Turn Around

2 Corinthians 1:8-9

“As it turned out, it was the bet thing that could have happened.  Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally – not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead!  And he did it, rescued us from certain doom.  And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing.”  (MSG)

It’s moments like these that I have to shake my head in wonder at my human self.  For the past week and a half, I’ve been struggling.  Nothing near the struggles I used to know, but struggling nonetheless.  Some right decisions took a backseat to impulse, there were a few of those things I had my hands all over even though I knew I needed to be trusting in God.  It was a very typical LKB mix of trying to do too much and not doing anything at all.

I’m sure if I tried hard enough, I could pinpoint all the reasons for my straying from the path these last several days, but more than anything else it is fear.  Whether or not I realize it, and regardless of what is causing the fear, that is generally the root of this type of behavior for me. 

I’ve tried valiantly not to be too hard on myself and cut myself some slack remembering that I am a work in progress and that, comparatively, I’m still doing a heckuva lot better than I used to.  As I picked up my devotionals this morning and saw that I had missed a day or two more of reading than I’d thought, I felt some of those old feelings creeping in again.  But before I had the chance to utter any small prayer for God to help me with them, I saw highlighting on the back of page I was on for one of the devotionals.

It was this verse. 

It’s the reminder that I have to fall prey to my human tendencies to do the wrong thing now and then in order to see again and again the difference that totally and completely trusting God makes in my life.  It’s the reminder that he has rescued me from certain doom (on plenty of occasions!).  It’s the reminder that he will continue to rescue me as many times as I need rescuing.

There’s no limit to God’s love.  And there’s no limit to his mercy.  Every time I turn to run toward him, his arms are wide open, just waiting to embrace me.

Amen!  :D

On Hold

Little Meditations will be on hold for the next week or so while LKB works through this whole training for and starting new jobs, packing up two households and moving thing.

Look, It Was Your Idea

Exodus 33:12-15

I love this little gem in the story of Moses.  Moses is fed up, frustrated – he was given a job he didn’t want to do, asked to lead an ungrateful group of people with selective hearing, and constantly has to fight for them with the one who asked him to lead them!  Just after the incident with the golden calf, God tells Moses he isn’t coming with them on their journey because he’s over the Israelites’ behavior.  He even says, “I couldn’t stand being with you for even a moment – I’d destroy you.” Exodus 33:5 (MSG) 

So Moses, at the end of his rope, not only calls God out on the irony, he gives him an ultimatum.  He says, “Look, you tell me, ‘Lead this people.’ ... Don’t forget this is your people, your responsibility.”   God says, okay, “My presence will go with you.” 

“If your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call off this trip right now.”  Ex 33:13-15 (MSG)

So my boss has this great idea, gets me in on it with him, has me round up a bunch of people he know will be difficult to deal with, gets me into the middle of a project, gets tired of dealing with the people and tries to send me off on my own to finish the project with them, saying: 

“I’ll be with you in spirit...” 

“Like hell you will!  Your butt will be with me here and now and through the rest of it or else call off the whole thing.  I didn’t get into it on my own and I’m not doing it without you in the lead because this whole thing was your idea!”

I love it!  I love it because it makes God so tangible, which seldom happens  in the Old Testament.  He’s so often this large, raging, cloud, burning bush, wrathful, “Okay, fine, I won’t kill you this time,” God, that to see him in this conversation with Moses puts him on a relatable human level.  Moses is out in the hot sun with the Israelites, doing the hard work, and God just left Starbucks, coffee in hand, pulling out the keys to his BMW, trying to get off the phone with Moses, “My presence will go with you...”

How often I have felt like Moses: God, if you don’t take the lead here, then just call the whole thing off!  I have a vague idea of what I’m supposed to be doing, and I know God’s presence is here with me, but I’d really rather he take the lead and just give me clear instruction on what I am to do and where I am to go. 

But God wants me to do the better part of the work on my own.  Not because he thinks he’s better than me and would rather be cruising around in his BMW, but because he has entrusted me with a task he knows I can accomplish, even if I can’t see that I am capable of it.  He will not leave me high and dry, and as much as I love picturing God glibly saying, “I’ll be with you in spirit,” leaving me to fend for myself, the fact is that he never leaves me.  He really is with me in spirit – always has been, always will be.

