love Him, obey Him. Deny yourself. Get your head and your heart and your emotions and your fears out of the way. Push away the social comforts that restrain you from whole-hearted faith-based living. Give up on things being your way, ever. Take Up Your Cross. Don’t step into the batter’s box empty handed, be prepared to carry the load which God has for you, be it heavy at times and light at others. Follow Him. Don’t just read about Him, don’t just talk about Him, don’t pretend to live for Him, step out, one foot in front of the other for the rest of your life.
Its so much bigger and so much better than cutting out early.
Thursday, September 16
Living with Immediacy
Our God is greater, our God is stronger
God, You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
-Chris Tomlin
Living with immediacy… its something we talk often of in our Bible studies, Sunday school lessons and sermons. Taking a hold of our faith and putting it in the foremost of our thoughts and actions throughout each and everyday. Living with a purpose that is so clearly Christ that it reflects in our every day living and echoes through our every day voices.
Often times we embrace this faith-based living in the days or weeks after we experience God in a new way, perhaps through a Bible study or retreat, through a book or devotion, or through the witnessing of another. If you’ve ever been around a youth group after a summer camp, you’ve seen the immediacy in their eyes. Its easy to get wrapped up in God when we set aside a time, a day, a week to be all about Him. Just as its easy to get wrapped up in the world in which we practice our daily lives.
But God has so much more for us than easy, content living. We know that the Bible does not promise us anything less than trials and struggles during our earthly walk. It would be unfair of us to expect anything less. We have to fight for our faith. Every day. Every moment. Believing in Christ and turning your life over to His will is just the beginning. Its not the end all of a faith journey that gives you a “free pass’ to heaven. Its step one in a lifetime commitment to let go of ourselves and embrace Christ. Choose Christ. Choose love. Choose goodness. Guard our hearts. Guard our tongues. Be deliberate in our actions. Love always, speak slowly, pray much.
If our God is for us, which we know that He is, then there is nothing other than ourselves standing in our way. What a radically different world this would be if all believers could believe that simple truth. Life will be hard, there will be struggles, there will be circumstances we don’t understand, situations that we don’t like. Prayers will be answered, prayers seemingly go unheard. Life will get busy, babies will cry, groceries will need buying, grass will need mowing, errands will need running. Let us not get so distracted by our to do list that we forget how immediate our faith should be. Our God is GREATER, STRONGER, HIGHER than any other. What could stand against us?
God, You are higher than any other
Our God is Healer, awesome and power
Our God, Our God...
And if Our God is for us, then who could ever stop us
And if our God is with us, then what can stand against?
-Chris Tomlin
Living with immediacy… its something we talk often of in our Bible studies, Sunday school lessons and sermons. Taking a hold of our faith and putting it in the foremost of our thoughts and actions throughout each and everyday. Living with a purpose that is so clearly Christ that it reflects in our every day living and echoes through our every day voices.
Often times we embrace this faith-based living in the days or weeks after we experience God in a new way, perhaps through a Bible study or retreat, through a book or devotion, or through the witnessing of another. If you’ve ever been around a youth group after a summer camp, you’ve seen the immediacy in their eyes. Its easy to get wrapped up in God when we set aside a time, a day, a week to be all about Him. Just as its easy to get wrapped up in the world in which we practice our daily lives.
But God has so much more for us than easy, content living. We know that the Bible does not promise us anything less than trials and struggles during our earthly walk. It would be unfair of us to expect anything less. We have to fight for our faith. Every day. Every moment. Believing in Christ and turning your life over to His will is just the beginning. Its not the end all of a faith journey that gives you a “free pass’ to heaven. Its step one in a lifetime commitment to let go of ourselves and embrace Christ. Choose Christ. Choose love. Choose goodness. Guard our hearts. Guard our tongues. Be deliberate in our actions. Love always, speak slowly, pray much.
If our God is for us, which we know that He is, then there is nothing other than ourselves standing in our way. What a radically different world this would be if all believers could believe that simple truth. Life will be hard, there will be struggles, there will be circumstances we don’t understand, situations that we don’t like. Prayers will be answered, prayers seemingly go unheard. Life will get busy, babies will cry, groceries will need buying, grass will need mowing, errands will need running. Let us not get so distracted by our to do list that we forget how immediate our faith should be. Our God is GREATER, STRONGER, HIGHER than any other. What could stand against us?
