Category — faith

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You” – Isaiah 26:3

Today’s verse for our church and the topic for the Word Filled Wednesday (anxiety) meshed together so well that I couldn’t NOT take part.

As we are focusing on worry this week, we are going through a series of verses.  One of them is 1 Peter 5:7, which says “⁷casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you”

But that is merely the end of a sentence.  When it is just part of a sentence, there is always more to the story.

This verse is the second half of the sentence began in verse 6 ” ⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time…”

So what is this saying to us?

Well, the passage surrounding these verses speaks out to leadership mostly, but there is always something there for everyone if we just look deep enough.  Chapter 5 starts out with an exhortation to the elders of the church to shepherd the flock that has been placed within their care.  To lead them voluntarily according to the will of God.  To love them and care for them rather than to do it for personal gain or to make yourself appear as better than them.

It calls the younger men to be subject to their elders, and for all to have humility towards one another.  To be sober and on the lookout for our adversary who is seeking to destroy us.  To stand strong and resist the enemy – even in the midst of persecution.

That’s where this passage really shines out to us.  That’s where the rubber hits the road, as it were.

If we will humble ourselves before God, seeking His face and calling out to Him, He will be faithful!  Verse 10 promises us that God will perfect us, confirm, strengthen and establish us, for we have been called to His eternal glory in Christ.

Humility, however, isn’t exactly my strong suit.  And I suspect it isn’t yours either.

Humility doesn’t come easily to humanity.  We don’t like to step aside and let someone else get the praise.  We don’t like to take the blame and let someone else walk away clean and unscathed.  We don’t like to look bad.  We don’t like to be an unsung hero hiding out in the shadows.  And we like to receive the praise and accolades for doing well!

But God calls us to practice humility.  To put others before ourselves.  To bear one another’s burdens.  To seek restoration when we have been wronged instead of holding a grudge.  To value those around us – even when it’s hard.  To do the right thing even when no one else will see.  To point the focus away from ourselves and towards Him.

Ouch.

I have to admit – I’m not the most humble person.  I have my moments when I really want that attention.  Moments when I want people to know that I did the right thing, that I was wronged and they need to feel sorry for me.  Moments when I want people to think that I have special knowledge or insight that they need to hear and recognize.   That I did something good, or that I excel at something and deserve praise for it.  Times when I am full of pride.

And on the flip side, there are times that I don’t want people to notice me.  I don’t want to receive a compliment for doing something well because I don’t think I’m good enough to deserve it.

Wait a minute… did I just say that we can be too humble?

Not in so many words.  It’s actually that we can be too prideful – or, rather, un-prideful.  There is the side of pride that most people recognize, the side that says “Hey!  Look at me!  Aren’t I great!  I deserve to stand on that pedestal or in that spotlight!” but there is also the side of pride that says “Why would you look at me?  I’m not worth anything.  I’m useless.  I can’t do anything right.  I have no value.  I’m nothing.”  That, my friends, is also throwing pride in God’s face.  That is saying that His creation doesn’t have any value.  That He screwed up.

And that is NOT humility.  Most definitely not!

For me, there are times that I’d rather no one said anything about my “performance” or talent.  I don’t do what I do to get kudos or recognition, and the day that I start seeking after that pedestal is the day I need to quit!  However… I have come to understand that there are people that need to share that they were blessed by something that I was a part of creating, and I need to learn to receive it and redirect it rather than blow it off.

God has given me a gift and called me to use it.  Why then, should I “poo-poo” it when someone comments on it?  The more correct response is to accept that compliment, and redirect it back to God.  After all, that’s where it belongs anyway.  To push it away or to feel weird about getting it is just as bad as gobbling it up.  Both are pride, and neither are humility.  The correct response is to receive it with grace and humility and to redirect it to God.

And it is a very difficult thing for me to do.

How about you?  Is there an area that God has gifted you?  Is it hard for you to receive a compliment in that area with grace and humility?  How do you deal with it?