So when I next catch myself feeling like Moses in the desert, wanting to throw my phone down and stomp on it in anger because I know God’s got a nice cold iced coffee in his air-conditioned BMW, I will try to remember that God’s not blowing me off.  He’s simply doing what he does, nudging me out of the nest so I can fly on my own.  He’ll never give me more than I can handle (1 Cor. 10:13), and he knows better than I do what I can handle.  He knows when he needs to make the drive out to the desert and bring me some water.

Amen!  :D

"My presence will be with you."

(Photo by Bauer Griffin)

He Knew You'd Click the Link

Psalm 139:13-16

“Body and soul, I am marvelously made!” Psalm 139:14b (MSG)

Oh, how amazing the difference in my attitude toward myself inside and out when I look in the mirror and gleefully say this verse out loud in praise to God!  In this joyful Psalm David shouts his praise to God for how wonderfully God has made him. 

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;

you formed me in my mother’s womb. 

I thank you, High God – you’re breathtaking! 

Body and soul, I am marvelously made! 

I worship in adoration – what a creation! 

You know me inside and out,

you know every bone in my body;

You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,

how I was sculpted from nothing into something. 

Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;

all the stages of my life were spread out before you,

The days of my life all prepared

before I’d even lived on day.” 

Psalm 139:13-16 (MSG)

This is a lovely bit of scripture on which I think it would be good to meditate daily.  It’s a great reminder not only of how God “marvelously” made me, but also of how he knows every single moment of every single day long before I ever encounter it.  He knew, for instance, that I would get to writing today’s meditation late because of the string of events – both good and bad – that happened this morning.  And he knew that after I worked through my emotions that I’d be in my usual spot on the couch in front of the laptop asking for inspiration while the sliding glass door was open to the screen so the kitties and I could enjoy the cool fall weather. 

I don’t want to take my moments for granted.  In that moment I spill coffee on my new shirt or that moment I ram my toe with great force into something hard and stationery, I want to smile because I know that God already knew it was going to happen and, somehow, it’s all part of a grander plan.  ...even if that part is God’s comic relief. 

Amen!  :D

He Ain't Lettin' Go

John 6:37

Near then end of my first week in treatment, a rather negative, opinionated girl came to join our community.  Fresh out of detox, she was sick as could be and the only words that came out of her mouth were complaints – usually littered with the “f-bomb” – about how awful she felt, about how much pain she was in, about how she didn’t want to be there, about how everyone was irritating her, about how she couldn’t get what she needed (*ahem* wanted).

Many of the other women in the community paid her no mind except to complain about her as she was always negative, always making our group late, and in general, just a miserable person to be around.  Another young, Spirit-filled lady and I pounced on her the first night we found her unhappy self slouched on the sidewalk by the clubhouse, wrapped in a flannel blanket, pale, shivering and sweaty, freezing and looking like death on a glorious, warm Florida evening. 

She was too sick to get away from us, and complaining or telling us to go away did her no good.  We raved about how life can get better, about the amazing things God could do, about how turning her attention and all the focus from all the bad stuff to something good, even if it was just the thought, “Today, I feel a little bit better than yesterday,” could make an incredible difference in how she entered and came through her recovery.

Queen of the “yeah, buts,” she slowly started asking questions, bringing up issues and ideas that kept her from wanting to believe in God or accept any kind of spirituality into her life.  Many of the other ladies started to see that there was something much more valuable in this young woman and came at her more from a caring mother/sister viewpoint rather than the irritated co-worker viewpoint.  My roommate took her under her wing like a child and all of us worked to show her the love she’d never had in her life. 

I’ll never forget the morning she got into the van and was as bright as the sun.  She’d figured it out, and was experiencing the newness of God’s joy.  That night she handed me a prayer she’d written about accepting Christ into her life and asked if I would find something just for her in the bible to read when we said the prayer together. 

I’m not sure why God worked it out the way he did – it’s not for me to understand – but we never got to pray that prayer.  God had me place her prayer in my bible next to the verse he’d picked just for her, but I never got to read it with her. 