Monday, August 16
Wordless
Do you ever experience those moments when words are not enough? Or even more rarer, at least in my case, where there seem to be no words? As I’ve wondered what to write about for this month’s newsletter, I’ve found myself in that place… where there isn’t a direction, there aren’t any words. As I dwelled on that today, I thought even further about words and what happens when they are absent.
We often say, as Christians, that God gave us the words to say. Or that God led us in the direction we should go. Or even that God revealed his plan to us in one way or another. But I think sometimes, God takes the words away. We go to speak and nothing comes to mind. We go to comfort someone and our words are limited, partial, non-coherent. Grief, tragedy, despair cause us to be speechless. Leave us doubting our words… are they the right thing to say? Or do we say anything at all?
I think sometimes God limits our words so that He can take us, and our conceptions of what should be, out of the picture. He renders us speechless, so that He can speak. Or maybe, He renders us speechless so that what we speak, or don’t as the case may be, is powerless. It is without a doubt that the human tongue gets most of us in trouble far more often than we’d like to admit. Maybe the times of our foots being in our mouths are few and far between, but maybe they aren’t. Maybe recognizing our own limitations gives power to the words we do speak.
We can not fake compassion. We cannot trade sentiments that aren’t heartfelt. We can not generate understanding when we have none. We can empathize when we haven’t experienced. We can not say, and have others believe, things that we do not believe ourselves. Even the best actors among us can be spotted when they are being untruthful or insincere. And what damage it must cause to the reputation of Christ for His people to speak without the endorsement of their own hearts.
It is the unique and unparalleled experience of each of us that links us, by choice or by circumstance, to those around us. And sometimes, its just time for us to sit back and allow God to move through us. To let our tongues be tied and our actions thorough, to let haste and ease be passed over for grace and mercy. To find ourselves meeting with people wholly and honestly, admitting to our own limited understanding but offering instead an openness of arms and heart. A place free from judgment and condemnation where someone can be heard…. And where we can listen.
We often say, as Christians, that God gave us the words to say. Or that God led us in the direction we should go. Or even that God revealed his plan to us in one way or another. But I think sometimes, God takes the words away. We go to speak and nothing comes to mind. We go to comfort someone and our words are limited, partial, non-coherent. Grief, tragedy, despair cause us to be speechless. Leave us doubting our words… are they the right thing to say? Or do we say anything at all?
I think sometimes God limits our words so that He can take us, and our conceptions of what should be, out of the picture. He renders us speechless, so that He can speak. Or maybe, He renders us speechless so that what we speak, or don’t as the case may be, is powerless. It is without a doubt that the human tongue gets most of us in trouble far more often than we’d like to admit. Maybe the times of our foots being in our mouths are few and far between, but maybe they aren’t. Maybe recognizing our own limitations gives power to the words we do speak.
We can not fake compassion. We cannot trade sentiments that aren’t heartfelt. We can not generate understanding when we have none. We can empathize when we haven’t experienced. We can not say, and have others believe, things that we do not believe ourselves. Even the best actors among us can be spotted when they are being untruthful or insincere. And what damage it must cause to the reputation of Christ for His people to speak without the endorsement of their own hearts.
It is the unique and unparalleled experience of each of us that links us, by choice or by circumstance, to those around us. And sometimes, its just time for us to sit back and allow God to move through us. To let our tongues be tied and our actions thorough, to let haste and ease be passed over for grace and mercy. To find ourselves meeting with people wholly and honestly, admitting to our own limited understanding but offering instead an openness of arms and heart. A place free from judgment and condemnation where someone can be heard…. And where we can listen.
Friday, July 16
A Deliberate Kind of Love
Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast… 1 Corinthians 13 – the love chapter. Words and verses that most of us have heard repeated in wedding ceremonies and from the pulpits of our churches. The qualities of love spelled out by the Word of God. In its eloquence however, I think we miss a key truth about love… it is simple to say and understand, but harder to put into practice.
Love is deliberate. Love is a choice, a moment-by-moment conscious, deliberate choice. Love as Corinthians discusses it doesn’t happen by chance, its not a fairy tale ending of a movie script. It is the deliberate action, the active choice made by one person towards another. Love is deliberate in nature, it is no fluke.
Love is friends cooking meals for each other. Love is cleaning your niece’s house with the same level of care of your own home. Love is running errands and bathing grandbabies. Love is washing dishes that you didn’t dirty. Love is taking a screen door down. Love is carrying your wife when she can’t walk for herself. Love is action lived out with purpose. It’s definitive by nature, easy to
overlook and too often taken for granted.
