I heard something today that has renewed my mental view of prayer. It was very simple, and it seemed very obvious. Yet the more I thought about it, the more I realized that, although I believe in prayer, I have not been truly viewing and approaching prayer as though I do believe it.
It was simply this: Every time I pray, I have acted to altered the course of history because I have invited God to work in and alter circumstances. Without prayer, history goes in one direction. With it, it goes another.
This is the truth of prayer. It's time for me to see it as an opportunity for God, through me, to shape the course of history.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Peace
I am so thankful for this peace. I wouldn't be able to get through many days (including this one) without it. As we count down to Thanksgiving, this is definitely one of my blessings I am counting. It's the best feeling when His peace washes over me and takes away the tension, the worry, the anxiety. And He gently reminds me that He is big enough to take on all of my cares and my worries. And I don't have to take the responsibility for things only He can do. His peace brings such wholeness, and such release and perspective in my every-day life. I am so thankful.
John 14:27 - Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The Leaven of the Pharisees
Mark 3: 1-6 AGAIN JESUS went into a synagogue, and a man was there who had one withered hand [as the result of accident or disease]. And [the Pharisees] kept watching Jesus [closely] to see whether He would cure him on the Sabbath, so that they might get a charge to bring against Him [formally]. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, Get up [and stand here] in the midst. And He said to them, Is it lawful and right on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to take it? But they kept silence.
And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately held a consultation with the Herodians against Him, how they might [devise some means to] put Him to death.
It is very easy for me to read through this quickly and think, 'Those awful Pharisees! How could they be such horrible people?' But as I read this tonight, I realized that I am often very much like these men. They didn't object to His healing the man...only that He did it in a time that they deemed inappropriate. In essence, they had compartmentalized their lives, with acceptable time slots being made available for God to move and work. They had their plans for the way the Sabbath was to go - their own agendas, their own expectations for a given trip to the Synagogue. They were mad because Jesus operated outside of their own agenda/expectation structure. They had an idea of what was acceptable on the Sabbath, and their preconceptions were directly and openly challenged - we could even say they were violated.
How different are we really from that? I know I'm not that far off. There have been so many times where I knowingly close myself off from what I think God might be wanting or trying to do in or through me - not because I don't want Him to move...just that I don't want Him to do it right then. For whatever reason, really, but they all basically boil down to an inconvenience to me. I've definitely been guilty of compartmentalizing my life, and keeping God out when I might be delayed, or embarrassed, or personally convicted if I let Him in. I have been guilty of closing off certain times - sometimes it is Sunday morning, while I'm sitting in church - selfishly keeping that time to myself, in my own control, hoping it will run by my own agenda, my own timing, my own expectations. How different am I really from the Pharisees?
Luke 12:1 - ...Be on your guard against the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy [producing unrest and violent agitation].
Just a note: I looked up "leaven" in Websters for clarification, just to make sure I understood clearly what Jesus was saying. Leaven, generally speaking, is an agent that causes dough to rise, as yeast does. One definition, though, that Websters gives states this: 'to leaven is to spread throughout, causing a gradual change.'
Any kind of gradual change that Jesus warns against is a gradual change I do not want. Lord, please change this in me, and help me be always available to You. What good is my life if it is not always open and available to You to work in and through me as You wish?
And He glanced around at them with vexation and anger, grieved at the hardening of their hearts, and said to the man, Hold out your hand. He held it out, and his hand was [completely] restored. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately held a consultation with the Herodians against Him, how they might [devise some means to] put Him to death.
It is very easy for me to read through this quickly and think, 'Those awful Pharisees! How could they be such horrible people?' But as I read this tonight, I realized that I am often very much like these men. They didn't object to His healing the man...only that He did it in a time that they deemed inappropriate. In essence, they had compartmentalized their lives, with acceptable time slots being made available for God to move and work. They had their plans for the way the Sabbath was to go - their own agendas, their own expectations for a given trip to the Synagogue. They were mad because Jesus operated outside of their own agenda/expectation structure. They had an idea of what was acceptable on the Sabbath, and their preconceptions were directly and openly challenged - we could even say they were violated.