This week our church is studying passages on worry – and how we need to put our trust in God.

It’s some heavy stuff.

We live in a stressful world.  There really isn’t a way to escape stress completely, and it seems that more and more stress seems to find us in greater amounts.  How can we deal with this stress in a way that doesn’t kill us?

Our key verse this week is found in Philippians 4, and it is one of those verses that we have clung to in the past.

“⁶do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Do not be anxious about anything.

That’s how these two verses start out, and that in itself is a wizz-banger isn’t it!  How can we not be anxious in this world?  How can we not find ourselves stressed out and frazzled with anxiety when we don’t know where the next house payment will come from and the car needs to have $4,000 worth of work done so it will run and we need to find a job in an economy where no one is hiring and our loved ones are dying from horrible diseases like cancer and cystic fibrosis and our spouse works crazy long hours to provide for the family, but that means we never get to spend time with them, and our kids are growing faster than we realize and they are entering into a world where drugs and sex will surround them on a daily basis and we can only hope that we have trained them up in the way they should go, and… and… and…

That is the reality for so many of us.  Bills, work, putting food on the table, providing for our families, avoiding serious illness.  We all have these lists of worries and fears and areas that are causing stress in our lives.

How can God expect us to “be anxious for nothing” when that is the world we live in?

Pray about everything

Yes, that’s a loose translation, but it boils it down.  “but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” We need to bring our worries and stresses to God with thanksgiving! Yep, we need to be thankful in the midst of everything.

We need to be thankful that we have a house to live in.  We need to be thankful that the car is stuck in park and we cannot go out and spend money that we don’t have to spend anyway.  We need to be thankful that God has blessed us with these beautiful kids that we can pour His love into on a daily basis and send them out into the world so they can share it with those they come into contact with.  We need to be thankful for the job that is providing the paycheck that is paying the bills, and thankful for the time that we have to pour our lives into those around us while we aren’t working in a 9-5 job.  We need to be thankful for the precious moments that we can set aside to spend time with our spouse – and for friends that help make those moments multiply.

The key here is having an attitude of gratitude.  The key here is where your focus lies.

And while we are being thankful for the opportunity to learn from the experiences, we need to talk to God about them.  We need to pray and lift up these requests to God, to tell Him about what is causing us stress and bringing on fear and anxiety.  But we don’t pray for God’s benefit – He already knows.  We need to pray to remind ourselves that He is in control of our lives.  To remind ourselves that we can’t do it on our own.

We need God.  He is bigger than anything that life throws our way.

Take a look at that long list up there again.  That is my list right now.  I could very easily become so fearful and burdened by anxiety that I wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the mornings.  So overwhelmed by life that I can’t live it.  And that is just a partial list.

But I’m not.

I have chosen to not let those areas be the main focus of my life, because I know where that path leads.  Focusing on all of the areas of worry and causes of stress will only bring depression and fear into my life, and I want no part of those!

Instead I am choosing to focus on the good things that God has brought into my life.  I am choosing to be thankful for the blessings that He has poured out upon me.  Blessings of good friends and a loving church body that lifts and supports our family when we need it.  Blessings of a husband that willingly works at a job that brings with it a huge amount of stress and a high level of demand so he can provide for his family.  The blessing of a God that is bigger than anything that satan chooses to throw my way.

I am choosing to be thankful that God is my strong tower, the fortress that I can run into when I am under attack.

And the most beautiful part is what is promised in verse 7.  “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

God will take those worries and anxieties and stresses and replace them with His peace.  His peace will be the shield that surrounds your heart and mind and life.  And when we trade our worries for His peace, our lives are better.  We don’t get sick as often.  We don’t suffer from anxiety.  High blood pressure isn’t as much of a problem.  We are more healthy.

Yep, I admit it.  I’ve apparently gone awol.  Missing In Action.

Yeah – sorry about that.