Wedding ceremonies and bands don’t dictate love into a marriage, the daily choice of the spouses to work for each other and serve each other brings love. Blood lines don’t bring love into a family; the active choice of each generation to invest in the lives of other generations brings love. Membership in a group or club or church doesn’t define love among its members, engagement in each others lives, truth, honesty and support bring love.
We are so flawed in our expectations of love, even when we’ve seen it and felt it our whole lives. Yet, we are conditioned to recognize acts of love and words of love from our very beginning. It is from God and of God and through God that others love us. It is also from God and of God and through God that we love others.
Oh, that we would learn to choose love first… to be deliberate in our actions and words… to separate ourselves from our own selfish desires and plans and intents and wholly, sincerely and purely pour ourselves into those that surround us. Loving deliberately, living completely. Oh, that we would all find ourselves in that place. A place marked with kindness, gentleness, selflessness and united in one purpose—to bless the lives of all we encounter...covering them in a love we share from the Father.
Love is deliberate. Love is a choice, a moment-by-moment conscious, deliberate choice. Love as Corinthians discusses it doesn’t happen by chance, its not a fairy tale ending of a movie script. It is the deliberate action, the active choice made by one person towards another. Love is deliberate in nature, it is no fluke.
Love is friends cooking meals for each other. Love is cleaning your niece’s house with the same level of care of your own home. Love is running errands and bathing grandbabies. Love is washing dishes that you didn’t dirty. Love is taking a screen door down. Love is carrying your wife when she can’t walk for herself. Love is action lived out with purpose. It’s definitive by nature, easy to
overlook and too often taken for granted.
Wedding ceremonies and bands don’t dictate love into a marriage, the daily choice of the spouses to work for each other and serve each other brings love. Blood lines don’t bring love into a family; the active choice of each generation to invest in the lives of other generations brings love. Membership in a group or club or church doesn’t define love among its members, engagement in each others lives, truth, honesty and support bring love.
We are so flawed in our expectations of love, even when we’ve seen it and felt it our whole lives. Yet, we are conditioned to recognize acts of love and words of love from our very beginning. It is from God and of God and through God that others love us. It is also from God and of God and through God that we love others.
Oh, that we would learn to choose love first… to be deliberate in our actions and words… to separate ourselves from our own selfish desires and plans and intents and wholly, sincerely and purely pour ourselves into those that surround us. Loving deliberately, living completely. Oh, that we would all find ourselves in that place. A place marked with kindness, gentleness, selflessness and united in one purpose—to bless the lives of all we encounter...covering them in a love we share from the Father.
Wednesday, June 16
Our Redemption Stories
I’ve been reading a lot about redemption lately. It’s a word we hear often as Christians, and as people in general, but it’s a word that holds more power than most of us are familiar with, or rather, at least familiar with recognizing in its fullest extension from God.
Part of us, all of us I believe, is always searching for our own redemption story… maybe it’s the day we met Jesus, maybe its when we were freed from an addiction, maybe a moment of healing, maybe its when we found ourselves in our darkest hour and found God reaching down to pull us from the pit. Its our redemption story, our trademark definition of a finite encounter with God in His greatness.
The greatest illustration of redemption to me is that of an oyster and a grain of sand. Its not a metaphor with which we are unfamiliar with… a grain of sand finds its way into the oyster, who in its own right, is entitled to spit it back into the filth it came from, back to its ways as a grain of sand, recognizing it as an irritant. But the oyster takes the grain of sand and begins to refinish and refine it, coating it with goodness, covering it and smoothing it and making it into something of great value. The oyster doesn’t owe it to the grain of sand and the grain of sand hasn’t earned its place in the heart of the oyster.
So it is for us and God… we find ourselves embedded in His heart, despite our sins and shortcomings, despite our very nature being in contrast to the conditions of His heart. And God begins to actively cover us, first with mercy and then continually with grace and wisdom, growing us into the treasure of His heart.
We are His redemption story. A baby in a manager. A death on a Cross. The imparting of the Holy Spirit. The man-written God-breathed scripture. All part of the greatest redemption story of all time. A story that includes all of us, in our smallness as grains of sands compare to the sea, a testament of a living and active God, who continually chooses us. Refines us. Redeems us.
