Rooted and Established – The Start of a Relationship

Dec 18 – Made New

This time of year seems to invite people to consider where they are spiritually.  There is more quiet time than usual (or maybe the quiet just seems louder because everyone gets so busy) and that quiet sometimes gets us to thinking.  What does it mean to invite God to be a part of my life?  Is that something I’m ready to do?  What might change about my life if I did that?  Lots of questions come to our minds.  Paul, the guy who wrote today’s scripture was praying for some specific things for people as they began their relationship with God.  One thing Paul alludes to that really can change our lives when we ask God to be a part of them is the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is part of God.  It is His unseen presence in our lives that allows for God to speak to us in ways we don’t understand and His power in us that can change our lives for the better.

The other thing Paul prays for is that we would be able to grasp the vastness of God’s love and that we would be “filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  That is one intense request!  He prays that we might do this by being “rooted and established in love.”  What do you think that means?  I’m not even too sure but here’s how I think of it – Think about a plant.  If you pour water into the soil where its roots are, what’s going to flow throughout the plant?  Water.  If you put soda into the soil instead, what is (presumably) going to flow through the plant?  Soda.  So…if we are rooted in love, what is going to flow through our lives?  Love.  When that is our foundation, it affects every part of us.  What else do roots do?  They hold the plant in place.  When the plant has been “established” – been planted long enough for it to have a chance to grow – the roots keep the plant from moving around too much and from collapsing.  And so it is with us…

Have you been rooted and established in love?  What would it look like in your life if you started planting those roots now?  In this Christmas season, I encourage you to spend some time thinking about where you are in your relationship with God.  Consider taking another step closer to Him and allowing Him to be an even greater part of your life.  Spend a little more time with Him and start giving Him control over some of the things in your life.  Then you really will begin to see the power of God living inside of you…

Resurrection Living

Dec 7 – John 11:25

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…”

Another “I am” statement.  I AM the resurrection.

Resurrection.  I’m going to be honest with you – there is so much power in that word, but I do not even begin to understand it.  I know that somehow “resurrection” means hope for me and hope for this world of ours.  I know that somehow, it speaks of a loving God who exists above and beyond death and who gives us the opportunity to experience part of his nature in that way.

“He who believes in me will live, even though he dies…”  What if it’s true that we don’t live until we die?  Not in the literal sense (though I think that may be true as well) but in the figurative sense.  Until I am willing to give up the things I want in order to pursue the things of God, I haven’t lived.  Maybe people from other religions who try so hard to live without wanting anything, who push away their senses to attain some different level of reality – I think maybe they missed the point.  The point of our lives is not be devoid of emotion or of desire but to surrender both of those things to God.  2 Corthinthians 5:17 says that “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.”  New emotions, new desires come!  THAT is the abundant life Jesus talks about.

What better “alternate reality” to live in than a world where we experience only the things of God.  Our desires die, not in a way that removes our humanity but in such a way that what we want is replaced with stronger and purer desires of the One who created us.  That is when we begin to experience life – once we have put aside the desires we are born with that we can often sense are not of God and allow them to be upstaged by the glorious passion of a Father and a risen Savior who wants to live in and through us.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. - Galatians 2:20

A Confession – Oh, To Love Well

Nov 19 – Psalm 1:1-2

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

It has been quite the weekend for me.  I had the privilege of taking some of the wonderful youth from my church on a camping trip to a campground not so far away for their first experience with church camping.  A lot is asked of them, in terms of serving and cooperation and, overall, they really rose to the occasion.  Sunday morning, each of three groups presented a portion of our camp-style worship service.  The last group shared some verses that really caught me off-guard about Jesus who was rich making Himself poor for us.  At that point, I realized that, when I leave my job where I am now, the one thing I want to leave them with is some beginning knowledge of just how much they are loved – because, to some extent, I think every Christian believer has to start there.  God enabled me that morning to share my heart in the way I wanted to but something slammed me between the eyes later in the day - despite just how very much I want them to know they are loved, I’m not so sure I have demonstrated that love to them.

It is so easy to lose focus on the WHY.  It is so easy to concentrate on the actions in ministry.  I try to build the best group I can build and help individuals be the best individuals they can be…and I forget to just be Jesus to them.  I want to be one who “delights” in the Lord.  I want to show that to them.  I want to love them well so that, in time, they become the ones mentioned in these two verses who delight in the Lord.

What is your focus?  Where is your heart?  And if your intention are good, do your actions coincide with where your heart is?  Think about it.

And if you are any of my youth reading this, know that you’re hearing my heart.  I hope you will see Jesus in me more in the next month than I have shown you in the past.

The Crazy Reasoning of God and Scarlet Worms

Nov 9 – Isaiah 1:18

    ”Come now, let us reason together,”
       says the LORD.
       Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
       though they are red as crimson,
       they shall be like wool.”

