I'm sitting here waiting...with my stomach in a knot.
Yes, this is pathetic, but I'm a complete nervous wreck, waiting to hear how our Brougthon High School golf team played today in the first of two rounds at the State Championship. Our son is a senior, and he's been out virtually the whole season with a foot injury, so we're mighty thankful he's able to play again. But geez, how are they all doing? All I know is our son had a tough first hole...so that's super comforting and really helped my nerves. Sigh. Help me Jesus.
I'm waiting and wondering with great trepidation how our guys are playing. We love this special group of young men. They're all mighty close, and for all our seniors on the team, this is it. After four wonderful years together, this is their grand finale. So in addition to my frayed nerves, there's also the sadness that this little window of life is closing. Our children are growing up and leaving us. Oh mercy, someone just put me out of my misery.
I think I'd just as soon have a root canal.
This is ridiculous to get worked up over a golf game. Yes, I know, know, know that. We have dear friends dealing with all kinds of incredibly difficult challenges--from prodigal children to painful diseases to parents who have gone home to be with the Lord. And I'm sitting here worrying over a silly golf tournament? Good grief, forgive me Father.
But here's the thing: waiting is without a doubt one of the toughest things any of us ever has to do. And my little, piddly waiting right now is just a tiny reflection of some of the very real and very hard waiting many dear friends are enduring right now.
We all have to wait. Waiting on colleges. Waiting on a baby. Waiting on a diagnosis. Waiting on a missing loved one. Waiting on the outcome of something we dread.
Don't we all hate to wait? Why is that? Maybe it's our impatience. Or lack of control. Or desire to know the future. Or our sinful tendency to want to be able to control everything.
Or perhaps it's that all too often fear creeps into that gap left open by our waiting. We allow fear to multiply in the midst of that wait, and we forget all too quickly about God's goodness to us in the past. We forget about His power, His provision, and His perfect plans and ways for our lives.
Waiting can lead to forgetting. Forgetting leads to fearing. And fearing leads to failing to trust. Happens every cotton picking time we allow fear to seep into those waiting gaps.
Just one example? The Israelites in the Old Testament as they were wandering in the dessert and on their way to the promised land under the leadership of Moses. God miraculously provided for them time and again, but what would those Israelites do? Forget. Forget God's faithfulness. Forget God's love. Forget God's provision. Forget God's power.
Here's how Ps.106:12-13 puts it. Right after recounting how God miraculously delivered them from slavery and through the Red Sea and then destroyed their Egyptian enemies in that same sea, we're told: "Then they believed His words; they sang His praise. [Yessir, you go Israelites! Praising and thanking the Lord until....] But they soon forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel."
For pete's sake, can you believe that?? How could anybody have such a short memory??
Well, actually, me for one. Maybe you too.
How many times has God come through for us? For our loved ones? For our friends? How many times has He provided just the right word of encouragement we needed at the most desperate time? Yet all too quickly, when the next challenge rears it's ugly head...or the next waiting time drags on and on...we forget. Then we fear. Then we fail (or refuse) to have faith in our ever-faithful Lord. Oh forgive us, Father!
So what should we do instead? In those waiting times, in those gaps, rather than allowing fear to control us, we turn, by faith, to God's promises. We focus on the size of our God rather than the size of our problem. We fixate on how great our Lord is rather than on how grating our wait is.
We choose thankfulness and praise over complaining and fear. We do what the Psalmist says at the end of this same Psalm--we turn to God and His Word in prayer and praise. "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, 'Amen!' Praise the Lord!"
We read His Word. We turn to Him in prayer. We praise Him for His greatness. We thank Him for His goodness. We remember Who He is and what He has done.
Thank You, Lord, for all You teach us in the waiting periods of our lives. Thank You for Your amazing grace. Thank You for Your forgiveness when we so quickly forget and fear. Help us instead to look to You and Your glorious promises. Replace our worrying with worship, and our fear with faith. For You are forever faithful, forever good, and forever full of grace.
To God be the glory.
Monday, May 11, 2015
Friday, May 8, 2015
Young Life...life is short, God is huge
"For my days pass away like smoke..." (Ps.102:3)
"For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits." (James 1:11)
"For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers...So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Ps.90:4-6,12)
Translation? Life is short. God is huge. Love and live for Him.
I guess this is particularly evident to me after last night. We hosted the last Young Life Campaigners meeting of the year at our house...well, the last one until Peter is a senior in High School (which, thankfully, will be a while). We've hosted Campaigners for the senior high school year of our oldest, Mary Norris, then Richard, then Janie, and now Preyer. Where on earth have the years gone?
That's a lot of Young Life songs...a lot of Young Life Bible studies scattered all over the house...a lot of Young Life laughter and loving of high school kids...a lot of Young Life sharing and soul-transforming by the power of the Gospel. A lot of incredibly dedicated Young Life leaders giving their lives away so that high schoolers could come to know and love Jesus. Not to mention a lot of Young Life cars parked everywhere, a lot of shoes in the hall, a lot of Bojangles wrappers in the trash, and a lot of various brochures for camp all over the place.
Basically, a lot of Life. A lot of loving kids and telling them where to find real, lasting, rich, satisfying, abundant eternal Life.
Yep, plenty of thursday nights I'm sure our neighbors wanted to throttle us. And sometimes it was mighty inconvenient to have kids scattered all over the house or to clean up after them or to see the wear and tear in the basement from some hard living and loving.
