Sunday, June 30, 2013

Our Golden Age

               A little food for weekend thought:

     "The people who live in a Golden Age usually go around complaining how yellow everything looks."  Randall Jarrell
     All I can say is "Amen!"  Is that not our tendency?  We miss the joys of today in our endless striving for a more promising tomorrow or our insistent sorrow over a lost yesterday.  We long for "the good old days"-- forgetting the good old days possessed the same measure of sorrows, challenges, and limitations with which we are confronted today.  Sure, the nature and type of difficulties may vary from generation to generation, but the source remains the same--a fallen world.
     We tend to forget: we're not home yet.
     Every age, every generation, has it's share of blessings and burdens.  And every age, from the Dark Ages to the Golden Age, has You, Lord, as it's Sovereign King.
     But lest we miss the moment God has given us today--the fleeting time of "now"--we need to remember the joys He has given us in our "Golden Age."   Interspersed with the challenges are the priceless benefits--family, friends, of course, but also the smells of summer, the songs of birds and crickets, the sights of fireflies lighting up a field at twilight and leaping deer, the taste of melting ice cream on a hot day, the scent of grilling hot dogs and buttered corn, the gift of laughter with loved ones...
     We live in the Golden Age.  Right now.  In this very moment.
     Thank You Lord for swimming with a few siblings (and a niece!) on a muggy summer evening--
     Thank you for the startling beauty of hydrangeas.  Such perfect bundles reflecting Your glory--
     Thank You for the reminder of Your faithfulness in never ever leaving us nor forsaking us.  Your promises are ever and forever true: "It is the Lord who goes before you.  He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you.  Do not fear or be dismayed." (Deut.31:8)  And thank You, Father, for the dear friend who just sent us this picture--a memory of Your love and presence always always always with us, through the highs and the lows--
     Thank You for the gift of love...of loving You,  Father, our Heavenly Daddy.  And the gift of loving one another.  All of us imperfect, but all beloved by You.  "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another...If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us." (I John 4:11-12)  Help us to love, Lord.  
    Give us eyes to see Your astounding goodness to us in this, our Golden Age.  Turn our focus away from the gilded treasures this world applauds and fill our vision with Your glory, Your grace, Your good gifts.  And Father, for those whose today seems anything but golden, for those facing another day of sadness or struggle, we ask that You would fill them with Your peace even amidst perplexity, Your hope even amidst fear, Your light even in the darkness, and Your unquenchable joy even amidst sorrow.
     Make us ever mindful of Your promises...You have assured us that "Because I live, you will live also." (John 14:19)  Real life.  Abundant life.  Eternal life...in You.  
     To God be the glory.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

The aroma of Christ

     A perfect gardenia.  Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your gifts to us this day...and some of them not only look beautiful but their fragrance is exquisite.   And thank You, Lord, for my dear friend who just dropped these off this morning--their second delivery of these delicate ivory treasures to our doorstep.  Their scent permeates the kitchen and has brought so much brightness and joy into our little world.
    Such a simple thing, really.  Just cutting some flowers, putting them in a vase, and dropping them off at someone's house.  But my goodness, those wonderful friends cannot imagine the payoff in happiness they have brought us.  Not ten-fold their effort.  I'd say more like ten-thousand fold the effort to joy ratio!
     So I had to immediately ask myself, when have I done that... or failed to do it?  When has God put a little something on my heart to do for someone else?  And have I followed through--even if I'm busy or tired or even grumpy?  It could be writing that quick note of encouragement, dropping off those chocolate chip cookies, telephoning to tell someone I'm praying for them, cleaning up another's mess and doing it with joy rather than complaining, refusing to shoot back with a verbal comeback when I've been hurt by another's words, or giving a gift to someone for no reason other than I'm thinking of them.
     Lord Jesus, I want to be more like You--shedding abroad Your love and grace to a hurting, worried, distracted world.  And that means putting aside my own little agenda, my own little concerns, and my own little excuses, and simply being obedient to that gentle, quiet voice of the Holy Spirit prompting me to spill out some of His Living Water on my thirsty friends or family or neighbors.
     I love Paul's words in 2 Corinthians 2:14-15.  Paul explains a disappointing change of plans but then follows up with these words: "But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of Him everywhere.  For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."
      Like our lovely gardenia gift, what kind of fragrance are we spreading abroad as we go about our days?  Even when we feel defeated or discouraged, Jesus can and will still lead us in triumph and uses us to spread His gracious, glorious fragrance of Life.
     He doesn't call for us to perfect.  Or successful.  Just available.  Just ready to spread His life-giving, joy-sustaining, hope-inducing fragrance to those around us.
     And sometimes it just starts with dropping off some flowers on a doorstep.
     Who can you, who can I bless today with the fragrance of Jesus?  O Lord, help us to be faithful in these little things and start spreading the aroma of the Savior.  To God be the glory.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Envy versus gratitude