I like this verse, in part because of the first line which I had never really noticed before.  Only God could say, “Come, let us reason together” and then go on to describe something that will happen that is almost impossible to do.  Have you ever tried to get grape juice out of carpet?  How about red Kool-Aid?  (I had a friend in middle school who dyed part of her blonde hair with red Kool-Aid and it didn’t come out for 6 months!)  Have you ever had to get a spot of blood out of a rag or a favorite shirt?  It can be next to impossible – and that’s with modern-day technology!  In the ancient world, I’m pretty sure that, once something was dyed, it was dyed, you know what I mean?  Those red stains just don’t go away and they sure would be noticeable.  But as far as our sin stains are concerned, when God looks at us through Jesus, he sees snow, wool.

I just learned something, right this minute.  The word used here for “crimson” actually makes reference to the worm that crimson dye made from.  Scarlet or crimson dye was gathered from the dried (dead) body of a female scarlet worm.  When this worm is ready to give birth, she attaches herself to a tree and lays eggs under her body, protecting them.  They remain there until they hatch, at which point the young go on about their new lives.  The mother, however, attaches herself so firmly to the tree that she cannot leave and so she dies, staining both her young and the tree bright red.  Crimson stains from a dying protector cover the young, bringing them new life.  Sound familiar?

The richness of God’s word never ceases to amaze me… 

*If you’re interested in looking further into this, just Google “scarlet worm.”  And if you’re interested in learning the original meanings of other words in the Bible, visit www.blueletterible.org.

Can You Imagine A Major Change?

Oct 27-28 Lost and Found

In spite of what I talked about yesterday, stories like Bethany’s amaze me.  In my mind, it is one thing to be born with a certain condition and grow up with it but it is quite another to live one way and then retrain your mind and your body to live another way.  I cannot imagine relearning how to surf!  (Okay.  I can’t really imagine learning how to surf anyway, but RElearning???)

I suppose a new life of faith can be like this too though.  I have grown up in the church and never really had one of those “conversion experiences” where I suddenly realized the gift of God’s grace and changed everything in my life.  However, I have friends who have.  (For the record, while some of these experiences may be emotional reactions more than anything, as some people vigorously claim, from observing certain people in my life, I know that some of them are sincere and very real.)  How do you relearn vocabulary – how not to use certain four letter words every few seconds?  How do you rechoose music – not all of it but maybe certain kinds that are especially angry, vulgar, or depressing?  How do you reexamine priorities – spending more time with friends who encourage your faith, less time with the friends who got you in trouble, and scheduling in some time for God?  For some people, it may even mean a job change – from something illegal to something on the right side of the law or from something immoral to something that allows you to serve God.

Whoa!  Changing all of those things would blow my mind.  But people do.  Take a look at John 8:1-11.  This is one of the most stunning acts of grace we see Jesus make.  I believe we have discussed this story before (read it here) but this time, we’re taking a look at the woman’s life more than Jesus’.  The last thing we see Him say to the woman whose life He has just saved is “Go now, and leave your life of sin.”  We don’t know exactly what this woman’s life was like, but I wonder how much of her life changed after that.  Did she break off the relationship with the man she was with?  Did she change some of the people she hung around with?  Did she commit herself to the Jewish faith again – or maybe for the very first time?  We don’t know.  But what if she did?  Or think about Paul.  Acts 9 tells the story of his conversion and that produced an immediate change, so immediate in fact that the Jews in Jerusalem were afraid of him!

Whether you’re Bethany Hamilton and something about your life changes drastically on the outside or if you’re like the woman caught in adultery or like Paul who go through an inward change, know that God carries us through all of it.  

When you pass through the waters, 
I will be with you; 
and when you pass through the rivers, 
they will not sweep over you. 
When you walk through the fire, 
you will not be burned; 
the flames will not set you ablaze.
-Isaiah 43:2

The Self-Esteem Struggle

Oct 22 – Worthy

What is it about the issue of self-image?  What is it that grabs hold of our hearts and minds and makes us feel worthless, “less than”?  Listen to these words that God speaks over you:

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
       I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

 When you pass through the waters,
       I will be with you;
       and when you pass through the rivers,
       they will not sweep over you.
       When you walk through the fire,
       you will not be burned;
       the flames will not set you ablaze.

 For I am the LORD, your God,
       the Holy One of Israel, your Savior…

Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
       and because I love you,
       I will give men in exchange for you,
       and people in exchange for your life.

 Do not be afraid, for I am with you…

We are not alone.  And we are so very loved.  If this is something you continually struggle with, I encourage you to pray Romans 12:2, to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  When negative thoughts come into your mind, do what 2 Corinthians 10:5 says and “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  When we allow the power of God into our lives and also make our own efforts to change our thought patterns, transformation really does occur.  I pray that you find healing, my friends. 