Filled with this new joy and getting this new attention from the kind of people who before may never have given her the time of day, she got distracted.  She fell for one of the guys in treatment and he was good to her, which was also foreign, new and exciting.  The enemy, angry that she had thought about walking away from him reached in and grabbed her and took over just long enough to create a situation which resulted in her removal from the center. 

That night, as my roommate and I sat on our patio, praying for her, I opened my bible to where her prayer and my highlighted verse were.  The verse God had chosen clearly illustrated he knew it would be more for me than it would be for the young lady who wanted him in her life.  He knew we would never read it together, that it would be I coming back to it when I needed to hear it, to be comforted by it.  Because I knew more about the life she’d led, I had grown to love her like a part of my family, and now I watched her having been tossed back into the world unprepared.  I was worried and scared for her, understanding I may never know what happened to her.  But God pointed out to me that Jesus said,

“Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me.  And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go.” John 6:37 (MSG)

Amen.  :D

That Wasn't Thunder...

Luke 9:28-36

This passage is typically referred to as the Transfiguration of Jesus since his appearance changes while he is praying.  According to Luke, “at once” after his appearance changed, Moses and Elijah were there with him.  They likely shared wisdom, offering guidance and counsel as they talked over Jesus’ future of death and resurrection.  

The disciples, who just can’t seem to stay awake while Jesus prays on the mountain (see also Luke 22:45; Mark 14:37, 40), suddenly wake up to find their beloved Master with his new dazzling, glorified appearance standing with Moses and Elijah.  Peter, unable to contain his enthusiasm, immediately wants to capture the moment.  Not having a camera, he suggests building three memorials, one for each of the three men. 

Suddenly, a “light-radiant cloud enveloped them.” Luke 9:34a (MSG)  All of my translations but The Message end this verse saying that the disciples were afraid, frightened, even terrified as the cloud rolled over them.  Admittedly, I would be quite fearful if a cloud were to envelope me just after I saw Jesus in his glory standing and conversing with Moses and Elijah.  But The Message gave this verse a much more profound meaning for me.  It spoke to me with such an absolute reaching into my heart that I had to stop for a moment after the first time I read it.

“As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God.”

Luke 9:34b (MSG)

Having spent nearly all of my memorable life in pain, despair and depression with only brief respites of happiness or perceived joy, I know what it is to be buried in a cloud.  The idea of finding God in that cloud, the possibility of becoming aware of God in that cloud, is a source of hope for even the least hopeful.  To know that I can be buried at the center of my dark, dark storm cloud and still know that God is with me brings comfort, even if the pain is still there and the darkness has not yet given way to light.

Follow that with God speaking to me in the cloud, pointing me toward Jesus, telling me to listen to Jesus.  Listening to Jesus provides a manual for living a life not so consumed with darkness.  I didn’t always see it that way – I was too far in the cloud and too stubborn to believe there was a way out – but it is true.  It doesn’t mean no more suffering and no more pain, but it does mean peace through every trial, joy in despair, and love that knows no limits. 

As they found themselves buried in the cloud, they became deeply aware of God.  Then there was a voice out of the cloud: “This is my Son, the Chosen!  Listen to him.”

Amen!  :D



©LKB

Holy Spirit, Come on Down!

1 Corinthians 2:6-13

“No eye has seen or heard anything like this,

Never so much as imagined anything quite like it –

What God has arranged for those who love him.” 

1 Cor 2:9

This verse goes hand-in-hand with another popular verse:

“I know what I’m doing, I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.” Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG)

When I daily ask God to open my heart so that I may receive his Spirit, he gives me his peace and joy, letting me know that he is right here with me, and promising that, no matter how things may look now, he’s got great plans for me.  But in no other way than inviting the Holy Spirit into my life can I possibly fulfill God’s will and see those plans.  I can’t do it on my own.  But God gives me his spirit and:

“The life-giving Spirit brings wisdom and understanding, gives direction and builds strength, instills knowledge and fear of God.” Isaiah 11:2-3 (MSG)

That same Spirit, “not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along.”  1 Cor 2:10  That same Spirit dives into the depths of God, dives into the depths of me, and brings out the glory and the light and the love – guides me with wisdom and understanding, and strengthens me in God – if only I will ask for it!

 How awesome is that??!