     Just because this makes me happy--thank You, Lord, for boys and dogs and sunny days!
     I recently heard envy explained in a fascinating way: envy looks at what we don't have and assumes that is the good we really want and need.  In other words, envy says, "Look what so and so has that you don't.  If only you had what they have, then life would be good and you'd be happy."  Wrong!
     The opposite of envy is gratitude.  While envy focuses only upon what I don't or can't have, gratitude looks at what I do have and chooses thankfulness.
     Envy always leads to misery and bitterness.  Always.  That's why comparison is so absolutely deadly, because we grow preoccupied with what others have (that we want) or don't have (that we wish we didn't have).
      I'll never forget starting to fall into that trap when Janie was so sick and in a coma in the ICU.  Some folks thought she was in a medically-induced coma.  O if only!  Nope, she was unconscious from the time of the accident, and the doctors could not wake her up though they tried repeatedly.   Every few hours, the doctors and nurses would shout her name in her ear, trying to awaken her.  "Janie, wake up.  Janie wake up!" they yell.  But day after day after day, no response whatsoever.  It was always a roller coaster of emotions--great hope as they began the routine of shouting at her and praying that this might be the time that she would finally respond and wake up.  And then profound disappointment when once again, time after time, she would not respond in any way.
     And then one day, after we had been there almost two weeks and Janie was still unconscious and unresponsive, a middle-aged man was admitted into the room next door.  He, too, had been in a serious car accident and was unconscious from a brain injury as well.  I could hear them through the thin walls trying the same routine to awaken him.  Nothing for him as well on the first day.  But then on only his second day in the ICU, he apparently began to awaken and I could hear the muted excitement of those attending him.
     It was then that the ugly, hateful spirit of comparison and envy began to invade my heart.  Lord, why couldn't that be Janie?  Why him and not her?  We've been here almost 2 weeks and nothing.  He's been here only 2 days....
     I can only praise the Lord that He checked me in my spirit the moment my heart started heading down that despairing, bitter path of comparison and envy.  In His mercy, God stopped me in my tracks and reminded me of His faithfulness to us, His presence with us, His love and mercy and grace for us.
     I made a conscious effort at that moment to transfer my thoughts away from envy and towards gratitude.  Thank You Lord for this fine hospital and these amazing doctors and nurses.  Thank you for my dear, priceless brothers and sisters helping us and being with us constantly.  Thank You for our incredible friends who are doing everything under the sun and more for us.  Thank You for our church praying for us.  Thank You for the strength You've given us every moment.  Thank You that we live in a nation where we can have this remarkable medical care.  Thank you for our children's schools and all they have done for us during this time... and on and on.
     You can see--the list grew exponentially, and the more blessings I recounted, the more my heart lifted and my joy returned ten-fold.  Janie was still unconscious, but I could rejoice that the man next door was recovering while still praying in faith for God's healing in our lives as well.
     It's true in every area of our lives.  We live in a big world where God has plenty of blessings to go around!  Time to stop envying others for God's  generosity in their lives and feeling bitter about what we lack and instead focus upon His extraordinary grace in our lives.
     Time to reject envy and instead choose gratitude--being thankful and savoring and loving what we do have rather than what we lack.
     So back to where I started--thank You, Lord Jesus, for children and dogs and sunshine.  Thank You for the dear friend who dropped off those gorgeous gardenias at our front door... and wow, thank You for the glorious fragrance of their blooms that have brought us a hefty dose of joy in our kitchen ever since.  And by the way, Lord, what a great idea when You created gardenias--thank You!  And thank You for friends who walk through this adventure of life with us.
     Thank You for our Savior who never ever leaves us nor forsakes us--even when we do slip into envy and forget gratitude.  And thank You for Your amazing grace...that pulls us back from the bitter brink and always brings us back to You, our ultimate source of all joy.  To God be the glory.


Sunday, June 23, 2013

The divine paradox

                           A little food for weekend thought:
     From the great 18th century British writer, biographer, and literary critic, Dr. Samuel Johnson: "Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempts to display qualities he does not possess, and to gain applause which he cannot keep."  
     Perish the thought that others should see our weaknesses or our failures.  We strive and strive  to keep all those balls successfully in the air--and appear effortless while doing it.  And then when a ball...or two or three...drops, we hang our heads in shame.  Discouraged.  Defeated.  
     Shame on us!  How quickly we forget the glorious good news of the Gospel!  
     For here's what God's Word says: "Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.  But He said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Cor.12:8-10)  
     It's the divine and glorious paradox--our weakness, His strength.  Our sin, His salvation.  Our failure, His forgiveness.  
     O Lord Jesus, thank You for Your Gospel that is not for the perfect but for the pardoned.  Not for the successful kings of the world but for the eternally secure children of the King.  You tell us--it's not a matter of me doing and doing and doing... and never quite feeling satisfied with my efforts.  It's a matter of done... finished... by the blood of the Perfect, Sovereign, Savior.  
     Might we rest in what You've already accomplished on our behalf... rather than seeking to rack up more accomplishments to somehow enhance our personal ledgers. 
     It's not us, Jesus--it's all You.  Your Name.  Your cross.  Your finished work of redemption.  And Your glory.   Thank You even for our weaknesses and failures and misgivings... for when we are weak, then we are strong.  Give us grace this day to hand You our weaknesses and to die to our desperate craving to appear perfect and successful.  Might we live for You and Your mighty, glorious, gracious, omnipotent Name.  In our weakness, Lord,  show Yourself strong and mighty.
     To God be the glory.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Stillness vs. Fretting

     A good word for today from the Good Word:
          "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath!  Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." (Ps.37:7-8)
     Those words jumped out at me today, and I think that's often one of the ways the Holy Spirit grabs our attention and speaks to us.  So I thought I'd just camp out on them for a moment.
     The Psalmist had me at "Be still."  Sigh.  Well, Lord, I'm not going to win any awards for my ability to "be still" before You... or anybody else.  My motto lends more towards the let-no-silence-go-unbroken tendency.  Fill up that empty space with words or with noise or with chores or with actions.  Better yet, double-book that empty space with multi-tasking.
     But unless we slow down to be still, we can't be filled.  If we aren't silent long enough to hear the beauty of the peaceful silence, we will miss the bounty of the Prince of Peace.  I don't ever recall hearing words in the Gospels that "Jesus ran..." or "Jesus rushed..." or even "Jesus rallied His forces and got busy multi-tasking all the work to be done."
     Nope, Jesus always seemed to have time for the people God placed before Him.  He walked at His Father's pace--busy, yes, but always patient and loving and purposeful.  Never preoccupied, but always prayerful.
     Help us Father to be still before You and to wait patiently on Your plan, Your pace, Your purposes for our day.  O brother, this is hard, but the rewards are so life-sustaining, so satisfying.
     And then, we're to "fret not yourself."  Ouch.  Anybody around here (besides yours truly) a world championship fretter?  Fret over the children.  Fret over the news.  Fret over school.  Fret over schedules.  Fret over whether I can find some chocolate cake tonight.  Fret over how we're not measuring up or not meeting expectations or somehow or other falling behind.
     And where exactly does all that fretting get us?  Nowhere.  Certainly not at peace.  Nor joyful.  Nor hopeful.  Nor helpful.  And we surely can't love or encourage others if we're full of self-focused fretting.
     Isn't fretting really just self-centered preoccupation rather than Christ-centered prayerful waiting and trusting?    No wonder the Psalmist says "it tends only to evil."  Part of me wants to say, "duh."  And yet I live as if all my fretting and rushing and multi-tasking will somehow, someway be magically transformed into the peace and contentment my soul craves.
     Okay, I'll shut up now... like I said, too many words.  Not enough stillness before the Savior.  So Abba, Father, take all our fretting, all our fussing, all our hurrying, all our worrying and help us to be still and wait patiently for You... trusting  that Your pace and Your plans for us and those that we love are best, pleasing, and perfect.  To God be the glory.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Thankful receiver