But oh my, the rewards are quite literally out of this world. As in eternity. As in, I think I can almost see Jesus smiling as new life is born and grown and encouraged. Thank You Lord for the privilege of allowing us to have a tiny part in Your work in this world.
Because life is short. God is huge. And since we are only here for such a brief moment, we want to love and live for You every single day You choose to give us.
The last Campaigners is a big old cookout..with my husband grilling a boatload of burgers and hot dogs, and kids consuming a lot of food. It surely does my heart good to see young folks eat...especially since eating is one of my favorite hobbies! To the boys credit, they let the girls go first (a minor miracle if you could see the way our son eats)--
Then the guys came through...boy, I'm gonna miss the seniors. Here's a few of them--
The senior leaders, Gaither and Evan, gave a great challenge--remember God loves you, find a Christian community (in case you didn't realize this people--we NEED each other!), stay in the God's Word. Life for Christ in your school, in your community, in your world.
Then it was time for the seniors to gather around their leader and thank him/her. How on earth do you adequately thank someone who has given their life away that you might find yours? These leaders truly are beautiful gifts from God, and they model for us how we are to live like Jesus. But it sure made me tearful watching them hugging their guys/girls goodbye. Did I say I'm gonna miss these seniors?
And a final pic of the seniors. The boys with Evan--
And the girls and Gaither joining them (and me trying not to cry as I snapped away)--
Have I mentioned I'm really, really gonna miss these seniors?
Yeah, well, that's the point...cause life is short. God is huge. And we've got this one brief shot at making a difference for Christ for all of eternity.
'Cause here's the thing: one glorious day, we're not going to care a whit about those extra pounds on our frame...or the clutter in our home...or the grades of our children...or the success of our business...or the amount in our bank accounts...or the whatever this world applauds.
No, we're only going to care about how much we loved God and how well we lived for Him. And whether we loved the people He put in our paths.
All that other junk that we tend to worry about and obsess over? In light of eternity and God's enormous, glorious grace, all the rest of that stuff is pretty much fluff that will have been blown away like meaningless chaff.
"Only one life; twill soon be past. Only what's done for Jesus will last."
George Mueller put it this way: "The longer I live, the more I am enabled to realize that I have but one life to live on earth, and that this one life is but a brief life, for sowing, in comparison with eternity, for reaping."
The time to sow is now. With our children. With our family. With our friends. In our world.
Oh Lord Jesus, help us "to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Thank You for dying for our sins and forgiving us. Thank You for rising to new life and giving us abundant, eternal life. Thank You for allowing us to live this day to love You, to live for You, and to make Your name great and glorious.
Because, Father, life is short. You are huge. And this is the only today we'll ever have to love You and love others. Might we glorify You this day, Lord Jesus.
And finally, thank You Lord for the ministry of Young Life...and for the gift of having a small part in Your work. Thank You for high schoolers. Thank You for the joy of watching them grow up...even if it's accompanied by the sadness of watching them fly away. Might they fly with You and for You, Jesus.
For You are Life.
And life is short.
But You are huge. And we love You.
To God be the glory.
"For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits." (James 1:11)
"For a thousand years in Your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers...So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." (Ps.90:4-6,12)
Translation? Life is short. God is huge. Love and live for Him.
I guess this is particularly evident to me after last night. We hosted the last Young Life Campaigners meeting of the year at our house...well, the last one until Peter is a senior in High School (which, thankfully, will be a while). We've hosted Campaigners for the senior high school year of our oldest, Mary Norris, then Richard, then Janie, and now Preyer. Where on earth have the years gone?
That's a lot of Young Life songs...a lot of Young Life Bible studies scattered all over the house...a lot of Young Life laughter and loving of high school kids...a lot of Young Life sharing and soul-transforming by the power of the Gospel. A lot of incredibly dedicated Young Life leaders giving their lives away so that high schoolers could come to know and love Jesus. Not to mention a lot of Young Life cars parked everywhere, a lot of shoes in the hall, a lot of Bojangles wrappers in the trash, and a lot of various brochures for camp all over the place.
Basically, a lot of Life. A lot of loving kids and telling them where to find real, lasting, rich, satisfying, abundant eternal Life.
Yep, plenty of thursday nights I'm sure our neighbors wanted to throttle us. And sometimes it was mighty inconvenient to have kids scattered all over the house or to clean up after them or to see the wear and tear in the basement from some hard living and loving.
But oh my, the rewards are quite literally out of this world. As in eternity. As in, I think I can almost see Jesus smiling as new life is born and grown and encouraged. Thank You Lord for the privilege of allowing us to have a tiny part in Your work in this world.
Because life is short. God is huge. And since we are only here for such a brief moment, we want to love and live for You every single day You choose to give us.
The last Campaigners is a big old cookout..with my husband grilling a boatload of burgers and hot dogs, and kids consuming a lot of food. It surely does my heart good to see young folks eat...especially since eating is one of my favorite hobbies! To the boys credit, they let the girls go first (a minor miracle if you could see the way our son eats)--
Yeah, well, that's the point...cause life is short. God is huge. And we've got this one brief shot at making a difference for Christ for all of eternity.
'Cause here's the thing: one glorious day, we're not going to care a whit about those extra pounds on our frame...or the clutter in our home...or the grades of our children...or the success of our business...or the amount in our bank accounts...or the whatever this world applauds.
No, we're only going to care about how much we loved God and how well we lived for Him. And whether we loved the people He put in our paths.
All that other junk that we tend to worry about and obsess over? In light of eternity and God's enormous, glorious grace, all the rest of that stuff is pretty much fluff that will have been blown away like meaningless chaff.