I may have been baptized in the Holy Spirit years ago, but it is my job to continue asking that the Spirit stay with me.  It is all too easy to give in to the world around me, making my heart an inhospitable place for the Spirit to live.

So, Holy Spirit, I most solemnly ask that you dare to dive from the depths of God right into the depths of my soul, penetrating my core, that very first part of me which God formed, and pull those things which God has planned for me to the surface one-by-one, that I may live in his joy and peace all the days of my life.

Amen!  :D

Cuffed to God

Deuteronomy 7:7-9

“God wasn’t attracted to you and didn’t choose you because you were big and important – the fact is, there was almost nothing to you.  He did it out of sheer love, keeping the promise he made to your ancestors.  God stepped in mightily and bought you back out of that world of slavery, freed you from the iron grip of...”  Deut 7:7-8 (MSG)

It is not difficult to bring recovery themes out of many, many bible passages and verses.  The end of verse 8 lists Pharaoh as the one with the iron grip, but for those of us here, now, today, Pharaoh is any number of things.  What is it that holds me in slavery?

I spent many years as a slave to my own psychological and mental complications, a slave to being victimized by merciless bullying, a slave to feelings of unworthiness, a slave to mind-altering substances to make me forget about the rest.  Those were my Pharaohs, and darkness was my Egypt. 

Though I was initially raised in the church, at the age of nine I told my mother Jesus didn’t exist and refused to be a part of any religious activity after that for many years.  By that tender young age I already was living in such darkness that I couldn’t believe there was a God who would save me.  I had no evidence to show me he had any plans to bring me out of my slavery.  And things only grew worse over the years.

In Exodus, Moses follows God’s orders and goes back to Egypt to free the Israelites from slavery under Pharaoh.  Likely, many Israelites didn’t really know God – whether they knew of, but didn’t trust him, or had given up on him because of their life circumstances. So Moses comes back on a mission from God, and immediately, things get worse before they get better. 

Then God brings them out of Egypt, freeing them from Pharaoh.  And they proceed to wander around the desert for 40 years because they still don’t get it.  Instead of being slaves to Pharaoh, they become slaves to their desires of the flesh, things such as idol worship, complaining and worrying – oh, how they became slaves to complaining and worrying! 

Thanks to my human nature, I have the inescapable ability of becoming a slave to just about anything.  Money, food, worry, TV, exercise, work, Solitaire on my phone...  What I must strive to do, where I should put my effort, is to become a slave only to God.  I may have other things in my life, but my main focus, my priority, what in my life I serve and let have and iron grip on my life should be God. 

In the books of the New Testament, Paul, James and Jude all describe themselves as slaves to God and Jesus.  Paul even says at the beginning of Romans that he is a devoted slave of Jesus.  Over and over the New Testament authors speak to how God brought us out of darkness so we no longer have to be slaves to things of this world, but can be slaves to God, walking in his love and light and living a good life doing the right things.    

“Know this: God, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend on.  He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments.”  Deut 7:9 (MSG)

Amen!  :D

(Unable to find original source for photo credit.)

Today, I Stop and Think

Psalm 116:115

“When they arrive at the gates of death, God welcomes those who love him.”  (MSG)

I am aware that there are other dates marking great tragedies which have happened in my young lifetime, but none has impacted me because they all seem remote and foreign.  While this morning many Americans have a moment of silence to remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001, I think also of the troops who have given their lives in service to our country since.  I remember and pray for especially my very good friend who is on yet another tour of duty in the Middle East. 

I also think of the citizens of those and other countries, who have suffered unimaginable living conditions and know nothing better.  I think of peoples who have suffered mass genocide at the hands of a murderous dictator.  I think of those who have suffered torture of the most barbaric kind.  I think of those who are forced to flee as refugees into a foreign place where they may not be welcomed.  I think of those who have none of what we as Americans consider our most basic human rights and freedom.

When I stop and think about it, there are many evil awful things that happen in this world.  Which is why I generally don’t stop and think about it.  Yet on this day we pause to remember, I choose to stop and think. 

Today’s verse says at death God will welcome those who love him.  I believe this applies to all people.  Every human on earth may not know the God I know, but we all each are little pieces of God (made in his image!).  God loves every piece of himself, in death we all return to being one with him and he welcomes us all home. 

