Hungry Hearing

This morning I was reading again the parable of the sower.  These few lines in Luke 8 hold several treasures, including the reason Jesus often taught with them.  Parables are for seekers--those who will invest some time to discover the heart of the matter, the deeper truths, the gold hidden all around us, the secrets that are there to be heard in His quiet whispers when you draw close to hear and learn more.  They are the intimate things of His heart that He is delighted to share with those who are curious and hungry and come to receive.

But even a quick reading will tell us these things:   1)  Sow the seed you have been given--don’t hold it back for some better day.  Broadcasting means to spread it widely, even where you may think it has no chance to grow.  2)  You don’t know what God is doing with other workers or in the soil of the one who may receive.  The world is full of tramplers, thieves, rocks, and weeds, but there are also guides, guards, and gardeners who come along doing their work and who may enable the seeds you’ve planted to grow.  3)  Give generously; His supply of seed will not run out.  You will find your pockets continually full of them if you keep sharing.  4)  Be willing to be a guide, guard and gardener, watching and listening for the opportunity to help, protect, weed, water, nurture and harvest.  You can be a gift to someone in a variety of ways.  Take the chance to do something that isn’t your norm if you see the opportunity before you.  You may come away feeling that the moment was actually for you.

The King is on the move.  The Kingdom is still growing and remarkable things are happening.  Although people often flock to conferences and seminars and big events, many of us have been deeply touched by one person who was willing to be there for us at a crucial moment with a word or action that had been crafted by the Father just for us.  We are surrounded by opportunities every day to bring hope, to share the treasure of His promises, to tell our stories of HIs care to those who are unsure, who have never heard what He has already done, or who may be struggling in a myriad of ways.  

 

You have to receive the seed before you can have it grow in your own life and the best seeds to share are the ones that have been produced by the plant that has grown in you, has come to some maturity by time and faith, and has developed seed for another generation.

Photograph from morguefile.com by GaborfromHungary

Would You?

Forgiveness isn’t always the end of reconciliation; sometimes it’s just the start.  The road together may have to be repaved by conversation, listening and sharing, and time.  But it is crucial to be willing to be there with the step of hope already taken for the possibility of a better future relationship. Sometimes we can let our desire for someone’s punishment go but not pursue a significant closeness again.  In other situations we can be willing to invest in the building of trust being reestablished because the relationship matters so much.   

Being able to stand at the beginning of that path with another person is a courageous step.  Walk the restoration road with eyes open, hope present, heart willing, remembering the God who loves (and helps us) when we are humble and available for such holy things.  So much could be patched and made strong by two people willing to try.  Most of us have bruised relationships in the wings of our lives, waiting for a moment that would play out gloriously.  Maybe we could give it a chance.

Photograph from morguefile.com by Grafixar

The Mark

One of the things that convinced me there is a God is the moral code that is built into each of us that tells us we’ve been wronged.  I might be able to consider the possibility of an explosion having enough energy to make new kinds of stuff, or a pool where the soup was concocted into new flavors of life,  but that the stuff would have a sense of right or wrong that is woven through all the beings of a kind is revealing.  That's a whole different level and could only come by exposure to something, a DNA of sorts, or the imprint from outside itself. Animals have instincts and survival impulses, but not a moral code and the capacity to dialog and resolve problems together.  If this element had not been put there, it wouldn’t matter a whit what anyone did.  

We not only have been given the design of good living, but the tools within and around us to use to achieve it.

Be human today. Care. Talk. Forgive. Resolve. Mature. We can all keep getting better at this.

Photograph from morguefile.com by Prawny

Holding Us

Sometimes life is just difficult.  At all times God promises His faithfulness.  I will tap into His words, believe for His help, guidance, and provision, and experience His goodness--it’s a given as we trust Him.  We will have moments of hardship and of delight and He will be a steady companion.  I am grateful today for the desire of the King to be with us.  It’s a breath-taking invitation that I never want to take for granted.  

Photograph from morguefile.com by DarrenHester

Let it Be Well

We seem to instinctively protect our bodies and emotions (in whatever element we are most afraid of having them hurt), but are often more careless with our hearts and souls--the eternal parts of us--whose waters run in deep places and whose condition will impact our lives for a very long time and in monumental ways.

