Off the Shelf

We will be wise to check often to see if we’ve relegated God to a side shelf of our life, a position of being close, but now dusty, forgetting that He is still alive and desiring to breathe into the moments of our day. 

We may have rewritten Him to satisfy our inclinations instead of being on our knees regularly, face to the ground, and remembering this holy God who bled for us to have freedom and joy.  The perspective is better if we visit the ground frequently. 

We may have gotten busy and are consumed with current pressures, tugged this way and that, awash with worries and fears.  If there has been a marathon going on in your head that has pounded you to the pavement with the beat of the drum of concerns, pause until you hear His song again.  There is freedom to be found as you listen for the music and begin to hear the lyrics He is singing over you.  He will tell you who He is and speak His love and healing for you.  His song never stops. 

We forget so quickly that He is here…with US.  Remind us today, sweet and strong Emmanuel, who came to intersect our broken lives and bring us to the water, to the green pastures, to the work of believing in every step and thought of our day.

Let this day count as one where we are awake. 

A Colorful Pause

 I wanted to share that a couple of doors to creative ventures have opened a bit and I need to explore what is on the other side.  Part of the journey inevitably includes trying to figure out how to bring them in while keeping balance with the other things that can’t be off the radar. 

Writing is something I know I am to be about, and is a piece of one of these doors, but it seems that to keep the listening time and discover what it will look like and how to add these new possibilities may will, for a season, shift slightly the time I have given to my almost-daily posting. 

I would be grateful for your prayers as I take the steps ahead.  It will be some work, for certain, but also feels like there is freedom and play in the mix.  Updates will come as I have them!   

The Only One That Can Do My Part

I awake.  The birds are singing and soaring.  The sun is shining.  The trees and grass are draping green lavishly on this summer morning.  Soybeans grow persistently in a dew-kissed field.  Wood sits in freshly split stacks.  The barn across the way stands as a sentinel over this land, as it has for as long as I have been here. 

As day broke, everything was poised to do what it was made for.  And now I am awake to enter it.  What am I here for in today?  Will I do my part well?  

Where Will I Go?

Notes in my journal from Sunday’s message by Ken Morgan:  “When does God ever ask us to do anything logical?  There is a fine line between faith and stupidity and that line is Jesus.” 

We won’t live a life of daring faith if we talk ourselves out of responding to the unexpected (and usually uncomfortable) requests to step forward.  We can always find a reason to say no.  He’s looking for the one who will dare to say yes. 

The term “crosswalk” may need to take on a new meaning.  Instead of it being the marked safe place to get around without injury, it might be better thought of as the place where miracles will happen if we will walk with the same abandonment and unbounded obedience that He was willing to walk, the places that change lives when we will do the costly thing.  We pay a small price to find the treasure He has waiting.

The only way I can live a life of faith is to start taking the first steps of following Him.  My spirit, if it desires to be willing, will begin to recognize the nudges.  Coax yourself to respond.  We can do it.  Sure, it’s a battle, but free will is the ability within us to say yes. 

Transforming the Words of Our Story

We all desire a seamless life (in whatever way we imagine that to be) where interferences are absent and what we hope for could be reached on an unobstructed path.  None of us get that.  There are ample challenges and deeply embedded thorns we must deal with. 

Maybe we need to be less afraid of the troubles and see that the folds can sometimes bring a complexity and form that can give us strength and beauty as we move in the face of them. 

It’s not that any wrong becomes good, I am not one who believes that God plans evil as some kind of teaching tool, but that we can be transformed for the better in spite of it because of something bigger that is true and active.  God does work on our behalf, and our story with all its imperfections is much more amazing because it isn’t a flat easy thing.  

How can you soar, my dear, without the dimension and strength of wings?   He could have just left you flat and done everything for you, but because you are invited to be part of the process and beauty and work, He has the capacity to use any difficulty that you have suffered to become part of your strength.  As you see that power working in your life, your trust grows in His care and His presence.  You know you are not alone, and you are assured that evil will not have the last word.