Oh, that we would learn to embrace our own redemption story… that we would see the divine presence of God in our lives previously, the way He is working actively, and how much awaits us in the coming days. I pray that if you’ve had your redemption moment, that you share it as one would a prize pearl. Likewise, if you are still looking for your moment of redemption, your defining story, that you would begin by embracing God’s will and purpose, surrendering your own desire to determine the ending, and look for the ways in which God is moving now, as He always is.
Part of us, all of us I believe, is always searching for our own redemption story… maybe it’s the day we met Jesus, maybe its when we were freed from an addiction, maybe a moment of healing, maybe its when we found ourselves in our darkest hour and found God reaching down to pull us from the pit. Its our redemption story, our trademark definition of a finite encounter with God in His greatness.
The greatest illustration of redemption to me is that of an oyster and a grain of sand. Its not a metaphor with which we are unfamiliar with… a grain of sand finds its way into the oyster, who in its own right, is entitled to spit it back into the filth it came from, back to its ways as a grain of sand, recognizing it as an irritant. But the oyster takes the grain of sand and begins to refinish and refine it, coating it with goodness, covering it and smoothing it and making it into something of great value. The oyster doesn’t owe it to the grain of sand and the grain of sand hasn’t earned its place in the heart of the oyster.
So it is for us and God… we find ourselves embedded in His heart, despite our sins and shortcomings, despite our very nature being in contrast to the conditions of His heart. And God begins to actively cover us, first with mercy and then continually with grace and wisdom, growing us into the treasure of His heart.
We are His redemption story. A baby in a manager. A death on a Cross. The imparting of the Holy Spirit. The man-written God-breathed scripture. All part of the greatest redemption story of all time. A story that includes all of us, in our smallness as grains of sands compare to the sea, a testament of a living and active God, who continually chooses us. Refines us. Redeems us.
Oh, that we would learn to embrace our own redemption story… that we would see the divine presence of God in our lives previously, the way He is working actively, and how much awaits us in the coming days. I pray that if you’ve had your redemption moment, that you share it as one would a prize pearl. Likewise, if you are still looking for your moment of redemption, your defining story, that you would begin by embracing God’s will and purpose, surrendering your own desire to determine the ending, and look for the ways in which God is moving now, as He always is.
Sunday, May 16
Finding Ourselves in the Broken
If you’ve read more than one of my articles, you’ve seen me talk of brokenness… of our need for it in our lives, of the power it has to heal us and to bring us closer to the feet of the Father. I come back to this topic today, to contrast the types of brokenness I’ve seen in this world, and to focus on the one of which I speak often.
There is a part of all of us that is broken and that part of us can be broken in one of two ways. It can be broken into uselessness, damaged beyond repair, a hindrance to ourselves and our relationships with others, an isolation from Father God. Then there is another type of broken, the kind that leads to restoration and reconciliation with ourselves, with our God and with others… it’s a type of broken that can be redeemed by a humble heart and an almighty God. It is this place of brokenness that I write of… a place that is as powerfully surrounding as the desperately broken that we notice above… with one powerful, life-altering difference, this type of broken, which can leave us bleeding and beaten and downtrodden, is ultimately a broken that brings about hope, life, restoration, and redemption.
You see, to be broken before God is to stop fighting for our own lives in our own way… its to step back or lie down and recognize that the hurts of our lives, the choices we have made, the places we have found ourselves in, are not places of eternal reprimand, depression, guilt or worthlessness. They are places from which God can and will rescue us. Places where God delights to go into and spread light and truth, to restore hope and love and joy, and to see us empowered by his grace and mercy, embrace the life He has for us.
The balancing act of brokenness lies in what you allow your brokenness to do to you. Brokenness which leads to humility, to the realization that on our own we are not enough, is brokenness that leads to restoration. Brokenness which drags us into darkness, to a place where we no longer fight for ourselves, for our families, for our lives, is a brokenness of isolation...and a brokenness that is not of God.
Just as each of us must recognize the types of brokenness within ourselves, we must recognize our own voices and power into and over the brokenness. We can not heal our own scars, we need Jesus for that. We can not fight tooth and nail without faith and have our demons flee us, we need Jesus for that. We can not cast our brokenness onto others and expect the same result as casting it on God. We must learn to carry our brokenness not as a shield of pride and protection, but as an embattlement of our hearts. We must learn to recognize it, learn from it, fight it and find a Holy, Almighty God standing with his arms open on the other side. One who says, “Good and faithful, I never left you. Welcome back into the light.”