     Just a beautiful, peaceful scene to savor.  Sometimes we forget to notice God's glorious creation all around us simply because, well, it's all around us.
      Here at a golf course in Providence, RI, I looked out this morning and laid out before me like a perfect tapestry: crystal blue skies hovering over startlingly vibrant green grass and grand old trees.  And overseeing it all was the continual symphonic chorus of birds.  It's a bit cool here, but not chilly, just pretty much perfect.  I stood there for a moment, standing in an asphalt parking lot and paused to savor the peaceful, joyous sight before me.
     And I couldn't help but think: how many times do I miss it?  In my hurry, in my preoccupation, in my anxiousness, how often do I pass right by these moments of pure God-created and God-sustained delight?  Sure, life is hard and sometimes awfully difficult.  Sure, we all have things to do and places to go and people to serve... but really, can't we still pause in the midst of it and simply give thanks?                                                   Thanks for the beauty and wonder of God's green earth.  Thanks for the priceless gift of the people in our lives.  Thanks for a beating heart and a seeing eye and a listening ear that can comprehend the magnitude of this fine day... or this challenging day... or even this impossibly hard day.  Thanks that whatever we are going through, we are not going through it alone.  Not ever.
     I just read this today: "The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest."  William Blake
     Lord, make us thankful receivers.  We so often forget, we are recipients all day, all night long of Your grace, Your goodness, Your love, Your forgiveness, Your strength.  Make us mindful this day of all we are receiving--whether it's a hug from a friend or a a word of encouragement or a song that we love or a sweet dog greeting us at the door or a blue sky and green tree courtesy of our gracious and relentless Gift-Giver.
     Thank You, Father.  I don't know what the rest of this day might hold, but right now, I simply say, thank You.  To God be the glory.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Out--to serve

   
A church we passed by today in a little town just outside of Providence, RI.  The sign over the door reads: "Gathered 1643."
Wow, that's an old church!  I also loved the signs on the parking lot right in front of the church, "In--to worship" and "Out--to serve."  Thanks for the reminder, Lord.  Forgive us for far too often receiving, and receiving from You and Your Word but then failing to take that infilling with which You have blessed us and serving and serving. 
 We are not saved to be secure in our holy huddle... we are saved to serve and pour out our lives with joyful abandon. 
 If we could just live with the end in mind--with the reminder that our lives on this planet are but a vapor and we have all of eternity stretching endlessly before us--I know we would live differently.  Live with less fear and more faith.  Live with less selfishness and more service.  Live with less hoarding of our spiritual resources and more happily sharing with the world the treasures with which Christ has blessed us.  Live with less greed and more gratitude.  Live with less comparing and more consecrating.  
And what, exactly, is preventing us from starting now?
These are the words of Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994), a fiery British preacher and respected authority on revival, as he wrote about the life of his dear friend, Keith Green:
"I'm in my 83rd year, but it doesn't necessarily mean I'm wiser or stronger.  It doesn't mean I've done more.  It's not the stretch of life that matters.  It's the depth of life.  It's not how long we live.  It's how we live.  Keith was a man who seemed to live on the edge of eternity.  And he was ready to step into it.    It can truly be said of Keith that 'He being dead, yet speaketh.'  And he will speak right on to generations beyond us.  I wish we had ten thousand people like him.  I pray that many will catch a vision from his life--trust and obey."
Lord, help us to catch that vision of what it means to live each day for Christ, as if this day might be our last opportunity to share His love, spread His grace, and send out the message of His glorious gift of salvation.  For each of us, whether we recognize it or not, truly do live upon the lip of eternity.  
If this day is our last, what would we do differently?  Who would we forgive?  How would we share our love?  Who would we tell about Christ?  What trivialities would we stop worrying or fussing about?  And what things of ultimate importance would actually consume our thoughts?  
Maybe it's time to start now.  
Only one life; twill soon be past.  Only what's done for Jesus will last.  To God be the glory.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Rainbows and treasures in the darkness

      Our son, Richard, and I are in Providence, RI right now--a really neat place that perches along a wide river.  It was a hot, sunny day, but suddenly, late yesterday afternoon, thick clouds rolled in, the wind began howling, and the rain fell down in sheets.  The storm had seemingly come out of nowhere.
     As we huddled inside, chatting and eating dinner with our wonderful niece, Emily, I glanced outside the deli's large picture window, expecting to see a sodden skyline.  But instead, this had appeared--again, seemingly out of nowhere--
     How I wish I were a better photographer, for this rainbow was glorious and arched all the way across the sky.  We rushed outside to gaze in wonder and while snapping pictures, two young guys walked by and said, "Yes, isn't it something?  We just said a blessing in Hebrew."
     Well, I had to look this up and discovered that "whenever we see a rainbow, it is considered a mitzvah [command] to recite the Hebrew blessing."  And here is the English translation of that Hebrew blessing that's always recited over a rainbow: "Blessed are You, Lord, our God, King of the universe, who remembers the covenant, and is faithful to His covenant, and keeps His promise."
     How I love that!  After the shocking, sudden storms of life, God sends His rainbow to remind us--I am here.  I am still in control.  I am forever faithful.  And I will always be true to every one of My promises to love, sustain, redeem, restore, and resurrect My beloved children.
     I couldn't help but think of John 16:33, Janie's favorite verse: "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world."
     Yes, we will have tribulation.  Not one of us goes through this life with a pass on storms and sorrows.  Sin has left this a broken, scarred planet that suffers from tragedy and trials and tribulation.  But God has promised that not only will He be with us in the storms, but after the storms, one day, the rainbow.  "Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning." (Ps.30:5)
     I well remember when Janie was so sick,  how sorrow seemed to rob life of it's color and taste.  The idea of truly experiencing joy or enjoying anything again seemed like a mocking dream.
     But joy did return.  With time, God brings about that hard-earned, sorrow-scarred, but still hope-infused joy even after the worst of storms.  As that rainbow reminds us, He is faithful... even in the storms.
     I loved these words by Melody Green from her book, No Compromise, about the life and death of her husband, Keith Green.  As I mentioned yesterday, her husband was killed, along with two of their young children, in a small plane crash:
      "With God's help, we can eventually come out on the other side of the storm.  Then we can become vessels of grace and understanding to others who are in their season of crisis and pain.  Some cuts are deep enough to mark us forever.  But after seasons and times of healing and restoration by God, we don't have to be controlled by our wounds.  Even with healing, we may always be marked by them to the greater good of our souls. Our injuries can be our biggest windows into aspects of God's character we might not have known any other way.  I know my losses deposited something deep into my spirit.  Yes, I would have rather read a book to receive what God gave to me in those darkest of times--but some pearls are only discovered when the field looks like an impossible wasteland.  He is the God of the impossible.  The God who tells us where to dig for the treasure.  The God of great and tender mercies.  And I love Him with all my heart." 
     Today, Father, for those struggling with unimaginable losses, I pray You would speak words of comfort and healing into their hearts.  Might they know that You are there and that You are both the God of the storm and of the rainbow and that one day, they will discover the pearls in this wasteland that seems to stretch out before them.  But we know, by faith, that You are in the wastelands with them and will bring them out the other side to discover Your treasures that can only be found in the darkness.
     "I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name." (Isa.45:3)
     Thank You, Lord, for Your promises.  Thank You for Your rainbows.  Thank You for those treasures of darkness, those pearls hidden in the wasteland, that we know by faith we will one day find and in which we will one day rejoice.  Lord, we trust You to do the impossible and bring treasures out of darkness and rainbows out of storms... but in the meantime, we trust You and we love You.
     To God be the glory.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Whispers of Him

