I'm only up to Day 3, so I have some catching up to do. Two sentences from Day 2 have stuck in my mind. They are:
If your faith is based on what God is doing, you are in for the scariest ride of your life.
And
Genuine faith walks steadfastly with God for the pleasure of his company, not for his results.
Plenty there to think about, wouldn't you agree?
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Goodness me
Goodness is a little harder for me to get a handle on than kindness was. I've had to stop and think what is even meant by the word good. The phrase that keeps coming to me is: God is good. He defines and illustrates goodness. He IS goodness. So, then, everything that comes from him or has its source in him is what we would call "goodness." That would include things like truth, justice, love, fidelity, honor--all in their purest, most untainted forms. The good stuff is the God stuff.
When the Spirit works goodness in us, it shows itself as zeal for the good things of God. And because the world doesn't always love the good things of God (like truth, justice, or fidelity) and in fact is often an active enemy of the goodness of God, zeal for God's goodness sets us in opposition to some of the things this world (and we as creatures of this world) holds dear. For that reason, sticking up for goodness or doing goodness can mean confronting the "badness" in ourselves and this world. As Beth said, that is not often comfortable or pleasant, and it can get downright ugly unless accompanied by the tender kindness of a soft heart.
That's why my prayer now is that along with zeal for the good things of God, the Spirit will give me kindness. And along with a tender heart, he will give me the backbone to make no compromises with evil.
When the Spirit works goodness in us, it shows itself as zeal for the good things of God. And because the world doesn't always love the good things of God (like truth, justice, or fidelity) and in fact is often an active enemy of the goodness of God, zeal for God's goodness sets us in opposition to some of the things this world (and we as creatures of this world) holds dear. For that reason, sticking up for goodness or doing goodness can mean confronting the "badness" in ourselves and this world. As Beth said, that is not often comfortable or pleasant, and it can get downright ugly unless accompanied by the tender kindness of a soft heart.
That's why my prayer now is that along with zeal for the good things of God, the Spirit will give me kindness. And along with a tender heart, he will give me the backbone to make no compromises with evil.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Kindness, nurture, a tender heart
You can't be a Christian for very long or be around Christianity without hearing that God is love. It's the heart of everything in Christianity. It's why God has anything to do with us. But love is a big word, and even that most wonderful description of God's devotion to us can get to feeling almost impersonal and far-off and matter-of-fact. That's why I appreciate this week's focus on kindness, which takes the word love and puts it into pictures.
We see God the nurturing parent who knows our needs better than we do and generously provides. He takes us by the arm, he heals us, he fills our mouths with good things, he leads us to the well of salvation, he uses his mighty arm to save, he delights in us, he quiets us with his love, he rejoices over us with singing. He will never forget us. His heart is tender toward us, even more tender than a mother gazing with love on her baby.
As Jesus gathers the little children to him and blesses them, we see a heart soft with love. Of all the artwork depicting Christ, the scenes of him blessing the children are my favorite. And when I look more closely at that picture, I see myself there, too, with his hand on MY head.
It's worth thinking about: how and when have you seen and experienced the tender heart of God?
We see God the nurturing parent who knows our needs better than we do and generously provides. He takes us by the arm, he heals us, he fills our mouths with good things, he leads us to the well of salvation, he uses his mighty arm to save, he delights in us, he quiets us with his love, he rejoices over us with singing. He will never forget us. His heart is tender toward us, even more tender than a mother gazing with love on her baby.
As Jesus gathers the little children to him and blesses them, we see a heart soft with love. Of all the artwork depicting Christ, the scenes of him blessing the children are my favorite. And when I look more closely at that picture, I see myself there, too, with his hand on MY head.
It's worth thinking about: how and when have you seen and experienced the tender heart of God?
Monday, February 18, 2008
Barriers to Being Patient
Sunday's video on patience introduced another Greek word: anecho, which the Bible translates as bearing with. It encompasses both "holding up" and "holding back." That got me thinking. "Holding back" is SO hard to do! The temptation is strong to "let it all out" when we're frustrated with someone or we think they're wrong.
Being a mom is not good training in holding back. The second our kids start getting out of hand, we're on 'em like hounds on a meat bone. Sometimes that's a good thing; I don't want to wait till every last person in the 8 o'clock service is wide awake thanks to my kid's noise before I shush her or wait till a playmate's nose is bloody before I curtail my kid's hitting, but sometimes my action is more out of my personal frustration (or being worried what people will think of me) than a desire to lovingly train my child.
Moms are conditioned to take action, not to wait. And I daresay we're frustrated a lot. :-) Put those two together, and there might not be a whole lot of anecho-ing going on in our lives.
My question is why. Why is it so hard to hold back?
I think maybe (personal opinion here) a "take action" and "it's my responsibility" mindset encourages and masks control issues. I think we have a hard time with restraint, with forbearance, with patience, because we have a hard time letting go of control, a hard time letting God's Spirit lead us and fill us--a hard time letting God be God.
Chew that around for awhile. What do you think? Does it make sense?
