You mean – I CAN’T do it all???

Dec 17 – No Doubt

All right.  I’m going to ask a lot of you today – if you would, read 1 Corinthians 12.  Go ahead.  Read all of it.  It’s not THAT long. 

The heart of the matter as I see it is found in verse 27 which says “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”  It sounds so brilliantly simple – God has blessed each one of us with different gifts and we are meant to use those gifts together.  What’s so hard about that?  Here’s my struggle with that whole thing – I fully admit my weaknesses in the body of the Church (all the believers everywhere together) but I don’t admit it within my own ministry.  Let’s look at an example -

Let’s say that someone is born and raised as an athlete.  Eventually, they find out that they are much better at football than baseball so they let go of playing baseball and concentrate on playing football – the thing they are really gifted in.  But what if that person, now designated a “football player” expected himself to be good at every single position on the team?  He played quarterback and did it well but then thought that he should be able to stay on the field as a defensive lineman and then stay on the field as a kicker and then trade off with someone to be a running back – and then he got mad at himself when he wasn’t good at everything.

That’s what I did.  I expected myself to single-handedly meet every need the youth group had.  I had the title “youth director” and I thought that meant I was supposed to do it all.  But no.  I am one part of the body.  Still.  Even in a specific field of ministry.  I am Keri and Keri has strengths and weaknesses that work with other people to accomplish goals for the kingdom of God.  My strengths will help build weaker people up and my weaknesses need support and supplementing from other people’s strengths.  Just like always.

(I want to offer a caution in this as well - Often, when I discover a weakness, I will acknowledge it and then assume that God wants me to just trust Him to provide.  Sometimes, that is the case and I will be the first person to point out that God LOVES using our areas of weakness to show His strength.  That being said, however, my recent discovery was realizing that I expected God to provide to the exclusion of wisely asking others for help.  Try not to make my mistake.) 

What about you?  What are your gifts?  What are your weaknesses?  In what areas do you expect too much of yourself unfairly?  Where in your life do you see people filling in the gaps for your weaknesses – and where do you see your strengths helping other people as well?

Interdependence is so much harder than we think.  Praise God we are created to work together.

Does It Really Matter?

Finally.  Finally finally FINALLY, the DevoZines for November/December arrived!  Woohoo!  I’m starting on the entry for today, December 13th.

Dec 13 – What Really Matters?

It’s a sobering thought to me that so much of what I spend my time thinking about and worrying about and wanting will not matter at the end of my life.

The verse for today is a great one.  Mark 8:36 from the Message says this: “What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you?  What could you ever trade your soul for?”  Solomon experienced this very thing because he did get everything he wanted.  Check out Ecclesiastes 2:4-11.  It’s pretty crazy.  He has everything he could want at his fingertips and then says that it’s all meaningless.

This Christmas season, I’ve been trying to think outside myself a little bit more.  I’ve been working on letting go of some of the things I wanted and instead help provide for some people’s needs.  Because those people WILL matter in 10 years and they will matter at the end of my life, even if I don’t see them ever again or ever at all.

Regardless of your age, what matters to you now?  What mattered to you 5 years ago?  What will matter in 10 years?  And if it won’t matter to you at the end of your life, is it really worth spending time and energy on?  That’s a hard one.

Lord, help me to spend my life thinking about things that concern You.  Help me to pursue You first and always, the one thing I know matters at my life’s end. 

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

Wait and Trust

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure…

“The mystery of his will.”  Well, at least God is willing to admit that his will is, at times, a mystery.  There is one lesson I would like to share with you today.  It is one that I learned most specifically in my sophomore year of college but one I have been consistently reminded of since then.  That lesson in all of its gravity can be summed up in 3 words – “Wait and Trust.”  Sometimes words make me laugh because their simplicity has no correlation to their meaning.  Three short and simple words describe one of the hardest lessons for a Christian (or any person really) to accept.

At certain times of our lives, we come to a place when our next step truly is a mystery.  For some people, the options may be more specific but the answer no more clear than a person with no strings attached who is willing and able to go anywhere for any length of time.  Mystery.  It keeps us guessing.  And if we allow ourselves, it keeps us trusting.

If you find yourself in a place of waiting, know that you are not alone – not alone in your world now (I’m in the same place!) and not alone in the course of human history either.  The psalms are filled with examples of people waiting and trusting in God, wondering when their answer might come.

When you reach that jumping-off point – when you have the choice between taking an easy road that’s sitting right in front of you that you feel you should take – wait and trust.  Wait for God to send the “lion’s roar” – when he roars, you will have no question that it’s him.  And trust that he will indeed provide for you.  He wants you to walk with him, to follow Him, and so He will make the mystery of His will known to you.  Let Him surprise you.  It may be one of the best joys you have experienced.