As we say during the Prayers of the People (form III out of the Book of Common Prayer) at my Episcopal church,

“We praise you for your saints who have entered into joy;
May we also come to share in your heavenly kingdom.”

Today, my prayers are with all those who lost loved ones on this day, those who have sacrificed their lives fighting for peace and those who continue to fight in service to our country.

Amen.

Breathe, Believe, Pray

James 5:13-20

“Are you hurting?  Pray.  Do you feel great?  Sing.  Are you sick?  Call the church leaders together to pray...” James 5:13 (MSG)

Very simple instructions, yet hard to remember and follow without having complete faith in God.  Incredibly difficult to follow or even know without knowing God at all.

Other than a simple prayer of, “God, help me,” praying wasn’t the first thing to which I ran when I was hurting.  My tendency was to stay stuck in self-pity, focusing on all the reasons things would never get better and not believing God would help me because I wasn’t worth it.

I’ve never had trouble singing when I feel great, but I struggled with reaching out for healing prayer.  In the last few months before going into treatment, I did go for prayer after communion the few times I made it to church.  But that was the extent of my reaching out to the church.

I’ve been prone to believing in the power of prayer – when others pray or when I pray for others.  I didn’t think there was much power in praying for myself.  Of course, how could there be if I didn’t really believe?

Yet!  “Believing-prayer will heal you, and Jesus will put you on your feet.  And if you’ve sinned, you’ll be forgiven – healed inside and out.”  James 5:15 (MSG)

The power of belief extends to the power of prayer.

In today’s society of consumerism, importance of appearance, popularity contests, political strife, etc, it is difficult to turn my eyes away from the world and focus solely on God.  I know to do so keeps my heart at peace and my worries decrease.  But, though I know he’s there, I can’t see him.  What I can see are my troubles, my bills, my state of unemployment in a bad economy...  Though I can hear him, the voice of the world is louder through friends and family, the news, etc.  I have to stop, listen and pay attention to hear him.  All the other voices are ready and available without any effort on my part at all.

In order to get to the place where I can turn away from the world and latch onto believing prayer, I must exercise.  I must hit the spiritual gym at least twice a day, morning and night.  And I must do little exercises throughout the day, always reminding myself, “Breathe.  Give it to God.”

So as I head to the unemployment office in a little bit to find out why my claim isn’t going through, I will not be anxious, worried or upset.  I will breathe, and I will give it to God.

Amen! :D 

Somewhere Between Planting and Harvest

James 5:7-8, 10-11

“You see farmers do this all the time, waiting for their valuable crops to mature, patiently letting the rain do its slow but sure work.  Be patient like that.  Stay steady and strong.” James 5:7b-8a (MSG)

I grew up with farms as neighbors, in a state covered with farmland, with farmers in my family, and kids in farming families at school.  I watched fields rotate corn, soybeans, cattle, and seasons where nothing was planted.  Farmers must know their land and how to work it in order to provide for their families and for the rest of us who go to the grocery store hoping for food to put in our stomachs. 

Farmers are dependent on the weather, which requires much patience.  My dad, who lives on a farm, updates me on how things are going both at planting and harvest time.  This year it rained so much through the spring that the farmers couldn’t get the crops out until much later than usual.  Then the weather became too dry, then too wet again...  It has been a rough farming season in the Midwest. 

But, like the old prophets, the farmers keep going.  “They put up with anything, went through everything, and never once quit...”  They have to – their lives depend on it.  And if they don’t keep going, we don’t keep eating.

James references Job’s trials and how God brought it all together for him at the end.  So, too, it is, when I work not for myself, but for God, striving to do his will and sticking it out with him through every trial, every test, every bad day, every good day, and so on. 

Even now, as I have gotten more distracted and side-tracked, too new to this whole completely trusting in God and not worrying thing not to take on human concerns, God is pulling it together for me.  Today it was as if he said to me, “Look, you know I’m in control.  Just let go and do what I am telling you to do.  Stop trying to pull it together yourself, even if you’re only trying a little.  I’ve got this.  Just do what I tell you.” 