Being a mom is not good training in holding back. The second our kids start getting out of hand, we're on 'em like hounds on a meat bone. Sometimes that's a good thing; I don't want to wait till every last person in the 8 o'clock service is wide awake thanks to my kid's noise before I shush her or wait till a playmate's nose is bloody before I curtail my kid's hitting, but sometimes my action is more out of my personal frustration (or being worried what people will think of me) than a desire to lovingly train my child.
Moms are conditioned to take action, not to wait. And I daresay we're frustrated a lot. :-) Put those two together, and there might not be a whole lot of anecho-ing going on in our lives.
My question is why. Why is it so hard to hold back?
I think maybe (personal opinion here) a "take action" and "it's my responsibility" mindset encourages and masks control issues. I think we have a hard time with restraint, with forbearance, with patience, because we have a hard time letting go of control, a hard time letting God's Spirit lead us and fill us--a hard time letting God be God.
Chew that around for awhile. What do you think? Does it make sense?
Saturday, February 16, 2008
A Clean Slate
My favorite verse from Day 5's homework is Psalm 85:2-3:
You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sin.
You set aside ALL your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.
Maybe because I grew up around a lot of anger, I so appreciate knowing that God, who has good reason to treat me with anger because of the damage I've done to his precious creation--including myself--has set aside ALL of his justifiable wrath.
Taking it a step further is Ephesians 3:12: In him (Christ Jesus) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
I learned early and well to be afraid of approaching certain people and certain circumstances because I had so often been met with anger, either in someone else or in myself. I learned that it was safer to stay back. But this verse says that hanging back from God is not necessary--there is no longer any anger in him toward me. Because of Jesus, I have the freedom to come to God boldly, knowing that I am welcome and loved and wanted. And he won't be mad at me! What a blessed relief!
You forgave the iniquity of your people
and covered all their sin.
You set aside ALL your wrath
and turned from your fierce anger.
Maybe because I grew up around a lot of anger, I so appreciate knowing that God, who has good reason to treat me with anger because of the damage I've done to his precious creation--including myself--has set aside ALL of his justifiable wrath.
Taking it a step further is Ephesians 3:12: In him (Christ Jesus) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
I learned early and well to be afraid of approaching certain people and certain circumstances because I had so often been met with anger, either in someone else or in myself. I learned that it was safer to stay back. But this verse says that hanging back from God is not necessary--there is no longer any anger in him toward me. Because of Jesus, I have the freedom to come to God boldly, knowing that I am welcome and loved and wanted. And he won't be mad at me! What a blessed relief!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Help, I've fallen behind and I can't catch up...
Actually, I'm doing okay now since I finally had a free morning in which to work on my study, but it's been a packed week. And also I'm finding myself in a strange place of having not much to say--like I need to sit quietly and listen, to turn over in my mind the ideas I'm reading about, maybe to watch and see what's really going on in my life and heart. It seems that God wants me to contemplate more deeply how this patience thing fits or doesn't fit into my world right now.
What about you? What speed bump have you encountered lately in your thoughts? What has God continued to bring back to the front of your mind, as if he wants you to take some time there?
What about you? What speed bump have you encountered lately in your thoughts? What has God continued to bring back to the front of your mind, as if he wants you to take some time there?
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
He himself is our peace
Some of you know that I'm a theology buff. I'm no great theologian myself, but I love reading and thinking about what the great theologians have written. A huge theme in Lutheran theology is the distinction between Law and Gospel--the difference between rules and grace. The homework for Day 2 reminded me of this dichotomy because it talks about the source of peace. We learned that peace on earth comes from peace with God. Because we are reconciled with God, the "unpeace" that pervades and taints our world can begin to be erased and will someday be totally gone. That's the gospel--the Good News--that Jesus Christ is in himself reconciling us to God. Our peace comes at the price of Christ's blood.
So that's the Gospel side of it: Jesus Christ is our peace with God. But what about the Law side of it? What does that have to do with peace?
Frankly, I think there are two ways to live life: focused on Gospel (the mercy of God poured out on us by faith in Jesus to bring us peace) or focused on Law. Another way of saying it is: focused on Grace or focused on Performance. 'Cause that's what Law is--performance orientation, always looking at ourselves and others to see how we're doing, whether we measure up to some standard. Performance orientation breeds comparison and guilt and pressure and expectations and disappointment. It makes us uptight and leery of sharing ourselves. I'm not saying we should never look at performance. Sure, we should evaluate ourselves for the purpose of following Christ more closely and for repentance and for learning to love others better, but the question is where we LIVE. Do we LIVE in grace or do we LIVE in law? Which characterizes our thoughts and behavior towards ourselves, others, and God? If our focus is Law--performance, measuring, comparing--peace will be elusive. Peace DOES NOT COME from the Law. Peace comes from Gospel--from the rich gift of God's mercy to forgive us and no longer judge us based on our performance. God's love and acceptance of us are not based on what we do or how we do or whether we do. By works of the Law will no one be saved...it is by grace we are saved through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is the Gift Of God. We have been freed from slavery to impossible performance standards. We can stop obsessing over grading everybody all the time. We're FREE. We're at peace; God has called us Beloved. We walk in the light of love, not the gloom of failed efforts to earn a good grade from God.