There is a part of all of us that is broken and that part of us can be broken in one of two ways. It can be broken into uselessness, damaged beyond repair, a hindrance to ourselves and our relationships with others, an isolation from Father God. Then there is another type of broken, the kind that leads to restoration and reconciliation with ourselves, with our God and with others… it’s a type of broken that can be redeemed by a humble heart and an almighty God. It is this place of brokenness that I write of… a place that is as powerfully surrounding as the desperately broken that we notice above… with one powerful, life-altering difference, this type of broken, which can leave us bleeding and beaten and downtrodden, is ultimately a broken that brings about hope, life, restoration, and redemption.
You see, to be broken before God is to stop fighting for our own lives in our own way… its to step back or lie down and recognize that the hurts of our lives, the choices we have made, the places we have found ourselves in, are not places of eternal reprimand, depression, guilt or worthlessness. They are places from which God can and will rescue us. Places where God delights to go into and spread light and truth, to restore hope and love and joy, and to see us empowered by his grace and mercy, embrace the life He has for us.
The balancing act of brokenness lies in what you allow your brokenness to do to you. Brokenness which leads to humility, to the realization that on our own we are not enough, is brokenness that leads to restoration. Brokenness which drags us into darkness, to a place where we no longer fight for ourselves, for our families, for our lives, is a brokenness of isolation...and a brokenness that is not of God.
Just as each of us must recognize the types of brokenness within ourselves, we must recognize our own voices and power into and over the brokenness. We can not heal our own scars, we need Jesus for that. We can not fight tooth and nail without faith and have our demons flee us, we need Jesus for that. We can not cast our brokenness onto others and expect the same result as casting it on God. We must learn to carry our brokenness not as a shield of pride and protection, but as an embattlement of our hearts. We must learn to recognize it, learn from it, fight it and find a Holy, Almighty God standing with his arms open on the other side. One who says, “Good and faithful, I never left you. Welcome back into the light.”
Friday, April 16
Beauty for Ashes
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives… To grant consolation and joy to those who mourn in Zion, bestowing on them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning…” Isaiah 61:1-3 (excerpts)
For me, Easter time is not only the celebration of what Christ did for us, but even more simple than that, it is the beginning, the embrace of spring and all its goodness. It’s the feeling of the breeze across your face, the first painting of toenails in bright shades of pink, the deep inhale of sunshine and the flowers bringing color back into its rightful place. It is beauty for ashes. It is newness and life and beauty for the blues and grays and seemingly dazed winter. Its an emergence from that which has confined us to an openness of the heart, the mind and sometimes, when no one is looking, our arms as we just stand in the sunlight.
How much more so does the Lord create beauty from our own ashes. Imagine how deep the healing of the soul when we lay our burdens, our shortcomings, our failings, our frustrations, and all the things that hold us hostage within our own hearts and minds and instead release ourselves fully to God’s glory, intention and will.
I wish it was a simple as walking out into the first beautiful day of spring. As simple as seeing a flower bloom or feeling the gentle breeze across our faces.
But to trade our ashes in requires much more from us than a simple observation of God’s goodness and faithfulness. It takes action… deliberate choices to release those things that hold us captive—be they our own expectations, our own accounts of our own failings, our pride, the hard places in our heart, our list of wrongs and uh-oh’s and all the things that haunt us in their own ways.
It entails a humility of crawling before a broken Cross, looking into the eyes of the Savior who spent three days in the Place of Ashes to rescue us from ourselves, and an openness to a Spirit which longs to bring assurance to our very being. Its brokenness that is unmistakably humbling and all-encompassing, a moment so sincere and profound that even the recounting of receiving such grace and mercy is not sufficient.
This spring I long to leave my ashes at the alter and embrace the garment of Beauty that my God has created for me—a garment that encases His Goodness through me, making full use of my own gifts for His glory, I hope you do too.
For me, Easter time is not only the celebration of what Christ did for us, but even more simple than that, it is the beginning, the embrace of spring and all its goodness. It’s the feeling of the breeze across your face, the first painting of toenails in bright shades of pink, the deep inhale of sunshine and the flowers bringing color back into its rightful place. It is beauty for ashes. It is newness and life and beauty for the blues and grays and seemingly dazed winter. Its an emergence from that which has confined us to an openness of the heart, the mind and sometimes, when no one is looking, our arms as we just stand in the sunlight.