"Only one life; twill soon be past. Only what's done for Jesus will last."
George Mueller put it this way: "The longer I live, the more I am enabled to realize that I have but one life to live on earth, and that this one life is but a brief life, for sowing, in comparison with eternity, for reaping."
The time to sow is now. With our children. With our family. With our friends. In our world.
Oh Lord Jesus, help us "to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom." Thank You for dying for our sins and forgiving us. Thank You for rising to new life and giving us abundant, eternal life. Thank You for allowing us to live this day to love You, to live for You, and to make Your name great and glorious.
Because, Father, life is short. You are huge. And this is the only today we'll ever have to love You and love others. Might we glorify You this day, Lord Jesus.
And finally, thank You Lord for the ministry of Young Life...and for the gift of having a small part in Your work. Thank You for high schoolers. Thank You for the joy of watching them grow up...even if it's accompanied by the sadness of watching them fly away. Might they fly with You and for You, Jesus.
For You are Life.
And life is short.
But You are huge. And we love You.
To God be the glory.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Prayer for a new day
Got the choice on this brand new day. Wallow in chronic worry or walk in continual worship. Carry our heavy burdens or cast them on our Burden-Bearer. We choose--
Grumpy or grateful.
Fear or faith.
First thing in the morning, we choose how we will set our minds, hearts and attitudes. What will you choose this new day?
We choose whether to fixate on all kinds of pressing concerns or take those concerns to the throne of the universe and hand them to the Sovereign King. The Almighty, glorious KING! Our choice...but He's ready and waiting and infinitely able to do more than all we could ever ask or imagine. (Eph.3:20)
I choose Jesus. Thank You Lord Jesus for awakening me one more day to serve, love, adore, and make You known in this world this day. In my little place, in my small ways, with my very limited abilities, and with my many failings and weaknesses, I pray that You would shine through me to bring Your glorious light and love to a desperately needy and dark world. Only You can do that, Lord...but it is Your joy to do that. That You would choose to use little sin-prone, fallible dust people like us is a miracle I will never understand, but oh how grateful we are! Thank You for Your amazing, wonderful grace! How we thank You for the privilege of shining Your light, Lord.
For anyone reading this, I hope you will join me in praying together on this bright new morning of May, this prayer from George Dawson (1821-76):
"Almighty God, we bless and praise Thee that we have awakened to the light of another earthly day; and now we will think of what a day should be. Our days are Thine, let them be spent for Thee. Our days are few, let them be spent with care. There are dark days behind us, forgive their sinfulness; there may be dark days before us, strengthen us for their trials.
We pray Thee to shine on this day--the day which we may call our own. Lord, we go to our daily work; help us to take pleasure therein. Show us clearly what our duty is; help us to be faithful in doing it. Let all we do be well done, fit for Thine eyes to see.
Give us strength to do, patience to bear; let our courage never fail. Help us most when faintness comes; hold us up when weariness begins. When we cannot love our work, let us think of it as Thy task; and by our true love to Thee, make unlovely things shine in the light of Thy great love. Amen."
Yes, Lord, yes. Do it again this new day, Father.
Thank You for the gift of life for one more day. Might we love You and love others, by Your grace and for Your great glory. Whatever our work this day, strengthen us, empower us, so that in every single task, we shine Your light and love to all around us.
To God be the glory.
Grumpy or grateful.
Fear or faith.
First thing in the morning, we choose how we will set our minds, hearts and attitudes. What will you choose this new day?
We choose whether to fixate on all kinds of pressing concerns or take those concerns to the throne of the universe and hand them to the Sovereign King. The Almighty, glorious KING! Our choice...but He's ready and waiting and infinitely able to do more than all we could ever ask or imagine. (Eph.3:20)
I choose Jesus. Thank You Lord Jesus for awakening me one more day to serve, love, adore, and make You known in this world this day. In my little place, in my small ways, with my very limited abilities, and with my many failings and weaknesses, I pray that You would shine through me to bring Your glorious light and love to a desperately needy and dark world. Only You can do that, Lord...but it is Your joy to do that. That You would choose to use little sin-prone, fallible dust people like us is a miracle I will never understand, but oh how grateful we are! Thank You for Your amazing, wonderful grace! How we thank You for the privilege of shining Your light, Lord.
For anyone reading this, I hope you will join me in praying together on this bright new morning of May, this prayer from George Dawson (1821-76):
"Almighty God, we bless and praise Thee that we have awakened to the light of another earthly day; and now we will think of what a day should be. Our days are Thine, let them be spent for Thee. Our days are few, let them be spent with care. There are dark days behind us, forgive their sinfulness; there may be dark days before us, strengthen us for their trials.
We pray Thee to shine on this day--the day which we may call our own. Lord, we go to our daily work; help us to take pleasure therein. Show us clearly what our duty is; help us to be faithful in doing it. Let all we do be well done, fit for Thine eyes to see.
Give us strength to do, patience to bear; let our courage never fail. Help us most when faintness comes; hold us up when weariness begins. When we cannot love our work, let us think of it as Thy task; and by our true love to Thee, make unlovely things shine in the light of Thy great love. Amen."
Yes, Lord, yes. Do it again this new day, Father.
Thank You for the gift of life for one more day. Might we love You and love others, by Your grace and for Your great glory. Whatever our work this day, strengthen us, empower us, so that in every single task, we shine Your light and love to all around us.
To God be the glory.