 

It's a Mess

One of the reasons that the church needs art (not just the finished product) is that it is a messy process.  It isn’t straight line A to B….more like A to Z with lots of twists and turns and unexpected changes and mistakes.  The church often tends to gravitate toward packaged answers, though the gospel and the scripture and Jesus never worried about mess, never avoided broken situations or people whose lives were in ruins.  If there is breath, there is hope.

We must start believing in a God who can truly take a mess and make it into a masterpiece.  It takes time for Him to do the work, as He is reshaping us in the process, but it is what the work of restoration is about.   The world sees garbage and can do nothing but throw it away.  The God of goodness sees a mess and starts envisioning what He can do to create something beautiful and strong.  And He has more possibilities in His treasure house than we could ever imagine.  

The Rest of the Story

A couple of nights ago I had the opportunity to share with a small gathering of ladies who are participating in a few week creative class that a couple of friends and I put together.  As I was sharing, I knew something was missing from what I had prepped and later realized that one small section of my notes had been overlooked.  I am putting it in writing (with some more of the details since I have time) so I can give it to them at our next class, but also thought it was worth sharing it as one of my daily writings, so here it is…

By the time I was nine or ten, I was fascinated with the beauty around me.  Star-filled skies, butterflies, the strong maple tree in my backyard, the variety of creation with its giraffes, roses, lightning bugs, strawberries, peaches, and watermelons.  Then there is chocolate, and children’s laughter. 

I had heard about God since I was small, and had attended church and Vacation Bible School and made little popsicle stick figures of Bible personalities with small scraps of fabric and crayons and cotton balls.  But if what I was learning about Him was true, if there was the possibility that that same God had made the galaxies and variety of animals and fruits and people around me, and if there was a chance that He was interested in me and would care for me and guide me and work in my life, then there was no way I wanted to miss the chance to see what He might do with my small life and my timid personality.  How good could it get?

And so I started to try it out.  Now granted, there are a lot of bad things that happen in the world, and some difficult things that have happened in my life, and some disappointing things that have happened in the church.  I still had a lot to learn about His decision to give humans free will and about the battle that has raged with an enemy who wants to take us out from knowing God’s immense love.  We’ve been told so many lies along the way.  But I also didn’t want a God that I had to just get cleaned up for and who only worked if I could live without mistakes.  I wanted to see if there was a grace-flowing one who desired to pour out His goodness and strength to help me through the reality of my life. 

I am not interested in playing church.  I am not interested in just knowing about God.  I want to know Him and be able to see His presence and power in every day of my life.  I am not interested in just having a good belief system if it doesn’t unfold its power to impact me in daily life, and to enable me to live in some kind of victory and with a foundation of truth and joy.  If Jesus’s only aim is to get me to sit in church then go about the rest of the week doing the best that I can, then I’m not really interested.  

I wanted to see if there was a God who would truly do something with my life, whatever challenges and obstacles it held, who would help through some significant needs, who would guide as I tried to know Him and follow in doing what He said and did and lead me to.  Would He come through?  Would He teach me?  I wasn’t going to pass up the chance to see, but I realized that it wouldn’t be revealed if I wasn’t ready to dive in and dig deep.  (Although I also found that He never expects us to do anything other than start from where we are and just walk one step at a time.)

Here is some of what I’ve discovered…

I am deeply loved.

He enjoys my company.

He never expects me to be God, but to believe that He is and to just do the part He is asking of me.

His provision is sure, though it is about relationship and “winning the lottery” isn’t how He will normally provide.  He wants me to trust Him day by day for what I need. 

The creation pulses with His activity and He can teach me to see a whole lot of what I had formerly missed.

He weaves things and events and people together in the most remarkable ways.  Even this morning, I came across a little library discard book that has been in my possession for almost 30 years.  It came at exactly the time that it will be useful for a project I am in the midst of.  That kind of thing happens to me all the time.