It’s been a kinda busy month or so around these parts… ya know with taking 3- classes, having sick kids, Easter, family in town – twice, and me being stupid & throwing my back out (tends to make sitting nearly impossible!)

BUT – I think I’m back!  Yay!

Of course, along with the list above, there has been the spiritual aspect as well.  Personally I’ve been arguing with God (yes, again) and – as usual – He’s winning.  Don’t you just hate that?  He ALWAYS wins!  (thank goodness!)

I’ve finally determined that my personal lesson for 2010 (at least the first half) is just how much of a wimp I really am… and I mean in just about every way.  I can’t do this thing called life on my own, or in my own strength.  DUH!  I have to do this thing called life in HIS strength.

Living life in His strength just isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do because that requires you to turn over control.  Something that within our humanity we tend to find just a little bit difficult.  Sure, we say that we will lay our troubles at His feet, that He is in control… but as soon as we start to feel like we aren’t in control we try to take it all back again.

You see, it’s the leaving it there that’s the hard part.  Sure, we will turn it over to God when it starts to get hard.  When we start to feel overwhelmed.  But as soon as those feelings pass we start to justify why we really should take control again.  After all, we aren’t feeling overwhelmed anymore, so we can handle it… right?

WRONG!

Our lives are so far beyond our control, so far beyond what we can handle in our humanity that it’s nearly insane to even try.  We have a threat of losing our job – quick!  Send up a prayer.  We get bad news from the Dr. and quick!  Send up another prayer.  We have tried to put God in a little brass lamp that we can rub whenever we think we need something.  God is not a genie in a bottle.  God is not our personal “get me out of this jam quick” savior.  He is the God of the universe!

And once we get a glimpse of how great He really is, well, it should change us.

Jesus calls us to live out a life in submission to Him.  He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him – not to say a few words and expect Him to follow us around like a pet dog!  That’s the wrong kind of unconditional love.  In that scenario, well, we would be the dog.  We should be the one looking at our Master with adoring eyes and willing to do whatever He asks us to do – NOT the other way around!

Yes, Jesus Christ is our Savior.  But He is not going to save us from the trials of life.  He is going to save us from our sin.  The bible never promised that choosing to follow Jesus would be easy – in fact, it promises exactly the opposite!  To take up our cross and follow Jesus is to choose a life of persecution.  Is to choose a life of discomfort, of possible loneliness.  To choose to give up everything and follow His leading, no matter the cost.

I recently began reading the book “Radical – Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream” by David Platt, and I must say that he brings out some pretty hard truths in just the first chapter!  so far the line that got me the most was this:

And the danger now is that when we gather in our church buildings to sing and lift up our hands in worship, we may not actually be worshiping the Jesus of the Bible. Instead we may be worshiping ourselves.

As Platt brings out in his book, we have begun to change who Jesus is to us.  We don’t want to believe that He would actually call us to walk away from our job or sell something that we like to help someone else – or even to choose not to buy something we want and give that money to missions.  We don’t want to think that he might actually ask us to leave our family of birth and risk our lives to tell people about Him!  No, that’s not what Jesus would ask us to do!

Um… folks, re-read the gospels and you will see… that is exactly what He asked His disciples to do.  To walk away from their livelihoods, their families and everything they knew, and follow Him wherever He would lead to – even unto death.

Wow…

And to think, I struggle with setting aside time each day to work on the bible study that I’m leading!  Here I am, an American Christian living in a 1500 sq. ft. house with 2 cars in the driveway and junk that I really need to figure out how to get rid of.  HEre I am with plenty of food in the fridge and pantry that my family can have something to eat whenever they feel a twinge of hunger.  I have fresh, clean water piped into my warm, dry house – so much that I don’t think twice about using it to take a longer-than-normal shower occasionally, and re-wash that load of clothes that got left in the washer a bit too long.

We are so full of ourselves!