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Our time...and walking wisely
A little food for weekend thought--
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." (Eph.5:15-16)
Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Your wise Word...and for the gift of Your wise people. Today a sweet friend gave me such good advice, and oh my, how thankful I am. Well, truth be told, she gave me great advice both today and yesterday. And the funny thing is, her wise counsel completely confirmed what God has been trying to teach me over recent weeks. But sometimes I'm a mighty slow learner. Yeah okay, I'm pretty much always a slow learner...but praise God for grace. And for second chances. And for a Lord who never gives up on us.
The wise counsel--both from the friend and from the Word--essentially related to being wise about what we commit to and how we spend our limited time and energy. Because here's the thing: our lives are finite. Duh, you say? Sure, but do we live that way? Do we live recognizing the Lord has given us a certain number of days and hours, and how we use each of those moments matters?
It's said that the average life consists of about 28,000 days. Some more. Some less. If Duke continues to win national championships in basketball, I'm guessing my weeping and gnashing of teeth will significantly reduce that number for yours truly...but I digress. (See, there's my problem.)
Like I was saying, with an average of 28,000 days, how many days have we wasted doing what God never called us to do? How many days spent watching mindless TV programs? How many days consuming junk--whether food or reading material? How many days squandered by living miserably in bitterness...or envy...or irritation? How many days overshadowed by our harsh, critical spirit or our ungrateful heart?
How many days have we missed the mark by failing to love--in word and deed--those irreplaceable people God has loaned us for our brief time on earth? And how many days have been tragically lost, because we've failed to worship and adore the Lord who loves us and made us to enjoy Him forever?
Well, back to that wise advice. In my case, God used this friend to gently but clearly remind me that we must learn to say no to the things God has not called us to do so we can yes to the things He has. There are plenty of good things--even great things--we could do. But I needed to recall that even lots of these good things I cannot and should not do, because they're not the things that God's told me to do.
The Lord has not called me--or you--to do everything. But He has called us each to do some things. Those things that only we can do. Like--
Cherish the people in our lives.
Love our children, spouse, parents, siblings, friends. Love them well. For me, that means not loving them with the leftovers of my limited time and strength.
Do the work with which He's gifted us. (Yes, note to self--our God-given work is a gift, not a burden. Do it with gratitude and joy.)
Love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Lk10:27)
Those are the things we're (or at least I'm) called to do. That, to me, in the words of Eph.5:15, is walking wisely and making the best use of my time. If how I'm thinking of spending my time doesn't fit into any of those categories, then God's likely in it...not will He bless it.
But this necessitates saying no to plenty of other stuff. Some good stuff...some not so good, but still tempting. Filling up on the junk of worldly pursuits that distract us and distance us from God and those we love. Giving in to persuasive arguments that we're "missing out" is we don't do this or that. Saying "yes" to some request that we have no business saying yes to simply out of the desire to please or not disappoint or impress.
And every misplaced yes means we're essentially saying no to the people we love and the God we worship.
Loved this quote I just heard from Churchill. It was in a radically different context, as it was 1938 and Churchill was speaking to the United States and Great Britain and their critical need to face up to and confront the evils of Nazism. But, boy, his simple words sure spoke to me--
Churchill declared, "Alexander the Great remarked that the people of Asia were slaves because they had not learned to pronounce the word 'No.'"
If we want to be enslaved to bad habits--whether of overeating, overspending, over-committing, over-complaining, or whatever--then don't learn to say no. On the other hand, if we want to live in the freedom that Christ died to give us and to live for His glory, then we need to learn to say no to ourselves. No to our worldly impulses. No to those time-wasters that steal our moments. No to all that stuff that we know deep down we shouldn't be doing...so we'll have time for what we should be. No to habitual complaining and grumbling. No to excess and more, more, more.
Then we'll be free to say yes...yes to the people God's given us. Yes to the God we love. Yes to the Word of God. Yes to the work of God. Yes to thanking, savoring, and slowing down to taste, touch, smell, see, enjoy, laugh.
Thank You, Lord, for Your wise Word, for wise friends, for the work You've gifted to us...and for each of the days You are giving us to do all that You've called us to do.
There is always enough time to do the will of God, by His grace and for His glory. But we need to learn to say no to the good in order to say yes to the best. God's best. And God is always and forever the best of the best.
Oh might we walk wisely and well with Him for however many days He gives us.
To God be the glory.
"Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." (Eph.5:15-16)
Thank You, Lord, for the gift of Your wise Word...and for the gift of Your wise people. Today a sweet friend gave me such good advice, and oh my, how thankful I am. Well, truth be told, she gave me great advice both today and yesterday. And the funny thing is, her wise counsel completely confirmed what God has been trying to teach me over recent weeks. But sometimes I'm a mighty slow learner. Yeah okay, I'm pretty much always a slow learner...but praise God for grace. And for second chances. And for a Lord who never gives up on us.
The wise counsel--both from the friend and from the Word--essentially related to being wise about what we commit to and how we spend our limited time and energy. Because here's the thing: our lives are finite. Duh, you say? Sure, but do we live that way? Do we live recognizing the Lord has given us a certain number of days and hours, and how we use each of those moments matters?
It's said that the average life consists of about 28,000 days. Some more. Some less. If Duke continues to win national championships in basketball, I'm guessing my weeping and gnashing of teeth will significantly reduce that number for yours truly...but I digress. (See, there's my problem.)
Like I was saying, with an average of 28,000 days, how many days have we wasted doing what God never called us to do? How many days spent watching mindless TV programs? How many days consuming junk--whether food or reading material? How many days squandered by living miserably in bitterness...or envy...or irritation? How many days overshadowed by our harsh, critical spirit or our ungrateful heart?