I can’t really find all this treasure without participating in the adventure.  He doesn’t want me to be a stowaway hiding at the bottom of the ship of life just to eventually get somewhere later when the boat lands and I can scramble up there.  He wants me to know what He has going on at every part of it along the way, to help hoist a sail to get somewhere and to watch as His Spirit fills the sail.

I can’t find He is trustworthy unless I try it out and take a chance.

I can’t find His provision if I don’t ask Him and start trying what He says and then seeing what He will do with my small offerings.

I can’t know His power if I try to keep making it all work without Him.

The shock of my life, and one of a handful of most defining moments for me was years into my experiment of belief, at a Women’s Conference, when there was a call to respond to the Lord.  I told God that I wanted to be able to respond to Him more, but didn’t know how to do more than I was, “If there is somewhere you want me to go, I don’t know how to get there; will You show me?”  And His amazing response was this:  “Come play with Me.” 

I had no idea that God so wanted to just enjoy my company.  The look of His delight I glimpsed in that image that day ruined me forever for anything less than letting Him have all the room He wants.  It’s been a process, for trust has to be built and truth needs to be learned.  But He has been faithful in more things than I could ever recount, provided in the most unexpected ways, gotten me through waters that seemed impossible to navigate. 

He is an astonishingly good God.  I could want nothing more than that you would give Him a try.  You don’t have to do it perfectly.  Just begin by giving Him a little room, get a Bible in your hands and start reading some of it every day, and look around at the world and notice the beauty again.  Be a little quiet and see what begins to stir in your heart.  

I'm Outta Here

Ironically, the things we tend to gravitate to for immediate satisfaction, instant gratification, and what we think will bring a sense of peace and contentment often actually lead to long-term frustration, a bigger pile that we need to be freed from, and an increase in chaos. 

In a deeper place, we know that we were made for something more than this.  We believe there is something more out there to be gained, don’t we?  If we didn’t, we’d stop looking and trying.  But we too often shoot ourselves in the foot instead of learning that good things are gained a step at a time.  Quality is worth the wait.  We DO have the ability to get to a better place.  But it might cost us the quicker fix. 

Start to pay attention to what moves you to go for that detrimental thing.  Usually fears are running the show so successfully that we forget we don’t have to listen to them.  There is truth to be gained.  There is good to have and to extend to others. 

You have something unique to offer the world.  Don’t give it up for a lesser story.

Removing the Bars

The bill has been paid.  The payment made in full.  All the work to purchase my freedom has been done.  So why do the bars in this prison seem so strong?  Each one is a lie I have believed, something that I thought was true, something I let hem me in, something I have been bound by.   

Start discovering truth.  Each time you find a piece of it, take hold of it.  What was formerly a bar that imprisoned you is now a walking stick of freedom to hold firmly, to plant on the ground as leverage to move you forward.  Grasp it, and lean on it.  True things will give you strength.  When we believe, it becomes something that empowers us and enables us to live differently. 

Transformation occurs when we keep taking the next step.

"God is great..."

Are we as eager to respond to what God asks of us as we desire Him to be in responding to the prayers we pray?  I am not saying we earn His care.  But there should be a willingness on our part to trust Him to be doing good in all things. 

Our joy in obedience will inevitably be lived out in the same degree that we believe He is good.  

Dare to Engage

God has made some stunning promises.  Crazy good things that He tells us He will do.  I wonder if we have kind of settled into thinking these are old, grandfatherly kind but impotent words, nice phrases, but without any real impact.  If so, we need to challenge ourselves to remember the truth. 

This God is still alive and moving on the earth, muscular, victorious, and desiring that His plans reach and transform earth.  It is the privilege of the church to believe that these are for our generation, that God isn’t done, that there is much power and provision waiting to be seen.   These are not old dusty pieces of writing, but truth for today in every reality of our lives.  If you’ve not read them lately, consider these.  They are for you.