     "Behold, these are but the outskirts of His ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of Him!  But the thunder of His power who can understand?" (Job 26:14)
      I love these words from the book of Job, for they are a blazing reminder--we do not even begin to understand Almighty God.  We can't put Him in a box, all tied up with neat ribbons of our limited knowledge and finite vision.  We truly do see in a mirror dimly (but one glorious day we will see clearly!), for His ways are so infinitely beyond our ways.
     And in this I find great comfort.  If my puny mind could fully grasp and comprehend God, then how big and great could He be?
     No, we cannot begin to fathom how huge, how awesome, how omnipotent, how omniscient  the Creator and Sustainer of this universe.  We can't even begin to figure out ourselves... much less an inscrutable, infinite, ineffable Lord.
     I've been reading the biography of the wonderful Christian singer, Keith Green, who died in a plane crash at the age of 28.  The small plane was taking a missionary family along with Keith and two of his preschool children on a quick sight-seeing trip when it suddenly crashed, killing everyone on board.  His pregnant wife and one year old daughter survived, because they had stayed behind at home.
      Keith was such an extraordinarily talented musician, a poet really, powerful, prophetic.  And I've often wondered, why.  Why take him so soon? Who knows how many more powerful songs He could have written and how mightily the Lord could have used him?  And the death of his two young children and the 6 young children from the missionary family.  Our hearts cry out, why Lord?
     In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Keith's widow, Melody wrote: "The only thing that kept me going was a sense of the presence of God.  I was blanketed in His grace.  I felt His presence like I'd never felt it before.  Buffeting the blows.  Holding me.  Comforting me.  It didn't erase the pain. But I felt God's tender heart for me.  The pain was real and it was constant.  When I wanted to lie down and not get up, He helped me to my feet.  When I didn't want to eat, He reminded me of the new life inside me that He'd given me to take care of."
    Some 26 years later, Melody, who never remarried, writes: "There are no words to express the extreme mercies and blessings God has continually poured into my life.  I have walked through some difficult times, but the wonder of it all is that I've never walked alone.  I am convinced that God looks at death differently than we do--especially the death of the righteous.  The Lord sees it from the other side of the veil.  Those who get left on earth have one experience.  But for those who enter into the presence of the Lord, it's a new beginning."  And she has seen God take the grain of wheat that was her beloved husband, Keith, and when it was buried in the ground, God has raised it up and multiplied it and used it mightily for His eternal kingdom.
     So, Lord, on this day, as some of us grieve the death of a loved one or struggle with Your sometimes mystifying ways, I thank You for Your Word and for Your Son and for Your perfect plan of redemption.  We may not understand, but we choose to trust and to rest on You.
    "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit." (John 12:24)   Help us to see the new life springing up in the flowers and trees all around us and to remember--You are making all things new.  You are redeeming and restoring and reviving this lost and broken planet.
     And death, from Your perspective has been defeated and transformed into the passageway to eternal joys and perfect peace and unending wonders and unimaginable glory.  On this earthward side of the veil, we sorrow, but on the other side, there is ceaseless rejoicing.  O Lord Jesus, would You, in Your grace, help us to hear just a touch of that joyous melody?  While we hurt in our hearts, would you still place Your song in our souls?
     Right now we might hear only whispers of who You truly are and see only tiny glimpses of Your glory, but help us, when the darkness closes in, to listen for Your voice and trust in Your loving heart even when we cannot fully understand.  For You have promised never to leave us or forsake us... and Your Word will never ever fail.  We trust in You, our Good Shepherd, our Savior, our Friend.  To God be the glory.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Be Loved

                                    A little food for weekend thought:
     "Real prayer comes not from gritting our teeth but from falling in love."  Richard Foster
     From Christy Nochols song, "Be Loved"--
             Have you ever let yourself be loved, by the One who made you?
             Have you ever told your soul to believe that His heart is on your side?
             You can even try to run away, but there's nothing you can do--
             So just be loved
             Be loved, He loves you
             Have you ever let yourself be held by the One who holds this world?
             Have you ever let your soul rejoice that His arms are open wide?
             So just be held
             Be held, He holds you
             We didn't earn it, He just chose to give it
             And it's in our resting that we rise up rejoicing
             So rejoice--You are loved
              Be loved, He loves you...
     Don't know if anyone else needed this reminder this morning--but just in case--He loves you... in your messiness and quirkiness and faultiness and selfishness.  He loves you with a crazy, limitless, redeeming, restoring, grace-saturated love of the Bridegroom for His precious bride.
     Be loved, He loves you.
     In the darkness, when you can't see the way ahead... He loves you.
     In the confusion of sorrow or tragedy when you feel like the bottom has dropped out and you're falling... be held, He holds you.  Securely.  Forever.
     In home or hospital, in holy joy or hellish despair, know that whatever you are going through, whatever your doubts, whatever your fears... He loves you and will never ever let you go.
     Might we rest in His love this day, so that even from the ashes of sorrow or sin, we might rise up rejoicing.
     O Lord Jesus, forgive us from gritting our teeth rather than simply falling into Your love, accepting Your love, trusting in Your love. Even in the darkness, Lord, help us to simply rest in Your love, trusting when we cannot see or feel that You've got us in Your arms of grace-stained love.  Thank You that we can go forth this day, whatever this day might hold, basking in the Truth that we are the beloved of the Creator, the Sustainer, the Redeemer, and the Savior of the World.
     And Father, we lift up some precious friends who are even now facing that chasm of fear and uncertainty and sorrow. O Lord, we know how much You love them... but might You enable them to know that love this day.  To fall into that love this day.  To be held by the Good Shepherd in that love this day and everyday.  Might they be loved, for You love them.
     Thank You, Lord Jesus--our Hope in the hardest of places, our Song in the midst of sorrow, our Grace in the graveyard, and our Love whose love for us is limitless.  When we can't understand, lift our weary hearts to the cross so that we might see Your love stretched out wide.  Wide as Your outstretched arms beckoning us--be loved, I love you.  Be held, I hold you. And I will never let you go.
      In You who loves us so much, we place our trust.  To God be the glory.  