How many days have we missed the mark by failing to love--in word and deed--those irreplaceable people God has loaned us for our brief time on earth? And how many days have been tragically lost, because we've failed to worship and adore the Lord who loves us and made us to enjoy Him forever?
Well, back to that wise advice. In my case, God used this friend to gently but clearly remind me that we must learn to say no to the things God has not called us to do so we can yes to the things He has. There are plenty of good things--even great things--we could do. But I needed to recall that even lots of these good things I cannot and should not do, because they're not the things that God's told me to do.
The Lord has not called me--or you--to do everything. But He has called us each to do some things. Those things that only we can do. Like--
Cherish the people in our lives.
Love our children, spouse, parents, siblings, friends. Love them well. For me, that means not loving them with the leftovers of my limited time and strength.
Do the work with which He's gifted us. (Yes, note to self--our God-given work is a gift, not a burden. Do it with gratitude and joy.)
Love the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Lk10:27)
Those are the things we're (or at least I'm) called to do. That, to me, in the words of Eph.5:15, is walking wisely and making the best use of my time. If how I'm thinking of spending my time doesn't fit into any of those categories, then God's likely in it...not will He bless it.
But this necessitates saying no to plenty of other stuff. Some good stuff...some not so good, but still tempting. Filling up on the junk of worldly pursuits that distract us and distance us from God and those we love. Giving in to persuasive arguments that we're "missing out" is we don't do this or that. Saying "yes" to some request that we have no business saying yes to simply out of the desire to please or not disappoint or impress.
And every misplaced yes means we're essentially saying no to the people we love and the God we worship.
Loved this quote I just heard from Churchill. It was in a radically different context, as it was 1938 and Churchill was speaking to the United States and Great Britain and their critical need to face up to and confront the evils of Nazism. But, boy, his simple words sure spoke to me--
Churchill declared, "Alexander the Great remarked that the people of Asia were slaves because they had not learned to pronounce the word 'No.'"
If we want to be enslaved to bad habits--whether of overeating, overspending, over-committing, over-complaining, or whatever--then don't learn to say no. On the other hand, if we want to live in the freedom that Christ died to give us and to live for His glory, then we need to learn to say no to ourselves. No to our worldly impulses. No to those time-wasters that steal our moments. No to all that stuff that we know deep down we shouldn't be doing...so we'll have time for what we should be. No to habitual complaining and grumbling. No to excess and more, more, more.
Then we'll be free to say yes...yes to the people God's given us. Yes to the God we love. Yes to the Word of God. Yes to the work of God. Yes to thanking, savoring, and slowing down to taste, touch, smell, see, enjoy, laugh.
Thank You, Lord, for Your wise Word, for wise friends, for the work You've gifted to us...and for each of the days You are giving us to do all that You've called us to do.
There is always enough time to do the will of God, by His grace and for His glory. But we need to learn to say no to the good in order to say yes to the best. God's best. And God is always and forever the best of the best.
Oh might we walk wisely and well with Him for however many days He gives us.
To God be the glory.
Friday, May 1, 2015
Revive us again, Lord!
Woke up early this morning. Really early. As in zero dark early.
I couldn't go back to sleep, because my mind was churning--worries, concerns about some issues I'd handled poorly, and deep heaviness over illness and other difficulties facing some folks we love.
As I lay there, I rehearsed and replayed things in my overtaxed brain. Bad call. The only items we should rehearse and replay in our minds are all the things in our lives for which we're thankful. After many fruitless, frustrating minutes, I finally figured it would be far better to get up and go spend some time with the Lord. Good call. Always a good call to take it to the One on the throne of the universe, don't you think?
These words jumped out at me in today's Daily Light: "Great peace have those who love Your law." (Ps.119:165) Meaning--if we want to experience the joy of peace in our lives, then we need to go to the place where perfect peace can be found: the very words of Almighty God. We'll never find ultimate peace by trying to "figure it out on our own" or by pouring over our worry list or by distracting ourselves or by ignoring the problem, hoping it goes away.
And we certainly won't experience peace with our Bibles closed.
Funny--I don't think it's any coincidence that I've been "too busy" in recent days to spend much quality time with the Lord. And when we're too frenzied to practice and enjoy the presence of God, we'll discover we're increasingly weary, weakened, and worried.
Little time in His Word...little peace and little power. But oh the happy and glorious contrast--much time in the Word and with the Word...much peace, much power.
His presence breathes peace into our worn, threadbare souls. And the result is joy--every time.
So thank You, Father, for reviving and renewing me once again. Thank You for Your Word that never fails to speak life, wisdom, and hope into our lives. Thank You for never ever giving up on us, Your often wandering, clueless sheep.
Thank You for the hope and renewal that comes each spring--a glorious reminder that You are the God of new, resuur
Thank You for new mornings, new days, and fresh, new starts! Thank You that Your mercies are, indeed, new and invigorating every single morning. (Lam.3:23) Revive us again, Lord!
And Lord Jesus, oh how we praise You that You love all those "re" words--
Refocus. Remember. Refuel. Restore. Rejoice. Renew. Revive. Redeem.
Resurrect.
Thank You for the hope and renewal that comes each spring--a glorious, tangible reminder that You are the God of new and beautiful resurrection life.
Father, for anyone facing difficult, dark dead-ends in their lives right now, we pray that You would bring Your mighty resurrection power to bear in their homes, in their hearts, and in their hard places. We know that You have all the power and peace that they need. Might they feel, know, and experience Your redeeming and reviving presence, Lord.