So I am going to try much, much harder and pray all the more on my surrendering power and my ability to let go and let God and do what he tells me, “Because God cares, cares right down to the last detail.” James 5:11b (MSG) 

He’s got this.  I’ve just got to find my inner farmer and wait for God to make this crop mature, patiently letting his rain do its slow but sure work in me.  Steady and strong.

Amen!  :D

There May Be No Tomorrow

James 4:13-17

What is your life?

Don't Bruise the Word

James 4:1-12, 5:9

This goes hand in hand with gossip, but there’s a key component James includes in this instruction: “It’s God’s Word, his Message, his Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk.  You’re supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it,” James 4:11b (MSG)

As a Christian, I set an example by the way I live – the way I speak, the way I act, etc.  If I proclaim to try to love like Christ, then talk badly about someone, it only reinforces the hypocrisy which riddles Christianity and religion as it is.  Not to mention, as James says in 5:9, surely far worse things could be said about me.

Why do I complain or speak poorly about others?  Usually because they irritate me.  Sometimes it may simply be that my personality and theirs are not compatible.  Most of the time, if I really examine why someone irritates me or why I feel the need to share that irritation with others, I find that it comes back to me thinking I know how she should live her life. 

God has a plan for everyone, and I need to remember that.  Others may not think I’m doing what I should be doing, but I know that God is working in me.  I must extend that understanding to others when I am tempted to pass judgment. 

This is no easy task, especially when I see a loved one in conflict and I think I know what she could do to ease her struggling.  It is not my job to come up with her answers.  I may offer advice based on my own experience, but after that, I give it to God.  In no way should I think I’m right or that I know best.  How she comes through something may be completely different than how I would.

So yet again I will work to be careful in my speech, particularly when it comes to commentary on others’ lives.  If it isn’t helpful – and it usually isn’t – I don’t need to say it.  I will pray and lift up those in the midst of troubles instead of telling them and everyone else what they’re doing wrong and how I know how to fix it.

Amen!  :D 

One Slice of Humble Pie, Please

James 4:1-10

James has a knack for revealing flaws in the human condition.  His frustration with the new Christians is obvious.  And I Imagine he would be just as frustrated with today’s Christians. 

In this piece of scripture, James is scolding us for fighting with each other to get our own way or to get what others have that we want.  He points out that we don’t even bother asking God for whatever it is we’re after because we know it’s for the wrong reasons.

I know when I’m not doing the right thing.  That still, small voice is right there at the back of my mind telling me to stop, turn, and bring him back to the front of my mind.  He’ll knock me down to my knees, but if I humble myself before him and ask for forgiveness, he’ll lift me right back up – higher than before.

Being in recovery and familiar with the 12-step system used by many different types of groups, I know this is often stressed as the second most important component of the program.  The first is surrendering oneself, the second is humbling oneself.  I’ve heard many a voice in those groups say, “I had to get down on my knees and get humble before God.”

Pride, ego and desire leave no room for God, but open the door to the enemy.  There is no happiness in this kind of life, no fulfillment.  If I am always fighting, always trying to get my way, or always wanting what I don’t or can’t have, I will not enjoy my life. 

God wants me to enjoy life!  But I must surrender to his will for my life before I can enjoy it.

“So let God work his will in you.  Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper.  Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time.  Quit dabbling in sin.  Purify your inner life.  Quit playing the field.  Hit bottom, cry your eyes out.  Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.” James 4:7-10 (MSG)

Amen!  :D

C'mon People Now

James 3:13-18

“Live well, live wisely, live humbly.  It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts.  Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others.  It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced.  You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.” James 3:13,17-18 (MSG)

James admits that getting along with each other is hard work.  As I like to say, the world is full of magical people.  This is how I refer to special members of the human race – whether they are odd, unpleasant, of large and intrusive character...  It doesn’t matter what their human affliction (I know I have mine, too), simply referring to them as “magical people” immediately softens my heart a little toward them.  I still may not want to be around them, but it makes it a little easier to “get along” with them.

It really is such a simple concept to get along with each other!  The Youngbloods even wrote a song about it, Get Together:

“C'mon people now,
Smile on your brother
Ev'rybody get together
Try and love one another right now”

I remember growing up, my mom and I would get into an argument, neither one of us budging on our side.  Finally, she’d say, “Let’s just agree to disagree.”  Imagine foreign dignitaries ending a debate that way, then changing the conversation to how they can work together instead of hold grudges, fight wars, or secretly plan and plot to undermine one another.