Finding God in Your Desires

Hello friends.  I haven’t abandoned you all!  The latest DevoZine hasn’t arrived yet due to some paperwork confusion but I realize that that is no reason to neglect writing a devotion.  You get to enjoy just my free-form thoughts this time! 

At some point in this past week, I talked about Living (as opposed to just living), and I want to talk a little bit more about that.  My friends, God has given you great and wonderful gifts.  I don’t have to know you to know that because we serve a faithful God who provides for and blesses every person He creates.  He has given you a passion and a desire for something.

When have you felt the most alive?  What happens in your life that awakens something inside of you, makes you feel uniquely joyful and thankful unlike anything else can?  What does it take to stir your heart?

Pursue that.  Whatever that is, (as long as it is not harmful to you or to others), go after it.  For some of you, it may be writing.  For some, it may be playing basketball or football.  For some of you, it may be encouraging people younger than you and for some it may be talking to people older than you.  And there may be some of you who haven’t experienced that feeling yet.  Don’t worry.  It will come.  And when it does, you will know.  Take note of what it is that brings you to Life, even (and especially) if it’s something that is unlike the things other people love.  I don’t care if you’re reading this when you’re 10 or 68, I beg you to go after that which makes you come Alive.

Psalm 37:4 says “Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart.”  I believe that, my friends.  But our desires are not the surperficial things that we crave fleetingly and lust after.  Our desires are often quieter than that.  They sometimes (frequently?) take us by surprise, even to a point that we may want to deny them.  I believe that those desires are where we find God.  I caution you so strongly here – This concept can become so very twisted because desires take so many different forms.  But when our hearts and lives are lived chasing after God and allowing Him to reveal Himself to us, the quiet whispers of our hearts become the place where He speaks to us the most clearly.

Know that you have a deep heart.  Know that God has placed longings there that only He and His purpose for you can fulfill.  By whatever means you choose, get to know yourself, your God, and your heart.  Journal.  Pray.  Read.  Talk to other people – and listen to other people.  When you begin to recognize your true desires and allow that the voice of God is spoken clearly in those desires, you will find joy and abundance and Life.  He created you.  He has placed those desires inside of you.  Pursue them for His glory.

When Struggles Make You Whole

Oct 26 – Made Whole By A Hole

It’s not something I mention just for the heck of it because it really doesn’t matter too much.  If you’ve met me, you probably noticed – or maybe you didn’t.  Whatever the case, I’ll fill you in.    I’ve got a rare skin disorder that I’ve had a lot of surgeries for.  I have quite a few scars on me, primarily on my left hand and arm but elsewhere as well.  My left hand only has four fingers and there’s some unusual looking skin around my fingernails.  Some kids think it’s “gross.”  Some adults think having 22 surgeries is “brave.”  I think it’s neither.  It is simply life the way God arranged for me to have it.

I don’t really know where I stand on this theologically.  Some say that God doesn’t desire for any of His children to endure the pain and struggles of physical or mental imperfection, be that through Down’s Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, or through a skin disorder similar to or worse than mine.  But another part of me – the part that has lived through surgeries, skin grafts, insecurity, teasing and the like – says that God knew exactly what He was doing.  I would not be who I am today if not for those experiences and I very much feel like a part of me would have been missing.

What is it that you feel like is missing from your life?  Or on the flip side, is there some struggle you’ve faced that you see the beauty in now that you wouldn’t go back and change?  Take a minute to think about those things today. In John 10:10, Jesus says “I have come that you might have life and have it to the full.”  A good friend of mine and I describe this kind of abundant, joy-filled living as “Life” or “Living.”  In our minds, to Live is far different than to live.  Write down what you think it might mean or what it might feel like to Live.  Let God fill up those parts of you that feel missing or empty and ask Him to be able to recognize how He is using your difficulties to make you whole.

God’s Masterpieces and Coming Out of Darkness

Oct 12 – Masterpiece

What is your masterpiece?  What do you consider to be the crowning creation that you have made?  As I’m asking you the question, I don’t know that I have an answer for myself.  I think perhaps a poem I wrote awhile ago, but I’m not quite sure. 

A masterpiece holds all the glory and skill of its artist – a representative work which showcases the artist’s strengths.  As with any good art, the artist has poured a considerable portion of him or herself into that work and it carries with it a part of the artist’s identity.  One translation of Ephesians 2:10 says that “We are God’s masterpiece…”  Wow.  Me?  A masterpiece?  Yes.  I, along with the rest of the human race, am the crowning glory of God’s creation, made in His image and bearing a part of His glory inside me.  It can be very difficult to view ourselves in that light.  For reassurance of the glory God has placed in you, read Psalm 8 and take a listen to one of my favorite songs, “Anyway” by Nichole Nordeman. 

