OCTOBER 1, 2017

“The ragamuffin who sees his life as a voyage of discovery and runs the risk of failure has a better feel for faithfulness than the timid man who hides behind the law and never finds out who he is at all.” 
― Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Burnt Out

ISAIAH 22-23

17At the end of seventy years, the Lord will deal with Tyre. She will return to her lucrative prostitution and will ply her trade with all the kingdoms on the face of the earth. 18Yet her profit and her earnings will be set apart for the Lord; they will not be stored up or hoarded. Her profits will go to those who live before the Lord, for abundant food and fine clothes. (23:17)

EPHESIANS 3

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom every family^a in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

JOURNAL 

Reading these passages from Paul...it can at times seem like he is speaking another language. To visualize what it would be like to be sold out to Christ in this way. It saddens me to think how far I fall from really living this way. How my community does not look this way, how I depend so much on the culture and comfort and all the trappings of suburbia rather than truly seeking God with a community of believers.

To really press in and think about what a community of believer...truly transformed by the love of Christ looks like. I deeply desire that...yet to think about what it would require...saddens me. Because people usually only seek God in desperation...not in gratitude. It is usually out of weakness and failure...so what does that say about a community. Will we need to experience deep failure and weakness before we can bond together in the love of Christ?

I don't think it is an absolute necessity...however it usually is the way it happens. Yet with God all things are possible, all I can do is seek God always, not as just an answer to my own problems but because I realize the ineptness of my own wisdom. I realize the trappings of my own patterns of behavior. I realize that apart from God I am nothing and am just a vapor. I realize that with God I have the power and love of the creator of the universe and of all things. Why would I ever shrink back from trusting God? Why would I ever go my own way? Why would I ever rely on the things of this world rather than seeking and trusting God?

 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 

EPHESIANS 2:4-5

SEPTEMBER 30, 2017

“A quiet conscience makes one strong!” 
― Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

ISAIAH 19-21

 4My heart falters,

fear makes me tremble;

the twilight I longed for

has become a horror to me. (21:4)

EPHESIANS 2

1As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh^a and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

JOURNAL 

To truly quiet the mind...especially in moments of stress is an amazing gift of God. Quieting the mind and hearing from God is not just for times of high stress and anxiety but also during the good moments as well. For it is in these that I can fully embrace the wondrous gifts of life. It is crazy to me how my mind often fights against these moments of solitude and quiet. I can see how I am addicted to being entertained and having my thoughts occupied. Yet it is clear from scripture that to truly hear from God...to truly tune myself with his spirit, requires that I shut down the the external and allow his spirit to take over my thoughts.  It is in doing this that I become in tune with all that he has for me today, this week, this month and this life.

7Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him;do not fret when people succeed in their ways,when they carry out their wicked schemes.

PSALM 37:7

SEPTEMBER 27, 2017

“Spirituality is not to be learned by flight from the world, or by running away from things, or by turning solitary and going apart from the world. Rather, we must learn an inner solitude wherever or with whomsoever we may be. We must learn to penetrate things and find God there.” 
― Meister Eckhart

ISAIAH 10-12

 “I will praise you, Lord.

Although you were angry with me,

your anger has turned away

and you have comforted me.

2Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense^a ;

he has become my salvation.”

3With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation.(12:1-3)

GALATIANS 5

 6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love...22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

JOURNAL 

My mind, my emotions and my habits are such a product of my past and my environment. They are a product of what I continually feed them with. The amazing thing about the spirit is that it actually allows me to separate myself from my thoughts, emotions and habits. It allows me to pause and consider God. It allows me to see that many times my initial thoughts and emotions do not reflect truth or reality. To be able to pause...seek God and actually choose a different way is essentially what makes me human.

These are the truths that fill the whole of scripture. God's spirit gives us the power to step outside of all of the power of habits and hurts and fears and emotions. It allows me to realize that beyond the storm clouds and wind and rain is a blue peaceful sky. It is this constant that is most symbolic of God and his spirit. The storms are never constant but the blue sky peace of God is...so regardless of the circumstances I can have peace, I can have joy, I can act in love and I can live out the fruits of God's spirit.

 7For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.

2 TIMOTHY 1:7

SEPTEMBER 26, 2017

“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven..” 
― John Milton, Paradise Lost

ISAIAH 7-9

 6For to us a child is born,

to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this. (9:6-7)

GALATIANS 4

6Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba,^c Father.” 7So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

JOURNAL 

I have one life to live and chances are at best I've lived half of it. I have today, how do I want to live it? What do I want to make most important? Do I live as a slave or as a free child of God? How is it that I so often live life enslaved to old ways of thinking? To me in this day and this time this is the slavery I fall under. It is not to a government or person or people it is to a mindset that is bound in anxiety and fear. It comes from a community and a nation that offers counterfeit gods as the answer to peace and joy. Those counterfeit Gods are material possessions, positions of honor, approval of the masses. This is not to say that material possessions, awards and the applause of others is wrong. It only becomes so when it takes the place of God. When it promises to be more than what it is.

There is such a fine line...it is easy to go too far in rejecting the counterfeit as gods, which can lead to judgement, bitterness, isolation and hatred... just as it is easy to buy in and hope in their false promises. I think back to the old Budweiser commercials that say "this is as good as it gets". No it's not...it is good to connect with friends around a fire and enjoy a good beer. That is an awesome blessing. But it isn't the beer or the fire or the friends. It ultimately is God that makes it all possible. It is his spirit of love that unites us that makes the beer and the fire and the friends into something that is more than the those things individually.

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

COLOSSIANS 3:12-14

SEPTEMBER 25, 2017

“Because here’s something that’s weird but true: we don’t actually know what a positive or negative experience is. Some of the most difficult and stressful moments of our lives also end up being the most formative and motivating. Some of the best and most gratifying experiences of our lives are also the most distracting and demotivating. Don’t trust your conception of positive/negative experiences. All that we know for certain is what hurts in the moment and what doesn’t. And that’s not worth much.” 
― Mark Manson

ISAIAH 4-6

11Woe to those who rise early in the morning

to run after their drinks,

who stay up late at night

till they are inflamed with wine.

12They have harps and lyres at their banquets,

pipes and timbrels and wine,

but they have no regard for the deeds of the Lord,

no respect for the work of his hands. (5:11-12)

GALATIANS 3

26So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

JOURNAL 

There is a humility that is often overlooked. I see it everyday in sports and stories are filled with the tale of the underdog who overcomes the favorite. I love these stories and yet I often forget the wisdom they impart. Any one of us at anytime are subject to being humbled by another human being. It is for our own good that this possibility exists. For it keeps us living in surrender to God and in a mindset that honors all God's creations. Yes even our enemies.

All stories become good stories because they impart eternal truths. Life is a gift, it is fragile and is not a dragon to be slayed or a mountain to be summited. It is a journey to be experienced, filled with triumphs and heartaches and good times and bad, sickness and health, life and death. If we live long enough we get to experience it all and in doing so we get the beauty of the gift itself. Yes there are things to conquer and there are times when we are conquered and if we really live life well then we embrace it all.

17“Blessed is the one whom God corrects;

so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.^a

18For he wounds, but he also binds up;

he injures, but his hands also heal.

JOB 5:17-18