We are so comfortable!  Proclaiming that we believe in Jesus Christ doesn’t bring any stronger persecution to us than perhaps some laughter around the water cooler.  We have good jobs, and so far no one can fire us for professing to be a Christian.  Our country is slowly losing it’s Judeo-Christian morals and values, but we are too afraid to rock the boat to say anything about it.

People in Asia are being killed because they profess faith in Jesus Christ.

They are being thrown in jail.  They are being tortured.

and they are glad to suffer for the sake of Christ.

I’m preaching to me here… I can’t think of any time that I truly suffered because of my belief in Jesus Christ.  Being teased at school doesn’t quite make that cut – especially when you grew up in a fairly “Christian” part of the country.  I do find myself wondering if I would have the strength to suffer for His sake.

I know that on my own, I would fail.  On my own, I couldn’t do it.

But I’m slowly learning that I’m not called to do anything on my own.

I am called to live out the life that He places before me… and to live it by and in His strength.

After all, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

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And for those interested in “Radical” – you can download and read the first chapter here.  And while supplies last you can get a free copy of the companion book “The Radical Question” by going to WaterBrookMultnomah.com/RadicalQuestion

And no, I haven’t received a free copy of the book – I followed the same steps I just told you about and downloaded the first chapter… I’m still processing what I’ve already read, and I’m only halfway through chapter one.  I am very much looking forward to reading the rest of the book… and a little frightened!  I know that God is calling me to go deeper with Him… but being the comfortable American that I am, that is a scary thing.

But is it worth it?

Absolutely.

Yep, this post is going up before our services this weekend.  Seems a little backwards, doesn’t it!

I wish I could take credit for the idea, but I can’t.  I came across this post over at Kretzu.com/blog today, and it just makes sense, so I’m going to try it.

We will have two services this weekend – one on Friday night at 7, and our regular Sunday morning service at 10.  Both will be held at the Old Arlington High School (or Highland Christian School, for those that prefer that) in the auditorium.

Here are the songs that we will be singing for Good Friday…

• Jesus Messiah (Chris Tomlin)
• The Wonderful Cross (Chris Tomlin)
• Blessed Redeemer (Casting Crowns)
• Lead Me to the Cross  (Brooke Fraser/Hillsong United)
• Nothing But The Blood  (Matt Redman)
• Jesus’ Blood  (Martin Smith/Delirious?)
• The Love of God  (Mercy Me)
• You Gave Your Life Away  (Kathryn Scott/Paul Baloche)

And these are the songs for Resurrection Sunday morning…

• Today Is The Day (Lincoln Brewster/Paul Baloche)
• All Because Of Jesus (Steve Fee)
• Glorious (Paul Baloche/Brenton Brown)
• Revelation Song (Kari Jobe – written by Jennie Lee Riddle)
• Glorious Day (Casting Crowns)
• Happy Day (Tim Hughes-sung by Steve Fee/Kim Walker)
• Marvelous Light (Charlie Hall – as sung by Christy Nockles)

These can all be found on iTunes, YouTube.com and other places.  I’m sure you can even find them on a Pandora station.  If you have them, I encourage you to listen to them before our services this weekend!

What is the reason behind posting this early?  It’s simple… worship is not something that just happens on a Sunday morning for 20 minutes or so.  Worship is what we do each day with our lives.  Worship is giving our lives over to God each minute.  Music is just a small part of that, but it is a part that can be very powerful.

If you have the time to listen through these songs – even just a few of them – you will be preparing your heart and mind for more fully bringing your worship before God when we gather together this weekend!  Personal worship is a vital part of our Christian walk, but corporate worship is also very important.  We need to gather together with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we need to pray together, to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with one another.  We need to worship God together.

By listening to the songs in advance, you will also be more familiar with them – some of them are still newer songs to our body.  Some of them are also planned as special music, but I would love for the words to really sink into your hearts and minds – they are very powerful.  I pray that you will allow the truths that are being sung to wash over you, to seep in, and to be real in your hearts and lives.