And what is the best way I can work toward getting along with the rest of the human race, to be “gentle and reasonable, overflow with mercy and blessings, treat others with dignity and honor?”  Jesus, of course, has the answer:

“This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you.  This is the very best way to love.  Remember the root command: Love one another.” John 15:12, 17 (MSG, emphasis mine)  “This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples – when they see the love you have for each other.” John 13:35 (MSG)

Several times in church as a child and as an adult I’ve sung the song, They will know we are Christians by Our Love.  If I profess to be a Christian and do not love – do not walk in love, do not show love, do not spread love – then I am a very poor example of living a life in Christ.  If I gave love to everyone I met, how much easier might it be to get along? 

The Good News is that we have a new life in Christ, that he came for our salvation, he came in the name of love, loving every one regardless of social status, affliction, sin.  And God sent him in love to teach us how to live, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.” John 3:16 (NIV)

So my prayer will continue to be that God help me to walk every day in love, to get along with all others I meet along the way, and to show others how much nicer life can be by making these choices. 

Amen!  :D

You Are Beautiful and Amazing

James 3:1-12; 5:12

“A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything – or destroy it!  By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it.” James 3:5,6 (MSG)

Over and over in new age, self-help and Christian books I’ve read about the power of thought and word.  What I say can have profound impact on myself and others. 

In The Four Agreements, the first agreement is: “Be impeccable with your word.” Don Miguel Ruiz writes that, “Mostly we use the word to spread our personal poison – to express anger, jealousy, envy and hate.” (p. 33)  My words are poison when I use them negatively.  Gossip spreads poison.  If I speak unfavorably about someone, it can change others’ views of that person and it can make that person feel badly if she takes it to heart. 

Growing up, I heard over and over again at school and at home that I didn’t do things right.  Whether it was because I didn’t do them the way someone else thought I should or because I kept getting into trouble, I did things “wrong.”  I came to expect I would be a constant disappointment.  As a result, the idea took root and I struggled with it into adulthood.  I always have been much harder on myself than I need to be.  And if based on what I’d learned from experience I thought I didn’t do something “right,” I felt like a failure. 

This was a heavy and unnecessary burden for me to carry.  That root thought tainted every aspect of my life.  Fear of failure, Fear of what others would think about me if I screwed up, fear of consequences for doing even the smallest thing wrong.

All unnecessary.

I try to think carefully about what I say now.  When others gossip or talk negatively about someone, I try not to engage and/or I try to change the topic.  I’m not perfect – I don’t succeed at this 100% of the time, but I try.  I try to tell people good things I see about them, to encourage and spread positive energy.

If I, as a Christian, aim to walk like Christ, then my mission is to bring people up, not tear them down.  Consider Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42.  Martha, frustrated with doing work in the kitchen by herself, comes out and tells Jesus to scold Mary and send her to help.  Martha felt that Mary was doing the wrong thing because she was out with the men instead of in the kitchen.  Jesus, rather than scold Mary, pointed out to Martha that Mary was not in the wrong because she wanted to learn from him.  Martha could have torn Mary down, made her feel inferior, perhaps even given punishment for not doing what Martha thought was the right thing.  Jesus, on the other hand, gave it a different perspective, lifting Mary up and restoring her sense that what she did was okay. 

I have to be conscious of what I say and how I use my words.  My words can ruin the world or make it a better place.  It’s up to me to choose the words which make this a better life to live.

Amen!  :D 

Just Do It

James 2:14-26

“Faith without works is dead.” James 2:26 (NAB)  This is another one of those bits of scripture that I’ve heard over and over.

“Dear friends, do you think you’ll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything?  Isn’t it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense?” James 2:14, 17 (MSG)

As I am going through this period of great spiritual growth, I have to look around and ask myself, “Where are my works?”  God has been calling me to go volunteer somewhere while I have this time without a job, but I have yet to do it.  Though it’s on my list, I tend to forget until I look at my list later in the day when it is too late to call.  Today, however, I will make a call to schedule myself for volunteering somewhere early next week. 