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Striving or soaring?

     We could hear the little fellow flapping about frantically in the garage the moment we walked out the kitchen door.  The garage door had been closed at the time, yet somehow this little feathered friend had managed to find his way in at some point.  Can you see him forlornly staring out the window?
     It truly broke our hearts.  He continued flapping fruitlessly at the closed window, racing up and down the small ledge of the window pane, certain, I suppose, that somehow he would find a way out, could make a way out where there was no way.  Not out a dirty, closed window.
     But try harder.  Push harder.  Keep flapping and scurrying and working... more, more, more.   Until finally complete exhaustion overwhelmed him and he just sat there, I suppose feeling hollow and hopeless... looking at that wild greenery and bright blue sky that just seemed to mock him in his trapped and depleted state.
     Anybody ever feel like that?  Burned out.  Bummed out.  Rusted out.  Overwhelmed with the enormity of all you've got to do or face.  Or just utterly fatigued by this race, this treadmill you can't seem to step off of... and the pace just seems to grow faster and more demanding.
     No respite in sight.  And the enemy whispers: "There's no way out."
     Oh, but there is.  The Lord had to remind me that where there's no way out, He already has the way out.  He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and He who is The Way will provide our way out.
      Sometimes we just have to slow down, pause, and still our restless, weary hearts long enough to hear His still, small voice.
     "Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing." (John 15:4-5)
      Abiding in Christ doen't happen when our souls are frantic and hustling.  Abiding requires moments of stillness and calmly resting in Him, trusting Him to provide the strength and stamina we need.  Trusting Him to provide the way out when there is no way.  Trusting that it's okay to wait on Him and believing His timing is always perfect (though not often on our "get it down right now or else" schedule.  I'm learning God doesn't seem to enjoy encouraging our frantic, out-of-control, frazzled pace--maybe because He loves us too much to allow us to self-destruct.).  
      Here's the thing--that little bird had a HUGE way of escape right beside him!  Can't you see it just to the right of the picture?!   We opened that garage door wide and repeatedly tried to help him see his freedom was right beside him!   All he had to do was stop flapping fruitlessly at that closed window and look right behind him and fly right out into God's sky of beauty and freedom.
     But incredibly, he wouldn't do it!  As we tried to encourage him (that's a fishing pole in the picture that my husband was using to try to get him to stop clinging to that window ledge and look around for a moment and see the giant open garage door right behind him), he just fly back and forth in front of the small closed window, redoubling his hopeless, exhausting efforts.  Unbelievable.
     O Lord Jesus, forgive me for that is so often me--Your restless, striving, pushing, trying, but then finally tired, hollow and hopeless child.   And all the while, You beckon: Come to Me.  Abide in Me. I am the Door and all who enter through Me find abundant Life and rest for their souls and peace like a river and joy greater than circumstances and the Way out where there is no way.
     Suddenly, our little bird gave up all hope, ceased flapping, and seemed to turn just for a moment... and then he saw it.  The wide open way out to freedom.  And out he flew.  Into God's wild, free, brilliant blue sky.  Released from striving and freed to soar as God intended.
      Father, help us to do the same this day.  You are beckoning and calling our names in love.  You are our Way out of the maelstrom and into the respite our souls crave and only You provide.  We can handle the whirlwind if You are in it with us--but keep us abiding in You.  Seeking Your face before searching our emails or tacking our to-do list.
     Help us to live this day in the freedom of Christ--our sin bearer and grace giver.  He is enough... and He is our Way.  And apart from Him we can do nothing--except exhaust ourselves.  We love You, Lord.  To God be the glory.
   
   

Monday, June 10, 2013

Graduation!!