Call them, comfort and convict them, and enlighten and encourage them by and in Your Word, Father. Might they know the "great peace" that comes from loving Your never-failing Word--the written Word and the Living Word.
To God be the glory.
I couldn't go back to sleep, because my mind was churning--worries, concerns about some issues I'd handled poorly, and deep heaviness over illness and other difficulties facing some folks we love.
As I lay there, I rehearsed and replayed things in my overtaxed brain. Bad call. The only items we should rehearse and replay in our minds are all the things in our lives for which we're thankful. After many fruitless, frustrating minutes, I finally figured it would be far better to get up and go spend some time with the Lord. Good call. Always a good call to take it to the One on the throne of the universe, don't you think?
These words jumped out at me in today's Daily Light: "Great peace have those who love Your law." (Ps.119:165) Meaning--if we want to experience the joy of peace in our lives, then we need to go to the place where perfect peace can be found: the very words of Almighty God. We'll never find ultimate peace by trying to "figure it out on our own" or by pouring over our worry list or by distracting ourselves or by ignoring the problem, hoping it goes away.
And we certainly won't experience peace with our Bibles closed.
Funny--I don't think it's any coincidence that I've been "too busy" in recent days to spend much quality time with the Lord. And when we're too frenzied to practice and enjoy the presence of God, we'll discover we're increasingly weary, weakened, and worried.
Little time in His Word...little peace and little power. But oh the happy and glorious contrast--much time in the Word and with the Word...much peace, much power.
His presence breathes peace into our worn, threadbare souls. And the result is joy--every time.
So thank You, Father, for reviving and renewing me once again. Thank You for Your Word that never fails to speak life, wisdom, and hope into our lives. Thank You for never ever giving up on us, Your often wandering, clueless sheep.
Thank You for the hope and renewal that comes each spring--a glorious reminder that You are the God of new, resuur
Thank You for new mornings, new days, and fresh, new starts! Thank You that Your mercies are, indeed, new and invigorating every single morning. (Lam.3:23) Revive us again, Lord!
And Lord Jesus, oh how we praise You that You love all those "re" words--
Refocus. Remember. Refuel. Restore. Rejoice. Renew. Revive. Redeem.
Resurrect.
Thank You for the hope and renewal that comes each spring--a glorious, tangible reminder that You are the God of new and beautiful resurrection life.
Father, for anyone facing difficult, dark dead-ends in their lives right now, we pray that You would bring Your mighty resurrection power to bear in their homes, in their hearts, and in their hard places. We know that You have all the power and peace that they need. Might they feel, know, and experience Your redeeming and reviving presence, Lord.
Call them, comfort and convict them, and enlighten and encourage them by and in Your Word, Father. Might they know the "great peace" that comes from loving Your never-failing Word--the written Word and the Living Word.
To God be the glory.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
What are we counting?
These words from Paul David Tripp really struck--well, convicted--me:
"Do you live a life of blessing or complaint? It is so easy to grumble. It is so easy to find fault. It is so easy to be discontent. It is so easy to find things that are less than you want them to be. It is so easy to be irritated and impatient. It is so easy to groan and moan about the difficulties of life. It is so easy to be dissatisfied."
And all God's people said, "Amen!"
How simple--and temporarily satisfying--it can be to grumble and grip...which then causes us to give in to dissatisfaction, discontentment and discouragement.
And have you noticed that such toxic attitudes are contagious? Yeah, yeah, we've all heard the old expression, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," but goodness, it's so true! And that's because mama's ugly attitude or grumpy disposition or irritable words tend to spread like like a noxious stomach bug. Nothing's more contagious and nothing can ruin your day more quickly!
But come on. Of course it's not just mamas--it's every single one of us! Our complaining and grumbling can infect a family, a home, a church, a classroom, an organization, a small group, a workplace...you name it.
Why is griping and grumbling such a natural default mode for so many of us? I'll tell you why. Because we're sinners! That's pretty much the unvarnished, unattractive truth. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. All God's children are sinners.
We're selfish and prideful, and oh my, we want what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. "Me, myself, and I"--and my desires and my agenda--all too quickly become the central focus of our lives....and as I've heard it said so many times, "A person all tied up in herself makes a mighty small package." Not to mention a miserably unhappy person.
Oh forgive us Father!
But here's the thing. The Bible consistently condemns grumbling and griping. For instance, remember Moses and God's chosen people in the wilderness? They were world champion complainers--and God punished them severely for all their grumbling. "And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled..." (Num.11:1). That's just one tiny example among many.
Or how about Paul's words in Phil.2:14: "Do ALL things without grumbling or questioning." I don't see much wiggle room in there, do you?
We tend to chalk complaining and griping to a lesser category of "misbehaving"--we don't even want to call it sin. But goodness gracious, this convicted me, because it is sin, plain and simple! It's essentially shaking our fist at God and saying, "Your plans for me aren't good enough. Your ways aren't the best. In fact, I think I know a lot better than You do, Lord, the way the world should operate." Ultimately we're telling God, "You're not enough, and I don't think I can trust You."
Ugh. Not a pretty picture, is it? But unless we can diagnose our disease, we won't discover the medicine that will bring healing and hope into our hearts and lives.