All of the good stuff--love, joy, PEACE--comes by grace. So if peace is hard to find, kick that old condemning law back where it belongs and bask in the warmth's of God's unconditional acceptance and love for us in Christ Jesus.
So that's the Gospel side of it: Jesus Christ is our peace with God. But what about the Law side of it? What does that have to do with peace?
Frankly, I think there are two ways to live life: focused on Gospel (the mercy of God poured out on us by faith in Jesus to bring us peace) or focused on Law. Another way of saying it is: focused on Grace or focused on Performance. 'Cause that's what Law is--performance orientation, always looking at ourselves and others to see how we're doing, whether we measure up to some standard. Performance orientation breeds comparison and guilt and pressure and expectations and disappointment. It makes us uptight and leery of sharing ourselves. I'm not saying we should never look at performance. Sure, we should evaluate ourselves for the purpose of following Christ more closely and for repentance and for learning to love others better, but the question is where we LIVE. Do we LIVE in grace or do we LIVE in law? Which characterizes our thoughts and behavior towards ourselves, others, and God? If our focus is Law--performance, measuring, comparing--peace will be elusive. Peace DOES NOT COME from the Law. Peace comes from Gospel--from the rich gift of God's mercy to forgive us and no longer judge us based on our performance. God's love and acceptance of us are not based on what we do or how we do or whether we do. By works of the Law will no one be saved...it is by grace we are saved through faith, and this not of ourselves, it is the Gift Of God. We have been freed from slavery to impossible performance standards. We can stop obsessing over grading everybody all the time. We're FREE. We're at peace; God has called us Beloved. We walk in the light of love, not the gloom of failed efforts to earn a good grade from God.
All of the good stuff--love, joy, PEACE--comes by grace. So if peace is hard to find, kick that old condemning law back where it belongs and bask in the warmth's of God's unconditional acceptance and love for us in Christ Jesus.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Peace and Unpeace
Job 3:25-26 provides what Beth considers a good description of the absence of peace. It says,
"What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness
I have no rest, but only turmoil."
A friend of mine calls this state of turmoil "unpeace." It's that feeling of something being not quite right, something out of whack, something that won't let the hackles of your soul lie down and rest. Usually it's a little nagging worm squirming around in your subconscious so that you might not have any idea what the cause is, much less what to do about it. Instead of immediately trying to figure out the source of the unpeace or trying to medicate it away (chocolate, anyone? shopping?), my friend believes that unpeace is a gong to get our attention and call us to go running back to the Father's arms. There, as nowhere else, we can find the true roots of our unpeace and have them dealt with perfectly. In his lap, we find courage for self-examination and self-disclosure, security for repentance, comfort for our wounds, assurance for our fears, forgiveness of our wrongs--restoration with our King.
So, as the Muslims have their call to prayer several times a day during Ramadan, we have a call to run to God in prayer, too, every time we recognize that nagging drag of unpeace.
What do you think of that idea?
"What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness
I have no rest, but only turmoil."
A friend of mine calls this state of turmoil "unpeace." It's that feeling of something being not quite right, something out of whack, something that won't let the hackles of your soul lie down and rest. Usually it's a little nagging worm squirming around in your subconscious so that you might not have any idea what the cause is, much less what to do about it. Instead of immediately trying to figure out the source of the unpeace or trying to medicate it away (chocolate, anyone? shopping?), my friend believes that unpeace is a gong to get our attention and call us to go running back to the Father's arms. There, as nowhere else, we can find the true roots of our unpeace and have them dealt with perfectly. In his lap, we find courage for self-examination and self-disclosure, security for repentance, comfort for our wounds, assurance for our fears, forgiveness of our wrongs--restoration with our King.
So, as the Muslims have their call to prayer several times a day during Ramadan, we have a call to run to God in prayer, too, every time we recognize that nagging drag of unpeace.
What do you think of that idea?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
A message that bears repeating
After being reminded in Bible study that there is a real kingdom and a real king and that in Christ we are royal heirs, this is what Becky saw when she went to pick up her son from Sunday School:
Isn't that so cool? The crown says, "Jesus is my King." Can you picture it? All those little cherubs in Sunday School, hearing that they are beloved princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God at the very same time we women (not so little and maybe not quite so cherubic) hear the same wonderful, amazing good news in our class. I guess God wants to make sure we get the picture! ;-)
May we, like little children, rejoice shamelessly in our royal heritage!
Thanks for sharing this, Becky. I think I'm feelin' a little of that throbbing and swelling Beth talked about; God is so good and faithful, isn't he?
Isn't that so cool? The crown says, "Jesus is my King." Can you picture it? All those little cherubs in Sunday School, hearing that they are beloved princes and princesses in the Kingdom of God at the very same time we women (not so little and maybe not quite so cherubic) hear the same wonderful, amazing good news in our class. I guess God wants to make sure we get the picture! ;-)
May we, like little children, rejoice shamelessly in our royal heritage!
Thanks for sharing this, Becky. I think I'm feelin' a little of that throbbing and swelling Beth talked about; God is so good and faithful, isn't he?
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