How different are we really from that? I know I'm not that far off. There have been so many times where I knowingly close myself off from what I think God might be wanting or trying to do in or through me - not because I don't want Him to move...just that I don't want Him to do it right then. For whatever reason, really, but they all basically boil down to an inconvenience to me. I've definitely been guilty of compartmentalizing my life, and keeping God out when I might be delayed, or embarrassed, or personally convicted if I let Him in. I have been guilty of closing off certain times - sometimes it is Sunday morning, while I'm sitting in church - selfishly keeping that time to myself, in my own control, hoping it will run by my own agenda, my own timing, my own expectations. How different am I really from the Pharisees?
Luke 12:1 - ...Be on your guard against the leaven (ferment) of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy [producing unrest and violent agitation].
Just a note: I looked up "leaven" in Websters for clarification, just to make sure I understood clearly what Jesus was saying. Leaven, generally speaking, is an agent that causes dough to rise, as yeast does. One definition, though, that Websters gives states this: 'to leaven is to spread throughout, causing a gradual change.'
Any kind of gradual change that Jesus warns against is a gradual change I do not want. Lord, please change this in me, and help me be always available to You. What good is my life if it is not always open and available to You to work in and through me as You wish?
Friday, November 7, 2008
These are a few of my favorite things
Mark 1:35 - And in the morning, long before daylight, He got up and went out to a deserted place, and there He prayed.
This is one of my favorite things about the way Jesus lived His life. Time and time again, we see that He gives of Himself completely to others, pouring out His love and power in their lives. Then He makes it a priority to take time to be alone with His Father.
This is one of my favorite things about the way Jesus lived His life. Time and time again, we see that He gives of Himself completely to others, pouring out His love and power in their lives. Then He makes it a priority to take time to be alone with His Father.
- to pray
- to know His heart
- to stay connected so that He is sure to be constantly doing the Father's will
- to be refilled, refreshed, restored after pouring Himself out to all those He touched and healed
If you read a few verses before this verse, and then consider the timing of His prayer time, it's obvious how necessary and what a priority prayer time was to Jesus. The Bible says (in Mark 1) that that day, He was up and around early, teaching in the synagogue and healing people. Then, at sunset, the whole town gathered, and they began to bring the sick and the afflicted to Him to be healed and cleansed. If they didn't start until after sundown, and if the whole town was gathered there, surely it was very late by the time they finished. And remember, He had already been up all day. Still, verse 35 tells us that 'long before sunrise' Jesus went off on His own to pray. I wonder, did He even sleep at all? If so, it couldn't have been for long. He must have been physically very tired, and still it was more important to Him to have time alone with His Father.
I am SO not there yet. This is a definite weakness of mine, and a continual struggle for me. I'm challenged at least 4 times a week to get up early before everyone is awake to read and pray. Yet, so often, 4 times a week, I choose to sleep a little longer and I give up that opportunity.
Mark 1:38 - And He said to them, Let us be going on into the neighboring country towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out.
This is another of my favorite characteristics of Jesus: He did not get wrapped up in doing what others expected or wanted of Him. He didn't allow others to pull Him off track from doing His Father's will. It is my prayer that God would continue to work in me until I am at a place where I value His approval and His will far above the approval or expectations of any person.
Mark 1:31 - And He went up to her and took her by the hand and raised her up; and the fever left her, and she began to wait on them.
Mark 1:40-41 - And a leper came to Him, begging Him on his knees and saying to Him, If You are willing, You are able to make me clean. And being moved with pity and sympathy, Jesus reached out His hand and touched him, and said to him, I am willing; be made clean!