You Are Grace

Oct 16 – Equality

Acts 10 tells an amazing story that I have just recently fallen in love with.  Let me throw out some background info.  

The book of Acts is the story of the early church – Jesus’ disciples figuring out what it means to “make disciples of all nations” now that Jesus had gone.  At this point, the disciples are preaching exclusively to Jews.  After all, in their eyes, that is who Jesus’ message was for – He was their long-awaited Messiah.  He came as a fulfillment of Judaism, not as a founder of Christianity. 

This chapter tell the story of the first Gentile (non-Jewish) believers in the message of Jesus.  To Christians today, that may not sound like a big deal but, in fact, it was revolutionary.

To put it in a modern context, think about this.  The president runs everything.  He calls all the shots.  Everyone wants to meet the president, but only people with special access are allowed to.  Well, what if one day, the president said, “Only certain people have been allowed to talk to me, but I want everyone to be able to meet me.  If you have special access, here.  Take a bunch of VIP passes and give them out to people.  You don’t need to give them to government employees only.  Give them to everyone.  Let them know that they can come and meet me because I want to be available to anyone.”  All of a sudden, regular people have access to the president!  The senators and the homeless men on the street, the children and the elderly, the single moms and addicts along with the country clubbers and pastors’ wives – they all get to talk to him!  When the president has control over who gets to see him, it is quite a grand gesture for him to allow everyone in…

And so it is with God.  The Jews, those with the special access to God, didn’t think it was possible for other people to come in close to Him.  They didn’t think He would allow it and He certainly didn’t have to – but He did.  When the disciples finally understood what was happening, “they praised God saying, ‘So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.’” (Acts 11:18)  You are the evidence of God’s grace.  Take a few minutes to consider that God did not have to let you know Him but He chose to.  

Flawed Pots and the Dreams of God

Sept 18 – A Little Lump of Clay 

All right.  It’s time for English class.  Does anyone remember what a metaphor is?  Come on…Think hard…Ok.  Enough thinking for now.    If you didn’t remember, I’ll remind you.  A metaphor is sort of like a symbol; something is used to represent something else.  In case you didn’t know, God is a big fan of these.  He uses people’s lives as His metaphors in the Old Testament and Jesus uses parables as metaphors in the New Testament (or perhaps parables are more like similes, but I digress).  One of the easier-to-understand metaphors is found in Jeremiah 18.  God tells Jeremiah to go to the potter’s house where Jeremiah begins watching the man at his work.  In verse 6, God says, “…[C]an I not do with you as this potter does?…Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand…”

We will look deeper into this metaphor in a few days but right now, take a look at verse 4.  This is my favorite. 

But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

Some days, all I can see are my flaws.  I wonder what God could ever do with me, knowing that He sees how messed up I am too.  There are even times when I wonder if He has put me down to come back to at a later time.  But did you catch that phrase “marred in his hands“?  Scarred in his hands.  Imperfect in his hands.  We are not finished until the Potter says so and even when we’re looking our worst, He is holding us.

And the Potter doesn’t stop there.  Look at the last part of the verse.  God sees the flaws we have and shapes us as seems best to him.  He takes the imperfect and makes it into something beautiful because He sees in us, not what we are, but what we can be.  Enjoy being molded by your Potter!

(For some crazy metaphors in the lives of the prophets, check out Isaiah 20:2-4, Ezekiel 4:1-13, and the book of Hosea or just Hosea 1:1-3.)

Sept 19 – Shaped

Have you ever stood in front of a great work of art?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a painting or a sculpture or an abstraction that I don’t begin to understand – I am amazed by what I see.  My mom is the real art connoisseur in our family and she has to remind me now and then while I’m looking at a painting, “That started with a blank canvas!”  or “That used to be just a huge chunk of marble!”  I agree with today’s author in that I do not understand how artists see greatness in something completely blank, bare, and plain.

And yet that is what God sees in us.  God made humans from dirt!  (Genesis 2:7)  Can you believe that?  All of our individuality and intricacy come from dirt?  That blows my mind!  Talk about something from nothing!  But each life that God places on Earth is a valuable part of His creation.  No matter who we are or where we come from, we can be assured that God has created us individually and intimately.  Look at Psalm 139.  God knit us together in our mother’s womb! (verse 13)  (Imagine those incredible hands of God knitting.  Those would be some huge knitting needles!  Not that He made us like a grandmother makes a blanket but still, it’s a great image  ) 

Our physical form is not the only aspect of our lives that God is involved with.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”  Our powerful-yet-personal God has incredible dreams for us!  How awesome is that?  His dreams for us are so much greater than the dreams we have for ourselves.  Don’t sell yourself short!

Today, remember how much God cares for you.  Consider the time and attention He gave when He made you.  Allow yourself to dream about the great things God has planned for you – but remember to follow His dreams first for your life.