How much more so does the Lord create beauty from our own ashes. Imagine how deep the healing of the soul when we lay our burdens, our shortcomings, our failings, our frustrations, and all the things that hold us hostage within our own hearts and minds and instead release ourselves fully to God’s glory, intention and will.
I wish it was a simple as walking out into the first beautiful day of spring. As simple as seeing a flower bloom or feeling the gentle breeze across our faces.
But to trade our ashes in requires much more from us than a simple observation of God’s goodness and faithfulness. It takes action… deliberate choices to release those things that hold us captive—be they our own expectations, our own accounts of our own failings, our pride, the hard places in our heart, our list of wrongs and uh-oh’s and all the things that haunt us in their own ways.
It entails a humility of crawling before a broken Cross, looking into the eyes of the Savior who spent three days in the Place of Ashes to rescue us from ourselves, and an openness to a Spirit which longs to bring assurance to our very being. Its brokenness that is unmistakably humbling and all-encompassing, a moment so sincere and profound that even the recounting of receiving such grace and mercy is not sufficient.
This spring I long to leave my ashes at the alter and embrace the garment of Beauty that my God has created for me—a garment that encases His Goodness through me, making full use of my own gifts for His glory, I hope you do too.
Tuesday, April 6
Pride & Protection
yes, I know its now April.. back up off me.
Why is it that we, even as adults, are so susceptible to pleasing others that we, in essence, leave more and more of ourselves sheltered, and spend more and more effort in projecting our perceived self? This is the thing of children and teens and young people as they struggle to find their place in this world. We even tell them that as we see them fight through the years of middle and high school, dealing with their first instances of heartbreak, betrayal, he said/she said, and quest for coolness. We sit aloofly in our adulthood status and tell them to embrace themselves and people will either like them, or not, and that those who do are the ones who matter. Then we, the adults, put on our game faces and attempt to negotiate the delicate balance of self, the balance of the real and the perceived, the image and the reality, the inner core versus the outer projection.
It comes down to pride and protection.
We know that God created us to grow and thrive in
relationship with Him and thus in relationship with others. We know that love is the greatest binding force between two people and it is what stabilizes our homes and
families. It is what gives us our own experiences with
trying to be who we think we want to be, or who we know we aren’t, or somewhere in between. Even as adults, we treasure the affection and approval of others. We fall back constantly on pride to keep us from showing weakness in public, as if our struggles are unique and no one else would understand them. We claim protection over those we love and of the image we offer. We don’t talk about the bad, the ugly, the struggles, the trials, the frustrations, the
exhaustions that haunt us all in their own way. We put on a good face, we smile, we speak, we remember to tell people we’re praying for them. And we slink off to ourselves in the peace and quiet.
Surrounded by pride and protection.
God’s calling for our lives is for so much more than a dance between reality and perception. More often times than not, pride and protection offers habits that are isolation
factors by nature. It strips us of our own gifts and talents as we assimilate into a culture or a friend group or a
relationship that is more about meeting expectation than embracing one’s self, not only distancing us from others, but from ourselves, and from God. In all of it — the balancing, the pretending, the games and the politically correct, we lose our joy…not because our joy was so aloof that we couldn’t grasp it tightly, but because joy is tied to freedom…and freedom doesn’t necessary find itself hiding within pride and protection. Break free this week…find the part of yourself that was hiding inside, and let it reign.
Why is it that we, even as adults, are so susceptible to pleasing others that we, in essence, leave more and more of ourselves sheltered, and spend more and more effort in projecting our perceived self? This is the thing of children and teens and young people as they struggle to find their place in this world. We even tell them that as we see them fight through the years of middle and high school, dealing with their first instances of heartbreak, betrayal, he said/she said, and quest for coolness. We sit aloofly in our adulthood status and tell them to embrace themselves and people will either like them, or not, and that those who do are the ones who matter. Then we, the adults, put on our game faces and attempt to negotiate the delicate balance of self, the balance of the real and the perceived, the image and the reality, the inner core versus the outer projection.
It comes down to pride and protection.