I am really looking forward to worshiping with you this weekend.  We had such a fun rehearsal last night, and it is my hope that some of that joy that we felt will be passed along to each person that joins us this weekend.

Worshiping God through music is fun!  It brings us joy and allows us to relax into God’s presence more easily.  It is my prayer that our times of corporate worship do that for you as well.

Happy Easter!

I’m taking a class right now, and one of the required texts for reading is “Ancient-Future Time” by Robert E. Webber.

As I was reading today, I came across a sentence that caused me to stop and ponder it for a while – and I wanted to share those thoughts.

Mr. Webber made the following statement:

When we turn away from something, we turn towards something new.

Of course he was applying it to our turning towards God through Jesus and turning away from sin, however this concept (unfortunately) works in the other direction as well.

When we turn away from God, we are turning towards sin.  Or, if you prefer, when we turn towards sin, we are quite seriously turning away from God.

In our lives when we choose to turn away from some part of our lives, there will be something there that is different – and not always better for us.  Alternatevely, when we turn towards something new, we are making a choice to turn away from something that is presently a part of our lives.

The ideal is, of course, to turn towards God and away from sin, to turn towards truth and away from a lie.  The unfortunate thing is that we can also choose to turn towards sin – effectively turning away from God.

So what do we do when this has happened in our lives?  The correct choice is to make a course correction when we realize that it has happened.  We must then repent and turn back to God – and away from the path that sin is leading us down.  A path that leads to destruction and death.

How do we know that we have turned away from God?

The bible says that the Holy Spirit will whisper to us when we turn to the right or to the left to help us stay on the correct path, however we can condition our spirit to ignore His promptings – and the more we ignore them, well, the less we hear them in the first place.

THIS IS DANGEROUS!

Once we have conditioned ourselves to ignore Him, just think of how much harder it is once we desire to hear His voice again!  We must take the time and put in the effort to re-cultivate our spiritual ears to listen to Him, and while we are cleaning out our ears we must make the concious choice to die to the flesh in regards to the temptations of that path of sin!

Fortunately we serve a God who is a God of Love… a God that offers grace and forgiveness to us no matter how far we have strayed from Him.  We don’t deserve His love, grace and forgiveness, and there is no way we could ever work our way back to Him on our own.  BUT… He so desires us that He created a way for us to “get back into His good graces” as it were.

We must cry out to Him in repentance and ask for His forgiveness.  Until we are broken by our sin and cry out to Him we will continue down that same side road over and over again.

The choice of turning away from the sin and towards God MUST be a willful decision.  We can’t just float along through life and try not to ripple the waters around us.  It’s either walk-by-faith… or sink.

If we don’t place our faith in Jesus we will sink.  If we turn away from Jesus and look to the world, we will sink.  If, however, we will keep our hearts focused on Jesus, we will be able to walk on the water towards Him.  He has promised to give us whatever we need to get through the storms that we find ourselves in – but He never promised to take us out of the storms.

There’s a great new song out by Carlos Whittaker called “Rain It Down” that describes what we should be doing.  Here are the lyrics:

There’s a storm coming in the distance
Some will run to it and some will resist it
Our eyes will turn to the sky
With desert hearts looking to the heavens
Desperate for Your holy fountain
Our eyes will turn to the sky

Rain down on us Father
Rain down on us Spirit
Rain down on us Jesus
Rain down on us

There’s nothing like Your healing water
Pour it out on Your sons and daughters
Our eyes are lifted high
We are here and we are waiting
Flood our hearts ’til they’re overflowing
Our hands are lifted high

Come Lord we’re thirsty now
Come Lord and rain it down
Come Lord we’re thirsty now
Come Lord and rain it down

When we find ourselves in the midst of a storm we need to embrace it.  We need to cry out for God to rain down His healing waters upon our dry & thirsty souls – not cry out for it to be over.

We need to turn towards God.

Lent…

Growing up (in the church, I might add) I had never heard of this season.  Not once.  I remember the first time I ever heard of it – and of someone giving something up for it.  I was a sophmore in college – yeah, like I said, I had never heard of it.