Don’t take lightly the opportunity you have to consider both the present and the rewards and consequences that the choices you make and the way you live will have in the future.  You matter.  That you have a healthy heart matters for you and for all those around you.  

Photograph from morguefile.com by FantasyDesigns1

Risk and Faith

We may miss the baby He’s ready to birth because we won’t endure the waiting time for it to be formed in the hidden places or the birth pains it takes to get it here.

Photograph from morguefile.com by kakisky

(I had jotted down this thought a few days ago, but it seems especially right to post the morning after the Cleveland Cavaliers' win. Kudos to the Cleveland fans who have waited a very long time for another Championship!)

Endless

God is the most brilliant thinker, the most stunning creative, the most precise and compassionate physician, the extravagant lover, the wisest sage, the most daring restorer, the lavish provider of all things good and most important, an inexhaustible power who is aware of the tiniest details of what has impacted us and of all the possibilities of who we truly are.  He doesn’t lose sight of any one of us, while still envisioning the grand scope of all His plans, and more amazingly, weaves it all together.

First He sent His Son to bleed the pure blood that would cleanse us forever, and topped off that breathtaking move by sending the Holy Spirit to fill us up and pour from us as we believe.   We are not alone.  We’ve never been alone.

Technology is a wonderful tool, but it is empty of heart on its own.  Human beings, on the other hand, have the capacity to overflow with the power and compassion and care of God, filled up with Him, then moving around on the planet in tune with His voice, and transmitting the message out one by one in the personally specific way that each one needs to hear it as He arranges opportunities for us to be His vessels to carry it forward.  While we are at it, we ourselves continue to be transformed by His presence, shaped, spurred on, amazed by what He will orchestrate in His perfect design and creativity.  

To get the privilege in this life to be tucked into His abundant heart, to have His company in all that we do, to walk and work and play in all the purpose and freedom He offers us is our daily reality.  I too often get swamped with the pressures that weigh in, struggling to get more elbow room around me, thinking too narrowly about the things that hurt or inconvenience or annoy me, and forgetting the grand thing I get to be a part of.  But He calls to us.  He invites us back in without any hesitation, smiles and nudges us to come close again, to remember, to live.

Photograph by morguefile.com by JasonGillman

Leaning In

Faith is both believing for what He has promised that we cannot yet see AND the leaning in to learn more about who He is.  It is resting and wrestling, for our God isn’t put off by our questions and doubts.  He loves the process of helping us forward, the grit and sweat of seeking Him, the hunger in wanting to know Him. There is so much to discover, and my hunch is that one of His delights is in those who keep exploring what more it means to walk with Him.  (There’s always more.)

Faith isn’t complacency and setting aside our mind, though waiting is often part of the process as we trust Him in the “yes”, “no”, or “later.”  It is the reaching out of a body who has been bleeding for twelve years and hasn’t lost hope that there was an answer and knows where it is.  It is the struggle of a man fighting all night for a blessing for his family, even if it caused a limp for the rest of his life that reminded him of the reward he’d won by pressing through.  It is a simple guy listening to the on-going laughter of the town’s crowds as he built a massive boat nowhere near a lake and was assured he’d heard truth and care when the raindrops began to fall and accumulate into puddles and deep pools.  It is a distracted king whose opened eyes and rent heart moved him to run back to the holy kindness of his Father, confessing his sin and being restored.  God loves hearts after His.  

Faith isn’t just pillows and pudding, it is plows and persevering too. Jesus showed us the deepest faith in Gethsemane. It was blood, sweat, and tears, and trusting and obeying anyway.

Photograph from morguefile.com by GaborfromHungary

Morning Coffee and Evening Quilts

We are given specific hope as we begin and end our days.  A beautiful passage in Lamentations 3 tells us truth about the moments we start each one:  “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”  It is to our advantage to breathe in that promise as we brew the morning coffee and remember what happens in the heat of our day as we allow situations to be steeped in His words.