Consider the question DevoZine gives for today – If you could see the finished product, what would God’s picture of your life look like?

Oct 13 & 14 – Graffiti Art – Jesus Frees Us

Every now and then, I hear a story about someone’s random talent.  It seems there are no limits to the creativity and ability that God has put inside each one of us!  For this graffiti artist, what a gift for him to be able to turn a traditionally illegal art into a legitimate art form for God’s glory, prayerfully painting in the light of day.  In 1 Corinthians 4:5, Paul says that “[God] will bring to light what is hidden in darkness.”  Often, we have parts of our lives that we want to hide from people and from God.  We act in the dark, in secret because we know that the things we are doing dishonor God.  But when we allow Him to take control of our lives – when we begin living lives that desire to know Him more – He sheds His light on the darkest places of our lives and begins to use even our secrets to bring Him honor and glory.

This talented young man knew only a secretive, defacing art form but once God turned Caleb’s life around, his art become something to be admired in the day, enjoyed in the light for both artist and audience.  Let God take the darkness that you hide and turn it around for His glory.  Use your creative talents to bring other people into the presence of God in a way they never even considered before.  That is the beauty of creativity – we can all share in the glory of God’s creation.

Pressure Rising – Warring Voices and REALLY Trusting God

Oct 1 – Soul Pressure

Have you ever felt the kind of urges this poem talks about?  Part of you is being dragged toward this temptation, toward something you know you should stay away from for your own good.  Maybe it will do harm to your body, maybe it will put a rift between you and God, maybe it will hurt someone else – but the pull is unmistakeable.  I’ve felt it before.  So many times.  It’s so easy to spew out your anger at someone, so thrilling to do something that’s against the rules…

But then, there’s that other pull.  It’s quieter than the other one and often easier to ignore.  You’ve felt it too, haven’t you?  Part of you sees a way out, knows what you should do, who you should call, how to get away.  You want to listen to that voice but what it asks you to do is harder than the alternative.  And this voice is so soft; the other is loud, forceful even.  It turns into a battle. 

I don’t know who wins.  Sometimes we let the louder voice drive us.  But other times, our hearts and minds are ready to follow the voice of God that we recognize so clearly.

God has promised that “[he] is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).  Be ready to listen to that voice and praise God for His faithfulness to us.

Oct 2 – Freedom

I can totally identify with the author of today’s devo.  Have you ever known that God was asking you to do something you weren’t so sure about?  Maybe it was different from the path that all your friends were taking or maybe it was just different than the path you expected (and were originally hoping for).  I know that my original expectations for my life have been nowhere near where God has taken me.  His plan has been less traditional than I thought it would be and far more exhilarating.  There have been unexpected changes, bigger dreams, and more responsibility.  It has been amazing.

But there are times of waiting too.  There’s nothing like a deadline approaching to make a person nervous and uptight, especially when it involves making a major life decision or even just turning in some important paper.  What does it take to let go of that stress and allow ourselves to trust God?  A lot!  It’s really hard!

Do you believe that God can be trusted?  It’s one thing to answer “yes” to that question, but it’s another thing to live as though we trust Him.  Philippians 4:6 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Let Him lead you in His timing and allow Him to take you out of the box of your expectations.  Trust Him even when you’re afraid He won’t answer.  It won’t always be the easiest thing – it may even be the hardest – but it will always be the best.

On the Potter’s Wheel OR Your Life as Clay!

Sept 22-23 In The Potter’s Hands

I’m going to just start by saying that I LOVE the weekend article that we’re looking at today.  If you don’t have a copy of DevoZine, at least borrow one or something to check it out.  Going deeper into the metaphors God provides in the Bible is so incredibly cool!  I’ll hit some of the highlights in and around my own thoughts.

All right.  Let’s see what we have here…Here’s something I didn’t know.  We do know that potters shape the clay while it is spinning on a wheel, right?  In order to work with the clay, it has to be in the center of the wheel.  (Hmm…Funny that we should mention “centering” so recently.  Believe it or not, that was not planned beforehand.  See?  Further proof that God is cool!  )  But how does the potter know when it’s centered?  The potter knows the clay is centered on the wheel when it stops moving around.  A few weeks ago, we looked at Psalm 46 and I called special attention to Psalm 46:10 – “Be still and know that I am God.”  Find God as your center.  Place Him right in the middle of everything else in your life and you will find that He gives you the ability to be still.  Yes, to be still even when the world around you is spinning out of control.  To be still when you aren’t even sure which way is up.  And when you cannot center yourself, be still enough to allow the Potter to center you.