2 Peter 1:4  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.  These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Matthew 11:28-29  “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Isaiah 40:29-31  He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.  Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion.  But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.  They will soar high on wings linke eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.

Phillippians 4:19   And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:37-39 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Psalm 103:1-6  Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you will love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Matthew 6:25-34  Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear.  Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they:  Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 

And why do you worry about clothes?  See how the lilies of the field grow.  They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own.

He’s made a proposal.  We get to be the privileged recipients when we decide to become engaged with Him.  How daring are we to commit to Him?

I prayed before I posted these that those who read them would experience His presence and power today in tangible ways, receiving what He has ready to give.  I would love to hear what He did for you as today.

Running Closely

This morning I came across this phrase: “Since then, [Joel] has been running closely with Jonathan and Melissa” and then there were given several examples of what their journey together had held.  It was shared vision, service, gifts acknowledged and developed, then offered for a greater good.

My spirit felt a mighty stirring.  I could immediately feel the companionship of those words, sense the strength that would flow from one to another, see the sweat that would pour down faces that were journeying together, the effort of both to do this race, the joy that would be present by having company, a common experience they shared, and the encouragement from one to another during the rough spots.  Wow!…and my heart recognized almost as immediately how often, even in a pretty full and supportive life, I feel alone, not understood, isolated in some deep places from those around me. 

But within the picture was some undeniable truth and a sense of comfort that I am NOT alone.  I have never been alone.  God has revealed His activity and care in more moments and situations, sticky though they are, than I would ever be able to remember or count.  What I do know is that often when the clouds are thick and the load of life is weighing me down, I can’t always see well, and it is not until later that I is made clear that He was with me right in the middle of the mess, walking with me through it. 

Sometimes it isn’t made so clear.  There are many questions and mysteries in life, things that I am not able to see clear enough.  But I have seen enough times of revelation to know that His faithfulness is vast and strong.  His character is perfect.  He will not leave me. 

Faith doesn’t exist without looking at some unknown, some situation not yet resolved.  It is the exercise that what we believe will hold true for the moments before us.  It is always in the category of risk in a way, because it hasn’t been unfolded yet, but it helps immensely to see and to hear and to collect experiences with Him, shedding the stuff that bogs us down and honing in on watching for the evidence of His activity. 

As I run my race and aim for finishing it well, I now will envision “running closely with Him” and “Him running closely always with me.”  There is strength in His muscles, power in His grit, joy in His persistence to help us and get us there, and the thrill He feels when He has those running who want to see it all and want to taste every good thing that He is doing.  

Pour It On

One of the most wonderful things about the opportunity to believe is that we don’t have to have any particular set of abilities to walk with Him.  He has made all of us with the capacity to hold what He wants to give, to steward what He wants to do, to relate to the Creator of the universe.  That’s what human life is.  That’s what we’ve all been shaped for.

But because He didn’t design us to be robots (to obey without a choice in the matter), because He didn’t want response without our desire and love for Him being an ingredient and dared to give us free will (seriously, if you were God would you have done that?!), because He longs for relationship, we are given the choice to decide if and how much. 

My observations and experience tell me this:  We can have absolutely gigantic portions of God.  (I realize I don’t quite have the language I need to describe this, so bear with me.)

We can get to know Him and experience His love and power in huge ways in our lives and running through our lives.  But a key part of it happening is our hunger for Him and our willingness to receive and learn what only another can give us.  We must be teachable.  We get to take the lid off of our lives and have Him fill us (not so easy if we are trying to control or clutch life because we’re not yet sure if He is good.  Fear is NOT my friend.)