When we are wrapping it up on the other end, the very word “evening” gives a hint about God’s heart.  As we thank Him in end-of-the-day prayers for those mercies we experienced, for His guidance, provision, goodness, and help, we become aware that the battles we faced did not take us down.  An enemy who had plotted to steal, kill, and destroy, has not had his way if we offered ourselves to God’s care, listened as we went, boldly trusted and followed the call.  In spite of mistakes we have made and wrongs we or others have done, forgiveness is available again to all of us.  His mercies were with us, His grace pouring out to weary bodies, broken hearts, limping spirits.  

As the day closes and the coolness of night begins and we are tucked under starry covers, we can be aware that He has indeed done an “even-ing” work, intervened on our behalf, worked what was intended for harm to be used for good.  Joseph spoke the words of the Heavenly Father he had gotten to know so intimately, when he told his brothers “So then, don’t be afraid.  I will provide for you and your children.”  (Genesis 50:21)  That “so” of the difference God’s presence and power has made is immense.  The days brim with His promises working, even if we haven’t yet seen the fruition of the plan.  He doesn’t fail.  Count on it.  The ways He is good outnumbers the stars, and those who dare to go for life in faith will not be disappointed in the ending.  

Photograph from morguefile by 5demayo

The Undoing

It is my undoing to be in relationship with a God who never apologizes for doing work that would bring good to me.  He wants me to know freedom and the most powerful love.  He never says He is sorry for what it takes to get me there; the process is worth it every time.

His promise:  “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”  Isaiah 43:2  NLT

His work is always glorious, though His own story reveals that it may have some very challenging seasons before we get to that point.  Our privilege as disciples is to decide He is worth the cost, worth any discomfort, worth every “not yet” as we trust Him forward.    We may miss the gift if we give up too soon and believe Him too little.  

Resist the temptation of grabbing back your life.  There is no area in which you will direct it better than He will.  He has your delight in mind, your freedom deep in His heart, and endless creativity and resources to transform you to what He had in mind when He first thought of you--a stunning expression of His heart.

The undoing is actually what brings us to life.

Photograph from morguefile.com by imma

Living on Mane Street

Only in having some awareness of the endless goodness of God can we trust Him in the moments He is doing His transforming work.  We can be changed by growth, by surgery, and by being called to face our fears.  We prefer the gentle rain and sunshine kind of maturing...the easier slow-paced seasons of His work.  The other times are for the courageous and faith-filled, but we are no less safe with Him in those places than we are in the summer-kissed garden.

He is both Lion and Lamb.  We are blessed when we know Him intimately by both names.  I wouldn’t be so interested in a God who was always gentle; I am fascinated by His power.  Being able to trust Him in it is a blessed place to come to, a place to find deeper rest.  I am most at peace when I am willing to live on “Mane” Street, doing life with a Lion of a God in a community with all its glorious celebrations and its dark back alleys, following Him where He goes on His powerful mission to bring hope to broken hearts and freedom for captives.  We need to know both the reassurance of Him curling up with us and bringing comfort and understanding, and the fearlessness of His roars against all that would harm us, even if He is asking us to face something inside ourselves.  Life changes when we know He is still utterly good in His greatest power.    

Photography from morguefile.com by mattbowen

The Way of Wisdom

Listen to your heart, but listen also to your spirit and mind and trusted friends, remembering the foundations you want to rest on and the person you want to become.  Otherwise, what feels for all the world like momentary freedom might be leading to chains.

Photograph from morguefile.com by Jacky

Let's Go

Last night we were in a discussion about risk and faith with a small group of disciples who are getting to know one another and are trying to lean into their faith in Jesus, to grow, to live in a way that is honest, and reflects the love we have received.  We are usually a dozen strong, but we are becoming knit together as we share.  It is getting more clear that these inividuals are desiring to become more attuned to offering back the life we were given for our dead one.  

We talked about whether or not we are a risk-taker, and we talked about our fears.  When we spoke about risk, we seemed to immediately start penciling a mental calculation of the loss factor.  Some of us defined ourselves as a risk-taker and acknowledged that sometimes it was reckless thinking and led to problems.  

Faith begins to get traction when we will follow Him where we see no way of saving ourselves and will go where He calls anyway.  (It helps if we take to heart what He says about Himself and watch for the ways in His people’s story, the ways in our own life, and the ways in the lives of those around us that show His care, His guidance, His faithfulness, and His ability to take faith and work miracles from that key ingredient.)  There aren’t often small stories when faith is present.