               "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God." (Isa.61:10)
     Broughton High School's graduation this morning.  O Lord, who but You could have made this glorious day possible?  Thank You, Father, for graduation today and for allowing all four of the girls in the wreck to graduate on time with this special class of 2013.  And somewhere in that mass of purple robes sits one of Your children--Janie--whom You redeemed from the deepest, most hopeless of pits.  Might we never tire of giving God all the glory and praise.
     "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad.  Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together." (Ps.34:1-3)
     Funny.  A year ago, I would have been excited about this graduation... but not overwhelmed with gratitude and joy.  Sure, I would have thought it a blessing... but after the past 9 months, we no longer take God's continual, everyday, but extraordinary blessings for granted.  We rejoice in each and every gift from our Gift-giving God.
     Forgive us Father for our blindness when it comes the gifts You daily shower upon us.  The laughter of high schoolers; dashes to Bojangles; beloved brothers and sisters; sunshine and rain--and being outside to enjoy them both (instead of inside the ICU); the brightness of the color purple; the priceless and irreplaceable gift of friendship; the creamy, cheesy taste of macaroni and cheese; taking pictures of loved ones; retelling and listening to old stories; the power of prayer; warm chocolate brownies made for Janie's late night IB study groups; music; Jake playing the guitar; listening to speeches of folks that have been a special part of our lives; golf bags and golf shoes covered with grass clippings; listening to OneVoice sing; cake... and more cake; the joyous sound of clapping for the accomplishment of nearly 500 graduating seniors; the certain knowledge that God is in control of every single moment of every day of our lives.
     A few more blessings.  These amazing friends from the class of 2013.  Lord, You formed each one of these precious children; You filled them with Your breath; You made them in Your image.  And they are all such treasures.  Thank You Lord for--
     (And a special thank You Lord for Courtney--in the middle in the black--the girls' amazing, remarkable, and wonderful Young Life  leader.  Gift upon gift.)
      And thank You for--
     "Rejoice in the Lord always.  Again I will say, rejoice!" (Phil.4:4)
     (Our crew, with Matt, Mary Norris' fiancé.  More blessings!)
     And more beautiful friends--
     And sweet Aunt Marilyn and Uncle Rich too!--
     And Jake and Janie--thank You Lord for the gift of their music over these past few months.  "Singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." (Col.3:16)
     Sorry to go on and on... but seriously, can we give God too much glory?  Can we ever be too thankful?  Can we ever reach the limit of gratitude at the underserved grace and goodness of God in our lives?  If you are able to read this, rejoice He has given you eyes to see and a mind to comprehend.  If you have a loved one to hug, Oh, rejoice at the gift of loving another person... and that another person loves you--even with all your idiosyncrasies and foibles!  If you have to much to do, rejoice that God has given you tasks to fill your day and people in your life to serve and love.  And if your house seems a little too quiet and empty right now, rejoice that God will never ever leave you nor forsake you and that He is with you right at this moment... and His grace is always always always sufficient for whatever you might face.
     From the ICU to graduation.  From brain injury to brand new starts in college.   From fear to joy.  From uncertainty to peace.
      But all the while, all the time, God was ever with us and for us.  Not for a moment.  Not for one single moment did He ever forsake us.  With us in the hospital and the x-rays and the rehab... and with us in school and church and graduation.
      Lord, might those who read this be reminded, we serve a God who can do anything... absolutely anything, including the impossible.  And might they know that no matter what they might be facing, You are with them and for them and will never ever leave them.  You are the God who redeems and restores and revives.
      You are the God who still moves stones.  We give you all the praise.  To God be the glory.


Saturday, June 8, 2013

Our time or His time?

                                    A little food for weekend thought:
     From C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters: 
            (a quick reminder--Screwtape is a fictional senior devil who corresponds with a junior tempter, Wormwood, and is trying to mentor Wormwood in the art of tempting, destroying, and wooing his subject--the human to whom he is assigned--over to satan.  Thus, in Screwtape Letters, "our father" actually refers to our enemy, satan, and "the Enemy" actually refers to the Lord.  Just to clarify!)

     "Men are not angered by mere misfortune but by misfortune conceived as injury.  And the sense of injury depends on the feeling that a legitimate claim has been denied.  The more claims on life, therefore, that your patient can be induced to make, the more often he will feel injured, and, as a result, ill-tempered.  Now you will have noticed that nothing throws him into a passion so easily as to find a tract of time which he reckoned on having at his own disposal unexpectedly taken from him.  It is the unexpected visitor (when he looked forward to a quiet evening), or the friend's talkative wife (turning up when he looked forward to a tete-a-tete with the friend), that throw him out of gear. Now he is not yet so uncharitable or slothful that these small demands on his courtesy are in themselves too much for it.  They anger him because he regards his time as his own and feels that it is being stolen.  You must therefore zealously guard in his mind the curious assumption 'My time is my own.'  Let him have the feeling that he starts each day as the lawful possessor of 24 hours.  Let him feel as a grievous tax that portion of this property which he has to make over to his employers, and as a generous donation that further portion which he allows to religious duties.  But what he must never be permitted to doubt is that the total from which these deductions have been made was, in some mysterious sense, his own personal birthright.
     The assumption that you want him to go on making is so absurd that, if once it is questioned, even we cannot find a shred of argument in its defense.  The man can neither make, nor retain, one moment of time; it all comes to him by pure gift; he might as well regard the sun and moon as his chattels.  He is also, in theory, committed to a total service of the Enemy [remember--this refers to God]; and if the Enemy appeared to him in bodily form and demanded that total service for even one day, he would not refuse.   He would be greatly relieved if that one day involved nothing harder than listening to the conversation of a foolish woman; and he would be relieved almost to the pitch of disappointment if for one half-hour in that day the Enemy said, "Now, you may go and amuse yourself.'  Now if he thinks about his assumption for a moment, even he is bound to realize that he is actually in this situation every day."

     Boy, Lewis' words convicted this Type A, often impatient, sometimes frustrated, multi-tasker!  Don't we all make this assumption?--these 24 hours belong to me.  This is my day, my time to do with as I please... and especially to discharge all my chores and duties--without interruption or interference.  And, of course, there are always interruptions, snafus, and unexpected needs of others that need to be addressed.  And these can drive me crazy!
     How do we respond at that crucial intersection where our expectations for our day meet up with God's plans and His sovereignly-sent interruptions?   Will we entrust our days and our plans to the One who created every hour and graciously gifted those minutes to us or will we bustle about, busy with our own agenda and resentful of every intrusion or delay?
     "In acceptance lieth peace," Elizabeth Elliott frequently declared.  Surely our attitude about our/His time and our/His agenda provides one of the greatest proving grounds where we can experience either frequent frustration and irritation (if we assume it's our time) or profound peace and joy (if we recognize that in reality, it all--every second, minute, and hour--was created by, and belongs to, God alone).
     So just in case you, like yours truly, needed the reminder: today is His day.  Tomorrow is His day as well.  He created each and every day, and the great and ever-present and eternal I AM, is fully and completely in control of every moment of every one of our days.
      If He who is all-good and all-knowing is on the throne of all our days, well then, don't you think we can relax a bit and trust His ways and His plans for this day... and the next... and the next?  If He sends interruptions or unexpected challenges or disappointments our way, then we can trust that the One who owns it all anyway knows best and is working everything--including every minute, hour, and day--for His glory and our good.
     Whether it's our child's sudden stomach bug or that emergency or our friend's unexpected need or perhaps that task that we so disdain or dread that's suddenly thrust in our path, it's all passed through His perfect, omniscient hands and heart.  If He allowed it in our day, we can be assured it's the best way.  Time to stop assuming and start trusting and obeying.
      Thanks for this day, Lord....another day to live for You and Your glory.   Free us from impatience and worry and keep us trusting and faithful--no matter what this day might bring... 'cause it's all Yours, and You've got it!
     To God be the glory.