If I begin to watch for His goodness, ask for eyes to see, give anxiety less room to run the show, and dare to think that He could be at work for good, my lens will start to catch His activity.  One way to start is in watching sunsets and star-filled skies and roadsides of wildflowers and children’s faces.  It helps if we slow down and sit to drink it in.  Wonder isn’t a thing that occurs easily if we are trying to multi-task or worried about all that isn’t getting done while we pause.  Later we will even be able to see Him in chaos, because He is present there to bring peace.  Can I learn to find Him in the mess?

Our capacity to experience God can never reach a limit.  There is always more.  It’s mind-boggling to me that He will keep pouring and pouring Himself into my life and day.  But if there are other things filling me…worry, pride, distractions of endless variety, and especially undealt-with sin, those are like boulders taking large amounts of space and weighing down my life with heavy stuff I have to carry with me everywhere.  No wonder we can be so worn out. 

He has made me to be an earthly vessel of His presence, a moving temple of God to carry Him through life and pour Him out to others and into situations as liberally as He pours.  I surely don’t always do that privilege justice, but I am increasingly aware of what a stunning opportunity it is to be a part of His life and to be a participant in His work.  He NEVER says “That’s enough, let’s just maintain right here.”  He keeps pouring more.

God, forgive me for too often believing the lie that Your abundance will create a mess.  Your lavishness will never remove any good thing.  You come through, a raging river with the ultimate wisdom to look after every tender shoot that should remain and brilliantly only washing out anything that would interfere with what would capture and destroy us.  I have to deal with the intensity of Your power and decide it is for good or I will never trust You with anything that is the scope of Your desire.

You are a storm of love.  Forgive me for too often wanting a babbling brook, not daring for more than the size of what I could seemingly control.  You have much more good than that in mind.

The Handle of Belief

We often seem to be more impressed by the power of what happened in the Garden at the fall of mankind than by what happened at Calvary that cancelled that power and truly tore the veil between heaven and earth. 

We find all kinds of explanations and even some kind of twisted comfort in knowing there is a reason we sometimes behave so abominably.  We grasp for some kind of excuse for why we are so ineffective at influencing our culture.  We vest a lot of confidence in the power of the deception that broke us in Eden than to look confidently at the Cross and the power that trumped every effort of the enemy that day, and for…EVER.  

We are far too content to live in the definition of the fall than in the deliverance from it that was purchased for us on a blood-stained hillside and given to us as a glorious gift to live in and from. 

We too often behave as if the only thing we have is the promise of the reservation of a grand future home in heaven where peace will FINALLY reign when we pass from this life, and we spend our years here hoping for God to bring to earth what He “seemed to make available” by rising from the dead.  He DID make it available.

We pray too often begging Him to give us what He told us we already have. 

We are here to distribute the endless inheritance He has left us and invest it into the people on the planet in our generation.  There are storehouses with shelves sagging from the weight of the provisions we have been scheduled to give away (the good works prepared for us to do—Ephesians 2).  And we sometimes instead posture as orphaned kids, begging for bread to stay alive.  Yes, sometimes we have to persist in our prayers, but our God is the Bread of Life and gave it away liberally as He walked on earth because He kept thanking His Dad and handing it out.  We are invited to live the same way, to learn to live like that.

We are no longer victims.  We are victors because of both a battle that has already been soundly won and a Brother who has invited us to join the family and share the inheritance. (It’s infinitely better than an offer to become a Gates or a Trump—two words, by the way, that should remind us of the real story and opportunity.)   The forked-tongued lies still try to persuade us from the truth that we are free and attempt to keep us from the authority and call we are called to walk in. 

Imagine the gift we could give a dry planet and a hungry world if we would believe that the Cross made a difference for the goings on of THIS day?

These blessed years are not just for us to do wishful thinking about the final revelation when all the stops will be pulled out and every eye will see, but to walk in the truth and the power that has already been revealed, bringing it to earth so others can see Jesus now.  We get to announce the news that He has won.  The celebration party has already begun.  The kingdom is here.  All the oil of anointing has been poured out so that the rusty hinges now can swing open widely as we get to each closed door that still seems stuck.  Belief is the handle that enables us to pull it open. 