As we believe more and more we will do less skirting around the edges where we are only ankle deep in His waters.  We will jump.  

Photograph from morguefile.com by lauramusikanski

Letting Him Wash Up On Your Shores

There is forgiveness of wrongs, resurrection of dead things, mercies that are new every morning.  Check out the other gods’ lists of expectations.  Nowhere else can you come and be loved in your brokenness, be embraced as family in your debt, and be invited into a new start for your precious life.  We are to call one another on to follow His ways of living and to trust in His ability to strengthen and heal and restore.  It’s hardest to be vulnerable and honest with one another.  

One problem is that we’d like to be part of our own solution and have a way to crawl out of our holes to earn our place.  When it comes down to it, we aren’t so comfortable with free gifts of mercy and grace and so are inclined to keep records of wrongs and stay in our measly tally system, trying to manage our own account and resisting the bottom line of our great need.  By ourselves we will always come out in the red.  And astonishingly, He poured red completely and adequately over us...His own blood to cover what our own sacrifices and efforts could never have accomplished.  

We will never change the basics of His way, the extravagant gift and blazingly honest one:  “Blessed are the poor in spirit [those who are aware of their great need], for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “  The only ones who get the kingdom are those who will receive it.  It is why, even after “significant sin” David was called “a man after my own heart.”  This great earthly king, minced no words about his actions and ran back to the heart of a Father (read his cry in Psalm 51) who would receive His prodigal son in a heartbeat.

Photograph from morguefile.com by AlexandreHenryAlves

Take Him...

The Bible is rich.  It is a history book, a love letter, a guide book full of wisdom and instruction.  It is a biography...His story told in all the gory detail, and a romantic true account of how much He loves and how far He will go to have us.  It is an adventure story also, full of people who were in ugly predicaments and the ability of the One who would rescue them.  It is a foundation that puts something beneath us to walk on and gives strength as we open its cover and turn the pages.  It is a book that will breathe its breath into you, will both comfort you and challenge you.  It should wrestle you to the ground and lift you back up in its story of forgiveness and hope, surely it is a resurrection story.  It is a lifeline to the weary and both a knife that can do delicate surgery to perfection (He is no butcher) and a balm that will heal our wounds.

Open the pages newly.  Explore.  Soak.  Take Him at His word.  

Photograph from morgeufile.com by cbcs

A Psalm

Soak me, Jesus, in Your presence today.  I am feeling dry, spent, over-extended from these busy past few months and there doesn’t seem to be enough time or clarity or “me” to accomplish everything that needs and wants attention.  I feel like I am in a gigantic game of “catch up.”

I know You have a plan and a pace and a goal, and that mine easily meanders from Your ways or becomes far to short-sighted.

I have seen over and over again that a willing heart to trust You as I go is the most essential part..  Pausing to remember and to sink roots deeper into You today will not be a waste..  As I look back I can see that You have always come through, landed me where I didn’t even realize I was heading, opened doors and ways that I never saw coming.  

This day isn’t running on the whims of time, it is securely in Your steady and creative hands.  I can feel a bit of refreshment seeping into me as I consider again who You are and how very capable and amazing You continue to be.  You don’t end.  Ever. I can exhale the stress and breathe in your grace.  

Photo from morguefile.com by kakisky

Unexpected Sums

I have a life where the total just doesn’t add up.  

I am aware this morning that even though mistakes and challenges of numerous kinds have occurred, the toll isn’t what it should have been.   What has tipped the scales is the presence of a God who has promised to care for me and who calls me by name.  It isn’t that there haven’t been ramifications of my choices and the choices of others, but that all of those things seem to become precious ingredients in His hands as I trust Him.  I am not suggesting carelessness on our part because He will magically come in and fix everything, but as we crawl, limp, hobble, walk or run through life, giving Him room and permission to have at us will somehow work our circumstances for good.

I don’t know how He does it, but I have seen over and over again that good things rise up where they would never be expected.  It doesn’t mean that it is easy.  It just means that if you trust Him, fruit will always be born.

Photo from morguefile.com by lunar