I can’t very well be writing and conversing about all this amazing stuff God is sharing with me, yet spend the majority of my time hanging out in my apartment with myself.  I’m not doing anything.  And I am not solidifying my faith by adding works.  Imagine how much stronger and more on fire I would be if I were out doing something good with a purpose!

In James 2:25, he refers to, “That seamless unity of believing and doing.” (MSG)  It is a unity, and my relationship with God can only be made more fulfilling by completing that unity and getting myself into doing along with my believing.

“For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”  James 2:26 (NAB)

I’m gonna get out there and DO.

Amen!  :D

Working with Habitat for Humanity

Here, Take My Seat

James 1:26 – 2:13; 5:4-6

I am fortunate never to have been homeless or dressed in rags.  Yet I have been subject to different treatment based on my outward appearance.  Whether it was as a teenager with my particular style of dress, or now as an adult just dealing with other adults and their assumptions, it never feels good to be treated differently. 

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31 (NIV)  It’s the golden rule.  Even in my public kindergarten class I remember learning it.  “For if you refuse to act kindly, you can hardly expect to be treated kindly.” James 2:13 (MSG)

The town in which I was raised was very much all about appearance and social status.  As far as I knew, the people in my town were mostly upper-middle-class or higher.  And I remember kids at school who weren’t would do anything to make it seem as though they were to avoid the persecution of other students.

What so warped my childhood perception of Christianity was the behavior of the kids at my Catholic elementary school and the members of our church parish.  These were people who would make the homeless person sit at the back, if they let him in at all.  And my peers were mercilessly mean to me and anyone else who didn’t quite fit in. 

I believe that, in conjunction with the heart that God gave me, is the reason why I have compassion for others, and why I always try to be kind, even if I am uncomfortable or I really don’t feel like it. 

So I’m going to keep trying.  To keep making people feel like they are on an even-playing field, that they are no different than the rest of us in spite of what outward appearance may suggest.  After all, we are all made in the image and likeness of God.

And, “He chose the world’s down-and-out as the kingdom’s first citizens, with full rights and privileges.  This kingdom is promised to anyone who loves God.” James 2:5 (MSG)

Amen!  :D

The Real Miracle-Gro

James 1:19-25

“In simple humility, let our gardener, God, landscape you with the Word, making a salvation-garden of your life.” James 1:21b (MSG)

I love the imagery in this verse.  All the ways to describe God: Shepherd, Father, Creator, Comforter...  Gardener.  I can see God, knees in the soil, no gloves because he likes to get his hands dirty, gently tending his garden.  He carefully plants seeds, pulls weeds, waters and provides sunlight to his plants.  In the parable of the scattered seed (Mark 4:1-20), Jesus compares believers to planted seeds.  He related the strength of the believer’s dedication and faith to the type of soil in which the seed landed.  The good soil represents the Word of God, and the seeds that land in the good soil and take root will thrive. 

If I take root in God’s Word and let him mold me through what I read in the Good Book, I will have communion with God and my life will have joy.  But I have to be sure I am not merely reading and reflecting on what I read.  If I do not put what I learn into action, I’m not doing God’s will, and I will not have his joy.   

“Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and [immediately forget] who they are, what they look like.” James 1:23-24 (MSG) 

My memory is less than stellar these days.  I need to write everything down.  If I have a meeting, an appointment, lunch with a friend, or anything outside my ‘normal’ routine, I must write it down and stick it on my bathroom mirror or I will forget.  I put some things into the calendar on my phone to alert me if it happens later in the day and I haven’t been by my mirror in awhile.  I also do not retain information well unless I have studied and studied a certain subject or read a book several times. 

So it delights me to no end to find I am remembering more and more verses from the bible – even if I don’t know the book, chapter and verse numbers that go with them.  Between time spent with God’s Word, making notes of particular verses and writing these devotions, the Good Stuff is starting to stick.

I’m getting good instruction and I’m allowing God to landscape me with his Word.  I’m taking root in the good soil and taking it with me when I step away from the Good Book.  The next step is ensuring that I am acting on what I am learning. 

Amen!  :D

I remember my dad making me work in the garden, too.  :)