Here's what Tripp says: "The joy or complaint of your heart always shapes your willingness to trust God and to do His will. Complaining forgets God's grace. It ignores His presence. It fails to see the beauty of His promises. It allows the display of His splendor in creation to go unnoticed. It questions His goodness, faithfulness, and love. It wonders if He is there and if He cares. If you believe God and His control over everything that exists, then you have to accept that all of your grumbling is ultimately grumbling against Him. Yes, it is so easy to complain. It is so easy to forget the daily blessings that fall down on each of us. Our readiness to complain is another argument for the forgiving and rescuing grace that Jesus, without complaint, willingly died to give us."
Is anybody else out there convicted? Maybe I'm the only one who needed some stern (but so beneficial!) reminding today, but it's high time we put away the complaining and start counting the blessings. Yes, this side of heaven, life is most certainly not perfect...but then neither are you or I. Life holds it share of hardships...but also it's tremendous bevy of blessings.
So what's our focus? What we lack...or all we possess? Where we fall short...or Who has raised us to new life? How we've been wronged...or how infinitely much we've been forgiven?
Are we numbering our complaints...or counting our blessings?
Are you reading these words with eyes that can see? Are you breathing? Do you have any loved ones in your life? Can you smell the fresh scents of spring? Can you hear the chatter of birds? Did you have food to eat today? Is there shelter over your head? Do you own a copy of the very words of Almighty God? Have you been saved by the Savior Who has an infinite supply of His perfect love, forgiveness, grace, wisdom, power, and peace always and ever available?
That's just a teeny tiny starter list of His relentless gifts in our lives! But the way I see it, if we'll start counting the blessings, we'll run out of time, energy, and desire to count the grumbles.
Maybe it's time to stop recounting the complaints and start recording the blessings! Starting...now. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace and Your goodness. Gives us eyes to see, lips to proclaim, and hearts that rejoice in You and Your blessings. Keep us counting the right things--gifts, not grumbles.
To God be the glory.
"Do you live a life of blessing or complaint? It is so easy to grumble. It is so easy to find fault. It is so easy to be discontent. It is so easy to find things that are less than you want them to be. It is so easy to be irritated and impatient. It is so easy to groan and moan about the difficulties of life. It is so easy to be dissatisfied."
And all God's people said, "Amen!"
How simple--and temporarily satisfying--it can be to grumble and grip...which then causes us to give in to dissatisfaction, discontentment and discouragement.
And have you noticed that such toxic attitudes are contagious? Yeah, yeah, we've all heard the old expression, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," but goodness, it's so true! And that's because mama's ugly attitude or grumpy disposition or irritable words tend to spread like like a noxious stomach bug. Nothing's more contagious and nothing can ruin your day more quickly!
But come on. Of course it's not just mamas--it's every single one of us! Our complaining and grumbling can infect a family, a home, a church, a classroom, an organization, a small group, a workplace...you name it.
Why is griping and grumbling such a natural default mode for so many of us? I'll tell you why. Because we're sinners! That's pretty much the unvarnished, unattractive truth. I'm a sinner. You're a sinner. All God's children are sinners.
We're selfish and prideful, and oh my, we want what we want, when we want it, and how we want it. "Me, myself, and I"--and my desires and my agenda--all too quickly become the central focus of our lives....and as I've heard it said so many times, "A person all tied up in herself makes a mighty small package." Not to mention a miserably unhappy person.
Oh forgive us Father!
But here's the thing. The Bible consistently condemns grumbling and griping. For instance, remember Moses and God's chosen people in the wilderness? They were world champion complainers--and God punished them severely for all their grumbling. "And the people complained in the hearing of the Lord about their misfortunes, and when the Lord heard it, His anger was kindled..." (Num.11:1). That's just one tiny example among many.
Or how about Paul's words in Phil.2:14: "Do ALL things without grumbling or questioning." I don't see much wiggle room in there, do you?
We tend to chalk complaining and griping to a lesser category of "misbehaving"--we don't even want to call it sin. But goodness gracious, this convicted me, because it is sin, plain and simple! It's essentially shaking our fist at God and saying, "Your plans for me aren't good enough. Your ways aren't the best. In fact, I think I know a lot better than You do, Lord, the way the world should operate." Ultimately we're telling God, "You're not enough, and I don't think I can trust You."
Ugh. Not a pretty picture, is it? But unless we can diagnose our disease, we won't discover the medicine that will bring healing and hope into our hearts and lives.
Here's what Tripp says: "The joy or complaint of your heart always shapes your willingness to trust God and to do His will. Complaining forgets God's grace. It ignores His presence. It fails to see the beauty of His promises. It allows the display of His splendor in creation to go unnoticed. It questions His goodness, faithfulness, and love. It wonders if He is there and if He cares. If you believe God and His control over everything that exists, then you have to accept that all of your grumbling is ultimately grumbling against Him. Yes, it is so easy to complain. It is so easy to forget the daily blessings that fall down on each of us. Our readiness to complain is another argument for the forgiving and rescuing grace that Jesus, without complaint, willingly died to give us."
Is anybody else out there convicted? Maybe I'm the only one who needed some stern (but so beneficial!) reminding today, but it's high time we put away the complaining and start counting the blessings. Yes, this side of heaven, life is most certainly not perfect...but then neither are you or I. Life holds it share of hardships...but also it's tremendous bevy of blessings.
So what's our focus? What we lack...or all we possess? Where we fall short...or Who has raised us to new life? How we've been wronged...or how infinitely much we've been forgiven?
Are we numbering our complaints...or counting our blessings?
Are you reading these words with eyes that can see? Are you breathing? Do you have any loved ones in your life? Can you smell the fresh scents of spring? Can you hear the chatter of birds? Did you have food to eat today? Is there shelter over your head? Do you own a copy of the very words of Almighty God? Have you been saved by the Savior Who has an infinite supply of His perfect love, forgiveness, grace, wisdom, power, and peace always and ever available?