At first I skipped over this, but as I continued reading, I realize that this verse gives an example of yet another endearing quality of Jesus, which is very simply that He is engaging and personal. He went up to her, touched her, took her by the hand, and healed her. Other examples in Scripture show us clearly that Jesus has the capacity to heal without even being present - clearly no physical contact is required for Him to bring about healing in a person's life. I realized as I was reading this, and also as I was reading the story of the leper who was healed, that the element of physical touch was probably for no other purpose than to engage and make intimate contact with the person on the receiving end. Imagine what that touch from Jesus must have meant to the leper - a man who, by the nature of his disease, had surely not been touched by another human being for what must have seemed like a lifetime. Jesus touching him was a profound demonstration of His extreme love, and His desire for intimacy with those whom He came to save. I love that about Him. I love that He is willing to go out of His way, to do what is unnecessary, simply to make someone else feel really recognize how much they are loved and how important they are to Him. He's awesome.
A Heart of No Compromise
There's a song by Brian & Jen Johnson called Where You Go I Go that plays on my ipod quite often. In this song, she sings, 'Give me a heart of no compromise. Help me to be more like You.' I can't tell you how many times I've prayed a prayer like that. I recognize that compromise in my own life has been the element that has undone a lot of good that could have been otherwise.
Today I was reading in Mark 1:14-20, as part of a Bible study I'm taking part in right now. In verse 18, it says this about the men Jesus had called to follow Him: 'And at once they left their nets (yielding up all claim to them) and followed Him.' Verse 20 also says this: '...abandoning all mutual claims, they left their father Zebedee...and went off after Him (Jesus).'
I thought I'd share these thoughts:
These men were a few of the 12 men who would eventually work to establish the church, spread the Gospel, and change the course of history in a major way to include Christianity. Look at their heart conditions, even at the moment Jesus first called them. They dropped everything - leaving behind work and family - and gave up all claims to their former ways of life. They unreservedly joined Him, following wherever He went.
I often wonder at the fact that 12 men could begin what a billion Christians today cannot seem to finish, and I wonder why. This seems to shed some light on that very issue. I think the Church, generally speaking, has lost this heart of no compromise. When we hear God calling us, or asking something of us, we are willing to respond, but only to a certain degree. We go far enough to be doing something, but not so far that we let go of all claims to what we already have. We are a people holding on to our current lives, not really willing to lay them down, as Jesus says we must. We genuinely love God, we believe in God, but we are trying to serve Him on our own terms.
Think of how vastly different things would have been if the disciples had responded then as we do now:
Today I was reading in Mark 1:14-20, as part of a Bible study I'm taking part in right now. In verse 18, it says this about the men Jesus had called to follow Him: 'And at once they left their nets (yielding up all claim to them) and followed Him.' Verse 20 also says this: '...abandoning all mutual claims, they left their father Zebedee...and went off after Him (Jesus).'
I thought I'd share these thoughts:
These men were a few of the 12 men who would eventually work to establish the church, spread the Gospel, and change the course of history in a major way to include Christianity. Look at their heart conditions, even at the moment Jesus first called them. They dropped everything - leaving behind work and family - and gave up all claims to their former ways of life. They unreservedly joined Him, following wherever He went.
I often wonder at the fact that 12 men could begin what a billion Christians today cannot seem to finish, and I wonder why. This seems to shed some light on that very issue. I think the Church, generally speaking, has lost this heart of no compromise. When we hear God calling us, or asking something of us, we are willing to respond, but only to a certain degree. We go far enough to be doing something, but not so far that we let go of all claims to what we already have. We are a people holding on to our current lives, not really willing to lay them down, as Jesus says we must. We genuinely love God, we believe in God, but we are trying to serve Him on our own terms.
Think of how vastly different things would have been if the disciples had responded then as we do now:
- 'I'll go with you, but I have to come back tomorrow to fish.'
- or, 'I'd love to follow You and go with You, but let's not go far. I want to be near my dad.'
They would have been part-time disciples, coming in and out of service to Jesus, always coming back to the life they had before. They would have missed out on the experiences of traveling with Him, hearing Him teach, seeing Him perform miracles, and having Him pour into their own lives. They would have missed out on the friendship and intimacy that comes only from being with someone committedly and continuously. They would have missed out on the opportunity to change the world!
Think of all we give up by compromising - doing some version of what He asks of us, but still holding on to our own ideas and ways of living. What are we missing out on? If we only would live with a heart of no compromise, what would He be willing and able to do through us for His kingdom? It's an awesome thought.
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