   
   

Friday, June 7, 2013

Graduation... almost!

     Well, D-Day, minus 3.
     High school graduation finally happens in 3 days on Monday morning.  Honestly, we've been celebrating graduation, going to rehearsals, attending ceremonies,  buying graduation presents, eating our way through BBQ's, brunches, and dinners for what seems like months.  Years, maybe.  At this point, we will all be staggering across the finish line.
     And then there's all those other areas of life that are, well, just incredibly busy right now.  Some of these events are glorious, like planning a wedding; others are sorrowful, but sweet--like our wonderful uncle who just went home to be with the Lord.  By the time Monday finally rolls around, we'll all be exhausted... but especially grateful.
     So, I don't know about anybody else, but right now I'm in need of a little spiritual transfusion... a bit of God-strengthening in the midst of a joyful, but protracted, busy, exhausting season of life.  For those of us who need a word from the One who loves us infinitely--even when we feel like all we can do it muster the teensy bit of energy to crawl up to the finish line--here's a tiny reminder:
     "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." (Isa.40:31)
     "Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" (Ps.27:14)
     "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you.  Yes, I will help you.  I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." (Isa.41:10)
     "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us." (Heb.12:1)
     O Lord, keep us fixed upon You.  Keep us running the race marked out for us--even when we are weary and tempted to quit.  Remind us of Your presence and fill us with Your hope... for we know Your hope never disappoints.  And point us to others who might need a word of encouragement in the midst of the race of life.  Give us eyes to see the hurt, Lord, and hands and hearts ready to share Your love with them.  Teach us to slow our pace so that we can walk not only with You, Lord Jesus, but also with others.  
     In the midst of our busyness, keep us faithful. In our perplexity, keep us peaceful.  In our exhaustion, keep us joyful.  In our stress, keep us grateful.  And in our blessings, make us a blessing to others.
     Sure, we may have too much on our plate right at the moment.  But Lord, You made the plate... and You hold the whole planet in Your perfect, sovereign, omnipotent hands.  Father, You've got it all under control, and so we place our trust in You.  Thank You for graduations.... and weddings... and long lives well lived... and for all the countless reminders of Your faithfulness to us, day in and day out.   To God be the glory.

   

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

With thanksgiving

      Whew, what a week.  We are in the midst of a full-throated graduation extravaganza.  It's two full weeks of ceremonies, parties, family picnics, rehearsals, brunches... and on and on.  Sandwiched in between this has been a two-day college orientation visit that was fun, but exhausting, and a wee bit of wedding planning thrown in for good measure.  All the while encouraging/nagging our high school sophomore to keep studying and finish strong for his last five exams this week.
     Laundry?  Did any one mention laundry?  Surely you can find some clean socks and boxers somewhere in the house.
      All this whining is to say, I'm a pretty whipped puppy.  And looking at a long to-do list that doesn't ever seem to get any shorter.  And wondering how on earth it will all get done.   And obviously not feeling very grateful.
      But our gracious God just gently reminded me in today's Daily Light: "Men always ought to pray and not lose heart." (Lk 18:1)
     "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving." (Col.4:2)
     Thank You, Father.  O how quickly we forget.  How prone our hearts are to wander in the wilderness of pride and ingratitude and selfishness.  As the great old hymn says, "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it.  Prone to leave the God I love.  Take my heart, Lord, take and seal it; seal it for thy courts above."
     Prayer and thanksgiving.  Taking that impossibly long to-do list...or that relationship...or that intransigent problem...or that illness...or that prevailing weakness to the One with all wisdom, all power, all provision, and all grace.  Laying it at His feet and entrusting it fully to Him.  Asking Him to show us what to do next, how to do it... and enable us to do whatever it is with faith and joy.
     But superimposed over--and intertwined with--all that prayer is gratitude.  "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving."  Choosing to be thankful.  Counting the blessings.  Seeing the innumerable answers to prayers.  Remembering the ridiculously undeserved, scandalously generous grace showered upon each of us.  
     So Lord, thank You for the busyness of graduation and orientation and weddings.  Blessing upon blessing.  Who could have dreamed of this nine months ago.  Sitting in that ICU, watching Janie's temperature soar, listening to the beeping of the monitors,  hoping, praying God would cause her to wake up.  
      No, we weren't worried about to-do lists in the hospital.  Busy activities and laundry and phone calls were the furthest thing from our minds.  
     Funny, how quickly we can forget the pits, the prisons from which Christ has delivered us, isn't it?
     Help us, Father, never to forget.  "Remember your chains," Stephen Curtis Chapman sings... "And then remember your chains are gone."
     Thank You, Jesus, for Your never-ending forgiveness, grace, and love for us, your children.  As Romans 5:8 says, "You are loved more than you will ever know."  We will never truly comprehend the vast, infinite extent of Your love for us... so we simply say, "Thank You, Lord."
     Just thought I'd close with a song Jake and Janie just sang at the Baccalaureate service the other day.  Like I said, who would have dreamed?  Not us... but God.  Thank You, Jesus.  To God be the glory.
   
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KDU-3hzukA&feature=em-upload_owner#action=share

Sunday, June 2, 2013

In our battles...Aslan is on the move

                          A little food for weekend thought:

     "Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers."  J. Sidlow Baxter
     "It was not apathy or passiveness.  For him [Dietrich Bonhoeffer], prayer was a display of the strongest possible activity." (Eric Metaxes, Bonhoeffer)
     "Our God is Jehovah of Hosts, who can summon unexpected reinforcements at any moment to aid His people.  Believe that He is there between you and your difficulty, and what baffles you will flee before Him, as clouds before the gale."  (F.B. Meyer)
     "Whom have I in heaven but You?  And there is none upon earth that I desire besides You.  My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Ps.73:25-26)
     Right now we are preparing for our Baccalaureate service for Broughton High School, and goodness gracious, you cannot imagine all the obstacles that continue to be thrown up before us and our speaker, William Kane.  I won't go into it all, but suffice it to say, the enemy has persistently thrown opposition our way from messed up programs to traffic and parking woes due to an Iron Man event to our powerful speaker who struggles with a very difficult long-term health battle and even to his precious sick child up all night last night.
     But I must say, by yesterday afternoon we finally began to laugh at satan's antics.  I know the evil one is never funny in the least, and he is a deadly foe... but at a certain point, you think, "Okay, well, just bring it on!  You're not taking on little own piddly me or my buddies.  Nope, you're taking on Almighty God on this one, and the God of angel armies, the Jehovah of Hosts, the Alpha and Omega, He is our Shield and Protector and Defender.  And He must win the battle. We will place our trust in Him and watch what He will do."
     And that is exactly what we are doing--praying to and trusting in the One who has all the power, all the answers, all the knowledge, all the strength and waiting expectantly to see what He will do this afternoon, beginning at 4 p.m.
     "This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.'" (2 Chron.20:15)
      I write all this not just to attest to our faith and hope in the Lord for this service today.  After all, this is just one little skirmish in the midst of eternity's long, protracted war between the forces of good and evil.  No, I write this for all who are facing seemingly unrelenting opposition or obstacles in their own lives right now.
     Can I just remind you, the battle is not yours, but God's?
     As Scotty Smith says, "When I'm afraid of events in world history--when it seems like evil and terror will triumph--let me hear the laughter of heaven.  Let me see Your installed King, the Lord Jesus.  Show me the occupied throne of heaven, and it will shut up my fears." (Ps.2)  When I'm under attack by the seducer, accuser, and condemner of the brethren, once again let me see Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith.  He is my wisdom, righteousness, holiness, and redemption (I Cor.1:30-31)  My boast is in Jesus, not in anything in me."
       So whatever battles you, or your loved one, might be facing today, take heart!  God is on the throne.  As the great old Martin Luther hymn says, "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; our Helper He amidst the flood of mortal ills prevailing.  For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal.  Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.  Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God's own choosing.  Dost ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Saboath, His Name, from age to age the same, and He must win the battle."
     Thank You, Father, that Christ Jesus is the One who fights our battles. And He must win the battle. Fight for us, this day, we pray, and give us hearts to trust, eyes to see, and lips to rejoice in Your victory.  And however You choose to work and move this day, we praise You and thank You in advance.
     Remember in the midst of your battles, it might seem like the darkest, depths of wintertime, but God is working...  and "Aslan is on the move."
     To God be the glory.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

A summer challenge!


     Well, it’s June 1st!  The first day of summer--sort of, anyway. Now, granted, many of us are not even close to the slightly more relaxed pace of glorious summer. In fact, right now at our home, we’re confronting both the joys, but crazy busyness, of high school graduation activities and of wedding planning, as well as the challenges of exams.  So at the moment, the hope of summer seems like it’s looming impossibly far off in the distance. 
      But it isn’t.  Warmth and freshly cut green grass and iced tea and sand in your toes and melting popsicles and mountain peaks and a good, long book... they are coming. If we can just hang in there a few more days!   Ahh.
     And so on June 1st, we’re at least pondering the imminent approach of summer.  If you’re anything like me, then you thank the Lord for the promise and hope both of summer’s beauty and it’s more relaxed schedule.  Time unharnessed from rushing and deadlines and lengthy to-do lists. Time to listen.  Time to thank.  Time to ponder.  Time to enjoy family and friends.  Time to be amazed at God’s creation.  
Summer’s danger for all of us, however, is that with this season’s beauty and pace, we can fall away from God rather than fall closer into Him.  Summer can tempt us to laziness and lassitude.  Bible studies are over till the fall; Sunday school may be on hiatus.  The beaches and mountains beckon, and we can lapse into indifference towards the Word which leads to an increasingly weak and shallow soul.  
I loved these comments from John Piper about the  promise and peril of summertime.  I included these last year about this time, but I needed to be reminded of them again:
  "Every season is God's season, but summer has a special power.  Jesus Christ is refreshing, but flight from Him into Christ-less leisure makes the soul parched. At first it may feel like freedom and fun to skimp on prayer and neglect the Word, but then we pay: shallowness, powerlessness, vulnerability to sin, preoccupation with trifles, superficial relationships, and a frightening loss of interest in worship and the things of the Spirit.
Don’t let summer make your soul shrivel. God made summer as a foretaste of heaven, not a substitute. If the mailman brings you a love letter from your fiancé, don’t fall in love with the mailman. That’s what summer is: God’s messenger with a sun-soaked, tree-green, flower-blooming, lake-glistening letter of love to show us what he is planning for us in the age to come — “things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). 
Don’t fall in love with the video preview and find yourself unable to love the coming reality.  Jesus Christ is the refreshing center of summer. He is preeminent in all things (Colossians 1:18), including vacations, picnics, softball, long walks, and cookouts. He invites us in the summer: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). This is serious summer refreshment.
Do we want it? That is the question.
Christ gives himself to us in proportion to how much we want his refreshment. “You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13, RSV). One of the reasons to give the Lord special attention in the summer is to say to him, 'We want all your refreshment. We really want it.'"
      I love that, because summer is one of God’s choicest gifts!   The Lord gives us in summertime the gift of His startling creation in all it’s splendor as well as the irreplaceable gift of a little more time.  How will we use those never to be replaced moments?  
Let’s determine together, by the grace of God, that by the end of this summer, we will know and love the Lord more dearly and follow Him more nearly than we did at the beginning. And that will only happen if we spend time with him in His Word.  He’s waiting to speak to us and reveal Himself to us.  Will we listen?  
     Just as He did when Jesus prepared a hot breakfast on the beach for the hungry disciples in John 21 (this after their all night fishing debacle), He has breakfast for us in His Word.  And every single morning, the Lord of the universe says to each of us, “Hey are you hungry?  How about some breakfast?  I know you’re tired.  I know you’re feeling overwhelmed.  I know you messed up yesterday.  But how about some fresh forgiveness?  How about some warm strength?  How about some delicious grace and power and provision for today?  Aren’t you hungry?  Won’t you come and join the Great I Am for breakfast?” 
     He’s waiting for us this summer--ready and available every single day to give us all the mana we need for that day’s needs.  Ready to renew our strength, fill us with hope, teach us His ways, and walk with us through whatever we’ll be facing.  
     Might we daily this summer choose to spend time feasting upon His Word and fellowshipping with our Savior.  I want to come to the end of these three glorious months ahead of us knowing Him more clearly, loving Him more dearly, and following Him more closely. He’s waiting... and He has your breakfast ready.  Will we come to Him and eat? 
     To God--our Creator and Giver of summer's gifts, and our Word--be all the glory.