That's just a teeny tiny starter list of His relentless gifts in our lives! But the way I see it, if we'll start counting the blessings, we'll run out of time, energy, and desire to count the grumbles.
Maybe it's time to stop recounting the complaints and start recording the blessings! Starting...now. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace and Your goodness. Gives us eyes to see, lips to proclaim, and hearts that rejoice in You and Your blessings. Keep us counting the right things--gifts, not grumbles.
To God be the glory.
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Beauty sings of Him
"He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." (Ecc.3:11)
Something I recently heard on beauty (this is a rough paraphrase): Beauty is a gift from God to us, for the Lord uses beauty to stir our hearts and to help us see how good and great He is.
There are all kinds of beauty--from the quiet beauty of a sunset to the happy beauty of a loved one's laugh to the astounding beauty of a majestic mountain to the satisfying beauty of a meal shared with family to the peaceful beauty of a fireplace and open Bible.
When we see such beauty, what's our response? Indifference and pride...or gratitude and worship?
Do we slow down to savor that beauty and then immediately point to God--the Source and Creator of that beauty--and give Him praise?
At the moment, I'm thinking of the contented, grateful beauty of remembered moments. The beauty of thankfulness in God's goodness in even the simplest events of our lives. Just a few examples from this weekend: A wonderful dinner at Crooks with several of our children--
Thank You Lord for the beauty of those we cherish, the beauty of fellowship, the beauty of beloved places we enjoy together, and well, of course, the beauty of Mt.Airy Chocolate Soufflé cake!
Then there was the beauty of savoring one last high school prom for our senior...and the beauty of all those amazing friendships with the kids and with their families--
And just today, the beauty of watching a dear family friend, Roy, earn his Eagle Scout badge--and feeling not just proud of him but also thankful, so thankful, once again, for the gift of friendship.
Beauty sings of glory.
Yes! Every shred of beauty we glimpse in this world--whether relational beauty, creation beauty, inward heart beauty--all sings of some aspect of God's astounding, infinite, magnificent glory. And as we increasingly reflect Christ's character, we too, become more and more beautiful...inside and out. He is the Source and Creator of all beauty. He is the Beautiful One. Oh might we reflect His beauty to the world as the moon reflects the light of the sun.
One last reminder of beauty I found a few minutes ago in a book I was reading. One of Janie's dear friends in college made it for us--
Yep, that pretty much sums it up. If we want to be reflect God's beauty and bring Him glory, we must daily, moment by moment, "look to the Lord." As we look to Him, we become more like Him and increasingly radiate His astonishing, beautiful glory.
He is our radiance. He is our wisdom. He is our peace. He is our joy. He is our hope. He is our love. He is our forgiveness. He is our grace. He is our beauty. He is our glory. He is our all in all.
He is our Lord.
Thank You, Father, that You make all, all, all things beautiful in Your time...sometimes even the things or events or people that might not seem so beautiful to us at the time. In Your sovereign ways and in Your nail-scarred hands, even the ugly or confusing or difficult will one day ultimately become grace-stained beautiful.
Father, help us this day and everyday to see and savor the beauty You have created, and might we then immediately turn to give You all the thanks and glory.
Thank You for singing through Your beauty. Gives us eyes to see and ears to hear.
To God be the glory.
Something I recently heard on beauty (this is a rough paraphrase): Beauty is a gift from God to us, for the Lord uses beauty to stir our hearts and to help us see how good and great He is.
There are all kinds of beauty--from the quiet beauty of a sunset to the happy beauty of a loved one's laugh to the astounding beauty of a majestic mountain to the satisfying beauty of a meal shared with family to the peaceful beauty of a fireplace and open Bible.
When we see such beauty, what's our response? Indifference and pride...or gratitude and worship?
Do we slow down to savor that beauty and then immediately point to God--the Source and Creator of that beauty--and give Him praise?
At the moment, I'm thinking of the contented, grateful beauty of remembered moments. The beauty of thankfulness in God's goodness in even the simplest events of our lives. Just a few examples from this weekend: A wonderful dinner at Crooks with several of our children--
Then there was the beauty of savoring one last high school prom for our senior...and the beauty of all those amazing friendships with the kids and with their families--
Yes! Every shred of beauty we glimpse in this world--whether relational beauty, creation beauty, inward heart beauty--all sings of some aspect of God's astounding, infinite, magnificent glory. And as we increasingly reflect Christ's character, we too, become more and more beautiful...inside and out. He is the Source and Creator of all beauty. He is the Beautiful One. Oh might we reflect His beauty to the world as the moon reflects the light of the sun.
One last reminder of beauty I found a few minutes ago in a book I was reading. One of Janie's dear friends in college made it for us--
He is our radiance. He is our wisdom. He is our peace. He is our joy. He is our hope. He is our love. He is our forgiveness. He is our grace. He is our beauty. He is our glory. He is our all in all.
He is our Lord.
Thank You, Father, that You make all, all, all things beautiful in Your time...sometimes even the things or events or people that might not seem so beautiful to us at the time. In Your sovereign ways and in Your nail-scarred hands, even the ugly or confusing or difficult will one day ultimately become grace-stained beautiful.
Father, help us this day and everyday to see and savor the beauty You have created, and might we then immediately turn to give You all the thanks and glory.
Thank You for singing through Your beauty. Gives us eyes to see and ears to hear.
To God be the glory.
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