So what is the big deal about this thing called Lent?

Well, recent study has shown me that there actually is a big deal about it… and it all comes down to the heart.

The season of Lent is a season of preparation – preparing your heart and mind for Easter.  The 40 day period was chosen (in part) due to the 40 day period that Jesus spent in the desert before beginning His earthly ministry.  There are also other periods of preperation lasting 40 days in the Bible – it rained for 40 days & 40 nights and created a flood to cleanse the world, Moses stayed on the mountain of God 40 days, the spies were sent into the promised land for 40 days, and Elijah travelled 40 days to reach the cave where he had his vision, just to name a few.

So how do we use this time?  We pray – or we should.  It is a time to truly look at our lives and see if there is anything holding us back from the best that God has for us.  The things that people “give up for Lent” are (usually) not bad things – they are good things, however they may find that these things hold them back from the better and best that God wants for them.  De-cluttering our lives and minds from these things and devoting extra time to prayer helps us to see this.

So why fasting?

Well, fasting is very biblical.  Jesus said “When you fast…” not “if”.  God calls us to fast on occasion to draw our focus to Him.  Again, removing something from our lives can help us have a greater appreciation for it when it returns.  Ash Wednesday is traditionally a day of fasting, as are the 6 Fridays in Lent.  Sundays, however, are excluded from Lent, as they are a day of celebration for what God has done, namely conquering the grave and bringing us salvation.

This season helps re-align our focus – feeling the pangs of hunger and not allowing yourself to partake of something you enjoy for a short season helps us to focus in on our need – our need for God’s grace and the salvation that Jesus brought through the cross.

Taking the time that you would usually spend eating or watching tv or whatever your “thing” is that you give up for a season is beneficial in that you will draw closer to God – and that is never a bad thing!

I have never taken part in Lent before, however this year I will be.  I will have days that I fast, days that I spend that extra time in prayer, and I will be giving up something that is fun – but not a necessity to life.  And I will be spending that 20-30 minutes a day (or longer) that I used to spend on that and giving it to God.  After all, I’m sure He has a better use for it that I was putting it to!

I’m looking forward to this time – to the opportunity to walk through a period of suffering with Jesus, to draw closer to Him, and to more deeply appreciate the celebration of Easter.

How about you?  Is Lent a part of your life?  If not, is it something you have ever considered?

I recently received a book in the mail to read.  It’s called Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity.

Wow.

If you are looking for something that will help pull you out of that spiritual funk that you have found yourself in, check it out.  While Primal may not be the answer, it will point you back to the answer.

What does that mean?  It means that Mark Batterson has written a book about getting back into that relationship with God that we need to have.  He has included ideas and personal anecdotes that will help spur you onto good things and remind you of many of the ways you can build – or re-build – your relationship with Jesus Christ.  He focuses on compassion, wonder, curiosity, and power in our relationship with God, and reminds us of why these are important.

It’s that time of year when we have been going, going, going with a slow-down that hits right after Christmas and a time for looking at our lives and re-evaluating things.  Is there a better time for a refresher course on getting in touch with our Creator?

If you are floundering out there somewhere feeling like you need to draw closer to God, I recommend picking up Primal – it will show you a way back into that relationship.  It will remind you why we need a Savior and how to take part in that Great Commandment that Jesus gave us – to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind & strength, and to love others.  After all, is there a better way to share God with others than through relationships?  Our lives should proclaim Him, but if we aren’t strengthening our relationship with Him, our lives won’t be talking very loudly.

So, where can you pick up your copy of Primal?

It is available at booksellers nationwide on Dec 22, 2009, just in time to be the first book you read in 2010 – or perhaps that quieter week after Christmas.

Personally, I like to get books through Amazon.com.  Other places that I often shop for books are CBD,  Borders.com and BarnesandNoble.com

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Oh, and the legal stuff – I received this book for free to read and review.