That’s why the work of a Christian is to BELIEVE.  And when we do it will change everything.  

The Story Before You

I don’t want to represent a God who I have processed through my own understanding until He is some kind of over-cooked pablum. 

I want to know the voice of God well enough to trust Him when He says “Come to Me” or "Go there" no matter if I can comprehend what He is doing or not. 

If my heart is open to participating in greater works, then He will lead me into things I have not seen yet, not tasted before, things I have not experienced that He is ready, willing, and able to do.  And I will get the joy of discovering the power of His ideas and the result of changed lives as they unfold.  That is clearly going to take faith to walk into new situations and will bust through any hopes I have to maintain some kind of comfort level.  (Apparently that is why He had the great and compassionate idea to send us the Comforter.)  Otherwise, I’ve only matured to the point of what MY understanding is of His desires, that fits MY boundaries of His vision, and which clearly cuts Him off from being the Lord who has the freedom to do all that He desires. 

It’s only going to taste and smell like God if I give Him room to be a lot bigger than me, and those moments will feel like risks.  That is the pilgrimage we are on, the adventure we are invited into. 

When it comes to the end of your days, where will you have wished you’d let your feet go in faith?

Let's Do It

I count it a good day if I can walk through the circumstances of it believing that God is big enough to reach, to intervene, to heal, to guide, to redeem, and to bring great joy into them. 

It is a great day if I expect Him to actually show up. 

It is far better if I am willing to take risks to speak, to pray for or with, to obey whatever He is asking of me or nudging me to, and when I get to see His power arrive and transform a heart, a situation, a relationship, a life. 

I can pray prayers asking Him to do His work.

But I will likely see that power far more often when I am ready to do my part of opening the door for it when the opportunity comes, to be a part of the work He is hungry to pour out through His people. 

God is far more daring than I am.  He is infinitely good.  My imagination will rarely take me to God-sized dreams and plans, but if I will really believe He is ready to do the incredible, and will dare to walk into His-sized missions,  the “impossible” will happen right before my eyes. 

I have had many tastes of this.  I have seen the unlikely happen.  I have heard myself speak words that I knew I wasn’t smart enough to have designed, when I have been willing to open my mouth at His prompting.   It has ruined me, for I am no longer content to live a life of anything else.  It doesn’t take great programs and complex agendas or lots of money.  It is available every day as we go through our regular days, listening and following, and opening door after door so heaven can kiss someone on earth. 

The doors are before us all day long.  The enemy has convinced us far too often that they are securely stuck.  We forget that Jesus has been given the keys of the kingdom and is letting us be stewards of them for our generation. 

It involves taking a risk of believing.

In Matthew 16:19 Jesus says to Peter (because he BELIEVED that He was the CHRIST, the Son of the LIVING God), “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 

We also are invited to swing open the gates so that what is in the storehouses of heaven can be delivered to earth.

Wisest Guide, Trusted Friend

It’s frequently said that the church isn’t a building, it is people. That’s true.  The church is a body of believers, not an architectural and geographical place with a street address. 

In the same way, Christianity isn’t a set of pillared mandates, and truth isn’t a concept to align with.  He’s a person. 

If your belief in Jesus doesn’t have the elements of a conversation, pause the routine you may find yourself in and visit Him newly.  If your faith has become a non-stop stream of prayers where you speak, but there’s little listening going on for what His response may be, sit with Him freshly and let Him have a voice to your heart.  If you are stuck on a rat race of endless ministry projects, but haven’t checked in with the Shepherd in a while about this work He’s supposed to be leading, step off the path and take a slower-paced walk with Him again. 