We know that God created us to grow and thrive in
relationship with Him and thus in relationship with others. We know that love is the greatest binding force between two people and it is what stabilizes our homes and
families. It is what gives us our own experiences with
trying to be who we think we want to be, or who we know we aren’t, or somewhere in between. Even as adults, we treasure the affection and approval of others. We fall back constantly on pride to keep us from showing weakness in public, as if our struggles are unique and no one else would understand them. We claim protection over those we love and of the image we offer. We don’t talk about the bad, the ugly, the struggles, the trials, the frustrations, the
exhaustions that haunt us all in their own way. We put on a good face, we smile, we speak, we remember to tell people we’re praying for them. And we slink off to ourselves in the peace and quiet.
Surrounded by pride and protection.
God’s calling for our lives is for so much more than a dance between reality and perception. More often times than not, pride and protection offers habits that are isolation
factors by nature. It strips us of our own gifts and talents as we assimilate into a culture or a friend group or a
relationship that is more about meeting expectation than embracing one’s self, not only distancing us from others, but from ourselves, and from God. In all of it — the balancing, the pretending, the games and the politically correct, we lose our joy…not because our joy was so aloof that we couldn’t grasp it tightly, but because joy is tied to freedom…and freedom doesn’t necessary find itself hiding within pride and protection. Break free this week…find the part of yourself that was hiding inside, and let it reign.
Tuesday, February 16
Identifying Ourselves As Beloved
This month has me thinking about identity a lot… not only my identity, but the way in which we identify others and how we identify with them. For most of us, upon initial meeting of someone, we class them by what we know of them now, for instance, general life stage, current occupation, perceived salary, known family, social contributions. This initial perception generally defines our interactions with that person, it also determines on what similarities we connect on, and what perceived differences we attribute between “us” and “them.”
We are fairly content in this web of knowledge and assumption in our interactions with others… with our identity of who they are in themselves and who they are in regards to us. Its comfortable, its relatively flexible but mostly unchallenged… and if we take a deeper look, its mostly assumption. We assume that someone in a different age bracket, or a different family arrangement, or a different worship style, has very little point of comparison with ourselves in whichever state of being we are in. we reside in these comfortable assumptions when making friends or enrolling in Bible studies or even in aerobic classes.
But all this thinking has me looking at relationships in my own life… I’ve been blessed to hear so many people share their stories with me… some while I was in Youth Group, some I know from growing up side by side, some from family gatherings, some from small groups in college, some from small groups in recent years… and I’ve found, through all those stories… we are all more similar than we have programmed ourselves to believe. Many of us share similar paths when it comes to our spiritual lives; many of us may not share similar faith experiences, but have family circumstances that mirror closely; still others, whose stories have no direct correlation with our own share the same burdens and struggles that we have carry or currently carry.
The unfortunate truth is that in most cases, majority, I’d say even 90% of cases, we never take the time or initiative to ask for someone’s story...or to listen fully when they share it. We instead rely on the perceived identity we gleamed from our initial introductions...whether they talk like us, walk like us, live life like us. What a disgrace to relationship, to community! God calls us all “beloved” and that is the way we should form our own identities and the identities of each other. As the beloved, the chosen, the faithful, then we should choose to meet in love.
We are fairly content in this web of knowledge and assumption in our interactions with others… with our identity of who they are in themselves and who they are in regards to us. Its comfortable, its relatively flexible but mostly unchallenged… and if we take a deeper look, its mostly assumption. We assume that someone in a different age bracket, or a different family arrangement, or a different worship style, has very little point of comparison with ourselves in whichever state of being we are in. we reside in these comfortable assumptions when making friends or enrolling in Bible studies or even in aerobic classes.
But all this thinking has me looking at relationships in my own life… I’ve been blessed to hear so many people share their stories with me… some while I was in Youth Group, some I know from growing up side by side, some from family gatherings, some from small groups in college, some from small groups in recent years… and I’ve found, through all those stories… we are all more similar than we have programmed ourselves to believe. Many of us share similar paths when it comes to our spiritual lives; many of us may not share similar faith experiences, but have family circumstances that mirror closely; still others, whose stories have no direct correlation with our own share the same burdens and struggles that we have carry or currently carry.
The unfortunate truth is that in most cases, majority, I’d say even 90% of cases, we never take the time or initiative to ask for someone’s story...or to listen fully when they share it. We instead rely on the perceived identity we gleamed from our initial introductions...whether they talk like us, walk like us, live life like us. What a disgrace to relationship, to community! God calls us all “beloved” and that is the way we should form our own identities and the identities of each other. As the beloved, the chosen, the faithful, then we should choose to meet in love.
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