Next, think about the shaping of clay.  Once it has been centered on the wheel, the potter begins to hollow it out and form the lump of wet gray mess into something beautiful.  But what if the clay fought back?  “What?!” you might say.  No, really.  What if the clay fought back?  I know it takes some imagination, but what if the clay began to harden itself so the potter could do nothing with it?  Or what if the clay kept trying to shape itself into something other than what the potter wanted to make?  It sounds ridiculous when we think of a lump of clay like this but we are supposed to be that clay.  So often, I feel myself fighting back against what God is trying to do with me.  “No, God.  I don’t want to change that part of me.  I’m comfortable with the way it is!”  So may we all learn to relax in the hand of the Potter and allow Him to form us just as He wants us to be.

The next part is the hardest part – the firing.  To harden the clay into something useful, it has to be fired.  This involves placing the finished pot in a very hot oven for quite a long time.  And then once it’s taken out of the oven, it cools, is glazed, and then goes back in the oven.  It is one thing to find ourselves in the center of God.  It is one thing to learn to relax enough that the Potter can shape us according to His will.  But what about this intense heat we have to go through?  Is it really necessary?  Yes.  Because we can be shaped just right but the fire is what gives us strength.  A bowl beautifully crafted won’t do much good if it is too soft to hold anything.  So what does this fire look like?  It will be different for every person.  There will be difficult circumstances that hurt, that you have to fight through, and that push you almost to your breaking point, but God will walk with you the entire way and you will be stronger for it in the end, ready to be used for the purposes for which He created you.

And finally, we have the finished product.  We, as humans, are never completely finished.  We are always a work in progress.  This process will happen over and over agin in our lives.  Sometimes, we will find ourselves just trying to be still and find the center once again.  Other times, we will sense that God is preparing us for something wonderful ahead.  We generally recognize when the fires of life come but sometimes we forget that God uses them for His glory.  And then there are times when we will see the ways that God is using us with the form and strength He has crafted.  Sometimes, He may even allow us to peek back through the entire process and see how far we have come.

But we have this treasure [the spirit of Jesus Christ] in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.

The spirit of Christ is not inside gold vases, silver trinkets, or temple walls.  The spirit of Christ is inside of us, fragile jars of clay, though we are, and because of that, to God be the glory. 

Staying Empty and Drifting with God

Sept 20 – Unique to the Core

Hmm…After doing some additional research, apparently the difference between “pottery” and “ceramics” is not so distinct as the author today may make it seem.  However, her points are well taken – indeed, like handmade pots, no two people created by God are alike, even as much as they may look alike from the outside.

What is the purpose of a pot?  There’s pretty much only one practical use as far as I can tell – to hold something.  What if a potter made something that looked like a pot but was actually solid through and through, more like a vase-shaped sculpture?  Wouldn’t that defeat the purpose?  We are those empty pots.  God created us with space inside our hearts to be filled by him.  Jesus speaks to a woman at a well about His ability to provide her with living water, water that won’t run out (John 4:10-14).  Unfortunately, what happens so often is that we try to fill our empty lives with things other than God.  Anything we put in other than Him leaves a residue, thickening the walls of our hearts and eventually shrinking the capacity that we can hold or blocking the opening completely for God to fill us up with the Life that He brings.

So start now!  Much like the “center” conversation we had a few days ago, let God fill up your life and your heart.  Spend time with Him.  Do your best to follow Him and build your relationship with Him.  In time, you will be like David in Psalm 23 who says that his cup overflows!

Sept 21 – A Feather on the Breath of God

Floating on the wind of God – wow.  What an image.  Have you ever been unsure about something significant in your life?  Maybe it was a major test grade or wondering how your life would change after your parents divorced.  Maybe it was a fight with a close friend or moving to a new city.  Depending on where you are in life, you may have had to choose which school you were going to or what path to follow after you graduated.  Those times of uncertainty can leave you upset and wondering where God is.  But I can honestly say from my own experience, especially in the last year and a half, there are few times in life when God has the chance to show Himself as much as He does in those times.  When you’re “a feather on the breath of God,” you could end up anywhere!  God could open any door for you – you might make some new and wonderful friendships or move to a city you didn’t know you could love.  You could discover a new hobby that gets you through a tough time or find a passion you never knew you had. 

As hard as it is to wait and trust God sometimes, enjoy the ride!  You’re not the first to deal with this in-between time.  Psalm 27:14 says “Wait for ther Lord; be strong and take heart and wait on the Lord.”  It is, by far, the most exhilarating way to live and drifting on the wind of God is sure to lead you exactly where He sends you.