Christianity is a home, not a manufacturing plant.  It is a table, not a fast food drive through lane.  It is talk with the wisest friend, not a multi-tabbed Google search for all the answers we can come up with, or a library filled with endless rows of books we have to dig through for answers.  I am not saying it doesn’t take effort and sacrifice and difficult choices sometimes, but if our heart and mind is set on production, we are poised to forget Who has called us to walk up the mountain and may be using Him only as a reference point, but no longer the day-to-day guide He longs to be.  Our eyes may have gotten too focused on the peak of the mountain we are trying to get to and totally miss that the journey is also meant to be the lessons He has for us all along the way there.   

We can’t walk in step with Him if we have our whole list of beliefs written in the guide book in our pocket, but don’t reference it as we journey, because, inevitably, the path He has for us will take unexpected twists and turns.  It is never a highway from point A to point B.  And He didn’t intend it to be. 

He loves you.  He longs for your company.  He has all kinds of adventures and discoveries for you to find, and crucial life-saving work for you to do.  You get to join a mission of saving lives, while having your own transformed in the process.  But it never gets to the point where we can do it if we stop walking with Him at our side, conversation now silent because we’ve got it figured out.   He loves to let us in on the magnificence of His Lordship, invited along on the adventure of a King.  We don’t find all that richness by grabbing the steering wheel.

Never forget that He has called you friend.  

Freedom Rings

The red, white, and blue.  I have freedom that was bought by the blood sacrifice of others, opportunity that was gained for a land purchased by their vision, pure focus, willingness, and perseverance, and a night sky overhead to remind me that it’s all bigger than a goal of building my own small kingdom, but that I am here for a short while and in this place and time to do my part to encourage others, to speak freedom and truth, to rally a fire to not take for granted all that has been done for us, and to help others along the way as I have been helped.  

An Ordinary Day

I waited for an inspiration this morning and none came.  There was no moment when a light bulb clicked on and a particularly intriguing thought surfaced to mull over and savor.  This is an ordinary day.

It is one in which the sun rose, beautifully as it often does over the field near my house.  I am listening to the sounds of dozens of birds all singing their morning songs and one persistent red-headed woodpecker tapping at the metal on the edge of the barn.  Birds are dancing about, soaring and dipping, resting now and then on tree limb or fence rail before they lift off again.  The greens in the trees are lush on this early July day.  There is a breeze moving around me, awakening my bare feet to the coolness.  I have my cup of coffee next to me, a daily brew that helps oil my morning into gear.  My children are still asleep, and husband too on this extra day off for him, and I am content that they are all snuggled safe in their beds, cozy and warm.  Nothing unique is happening this morning, and yet all of these normal things around me are miracles.  Oh dear God, I never want to take for granted the gift of this life, the gifts of your provision, the evidence of your goodness in every pulse of the day and your faithfulness through each hardship, for we have some of those too.  I breathe in this cool air this morning as well as the refreshing warmth of your Spirit, amazed again by the utter miracle of every normal day.  

Growing and Giving

A fruit tree has no trouble bearing fruit.  If it is rooted well and if its branches aren’t inhibited from reaching upward, in due season, it will bear fruit.  It is amazingly simple really.  Stand in the light, drink up the water available, and surely, the fruit will come forth, each tree producing its kind.

Fruit trees aren’t frantically running around worrying about bearing fruit or giving a certain amount of it.  They just, apparently, are content to do the thing they were made to do.  Under the care of a master gardener, who will watch over and tend to, and occasionally prune it, the harvest can be vast, the taste juicy and delicious. 

When the branches become heavy laden, only then do they start to be weighed down, but are now ready to give the fruit away, making it accessible to those who cannot reach so high. 

Perhaps if you are heavy laden it is time to give something away, to offer some small part of what you’ve been given.  It is in the giving that you will have achieved your own purpose.  We don’t become who we were meant to be by accumulating all the things that build some kind of kingdom of our own.  We become by what we make available to others from the gift we’ve been given.  Just give it away.  You don’t have to measure it out or hold any back.  A tree does not need its own fruit for nourishment.  It draws its life from outside of itself and can give all it produces away.