“The joy of the LORD is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10)
I tend to agree with C. S. Lewis when he said, “I’m not sure God wants us to be happy.” But God does want us to be joyful – there’s a difference. Happiness often depends on happenings, circumstances, and feelings, but joy depends only on Jesus. Like Paul, we can learn to be content in any and every situation because we “can do everything through him who gives [us] strength.” (Philippians 4:13) It’s God’s joy that empowers us – He has a limitless supply from which we can draw every day, every moment.
Eugene Peterson’s update on Solomon’s wisdom encourages us to “make the most of what God gives, both the bounty and the capacity to enjoy it, accepting what's given and delighting in the work. It's God's gift! God deals out joy in the present, the now.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19 – 20). There are over two hundred references to joy in God’s word . . . “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.” (Psalm 28:7) Veggie Tales has a catchy little song that summarizes this verse succinctly – “a thankful heart is a happy heart.” Joy also has a way of rubbing off on others. Mother Teresa said that joy is “a net of love by which you can catch souls.”
Wherever the journey takes us, we can enjoy the scenery as we go. No matter what today’s circumstances look like, there’s always something beautiful to admire, something to be thankful for, and something to look forward to! Enjoying the scenery is a choice, and a secure choice, because God’s tender compassions are new every morning; his stability and faithfulness are abundant (Lamentations 3:23).
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
prepare the right equipment
“May the God of peace . . . equip you with everything good for doing his will” (Hebrews 13:20 – 21)
Anything worth doing is worth doing well. We’ve all heard that, and it’s good advice that is worded like this in the book of Colossians – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” In order to run well the race set before us, we need to prepare the right equipment. Running with the wrong equipment can result in needless injuries, lost opportunities, eroded confidence, dashed expectations, and frustrated plans.
So what kind of equipment do we need? God has given us some very special pieces of equipment that are available to every believer. They’re variously known as “spiritual practices”, “spiritual exercises”, or “spiritual disciplines.” Richard Foster provides a list of 12 spiritual disciplines in his classic work, “The Celebration of Discipline,” that believers have practiced over the centuries:
• Inward disciplines – meditation, prayer, fasting, study
• Outward disciplines – simplicity, solitude, submission, service
• Corporate disciplines – confession, worship, guidance, celebration
Each of these warrants indepth study and attention, but even brief consideration of each of these disciplines can prod us into action. Foster’s book opens with, “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. The classic Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths.” Doubtless, each of us practice some of these disciplines more than others, and it’s good to regularly consider each one because we all get into ruts.
The word “discipline” captures the idea that there is something we need to do in order to get the full benefit from this equipment that has been made available to us. We can grow in our ability to utilize to the fullest extent any piece of equipment (whether a paintbrush, camera, or spiritual discipline), with instruction and repeated use. Optimal physical health requires us to proactively pay attention to daily things like diet and exercise, instead of just reacting to problems when they crop up. Similarly, optimal spiritual health requires us to pay attention to regular practices, instead of relying only on mountaintop experiences with God. Spiritual disciplines help us to walk by faith and not by sight; spiritual disciplines help us to live more consistent and victorious lives; spiritual disciplines help us to be proactive, not reactive; spiritual disciplines fill up the wells from which we can draw. As we grow in our practice of the spiritual disciplines, we will be better equipped and ready for whatever terrain God sets before us.
Anything worth doing is worth doing well. We’ve all heard that, and it’s good advice that is worded like this in the book of Colossians – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord.” In order to run well the race set before us, we need to prepare the right equipment. Running with the wrong equipment can result in needless injuries, lost opportunities, eroded confidence, dashed expectations, and frustrated plans.
So what kind of equipment do we need? God has given us some very special pieces of equipment that are available to every believer. They’re variously known as “spiritual practices”, “spiritual exercises”, or “spiritual disciplines.” Richard Foster provides a list of 12 spiritual disciplines in his classic work, “The Celebration of Discipline,” that believers have practiced over the centuries:
• Inward disciplines – meditation, prayer, fasting, study
• Outward disciplines – simplicity, solitude, submission, service
• Corporate disciplines – confession, worship, guidance, celebration
Each of these warrants indepth study and attention, but even brief consideration of each of these disciplines can prod us into action. Foster’s book opens with, “Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people. The classic Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths.” Doubtless, each of us practice some of these disciplines more than others, and it’s good to regularly consider each one because we all get into ruts.
The word “discipline” captures the idea that there is something we need to do in order to get the full benefit from this equipment that has been made available to us. We can grow in our ability to utilize to the fullest extent any piece of equipment (whether a paintbrush, camera, or spiritual discipline), with instruction and repeated use. Optimal physical health requires us to proactively pay attention to daily things like diet and exercise, instead of just reacting to problems when they crop up. Similarly, optimal spiritual health requires us to pay attention to regular practices, instead of relying only on mountaintop experiences with God. Spiritual disciplines help us to walk by faith and not by sight; spiritual disciplines help us to live more consistent and victorious lives; spiritual disciplines help us to be proactive, not reactive; spiritual disciplines fill up the wells from which we can draw. As we grow in our practice of the spiritual disciplines, we will be better equipped and ready for whatever terrain God sets before us.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
get in shape
“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39)
I don’t know if you’ve ever had this misunderstanding, but for many years when I read the words in this verse, I would reinterpret them in my brain as “Love your neighbor,” leaving off the last two key words, “as yourself.” Anagrams I encountered in my youth like “J-O-Y = Jesus – Others – You” only compounded my misunderstanding. I’ve come to realize over the years that while it sounds very noble and good to focus on loving others, it isn’t the full picture of what Jesus said to do. He instructed us to love others as ourselves, i.e. to love others in the same manner in which we love ourselves. The Message version puts it this way: “Love others as well as you love yourself.” If we are generous in loving ourselves, we will be able to love others generously. If we are stingy or neglectful in loving ourselves, we won’t be able to love others well. We can’t give what we don’t have.
That’s not to say that we should live narcissistic and conceited lives. That’s not love. Love is beautifully defined for us in 1 Corinthians 13, and has nothing to do with self-absorption, and everything to do with God’s nature. God is in His very essence – love.
One of the banes of our existence in the 21st century is our ability to artificially prop ourselves up for extended periods of time in order to cover over our neglectful ways of not loving ourselves properly. Not getting enough sleep? Drink more coffee! Too busy to spend much time with loved ones? Have quality time! Too many things on the schedule? Multitask! Can’t fit in a “quiet time”? Do it on the fly! Too rushed to prepare healthful meals? Take more vitamins! Sooner or later these things will catch up with us and we’ll find our wells depleted. Jesus promised believers that “streams of living water will flow from within” us. This living water is for us and for others. Let’s get in shape by loving ourselves well so that as we encounter others along our courses, we’ll have something to give them – God’s water of life.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had this misunderstanding, but for many years when I read the words in this verse, I would reinterpret them in my brain as “Love your neighbor,” leaving off the last two key words, “as yourself.” Anagrams I encountered in my youth like “J-O-Y = Jesus – Others – You” only compounded my misunderstanding. I’ve come to realize over the years that while it sounds very noble and good to focus on loving others, it isn’t the full picture of what Jesus said to do. He instructed us to love others as ourselves, i.e. to love others in the same manner in which we love ourselves. The Message version puts it this way: “Love others as well as you love yourself.” If we are generous in loving ourselves, we will be able to love others generously. If we are stingy or neglectful in loving ourselves, we won’t be able to love others well. We can’t give what we don’t have.
That’s not to say that we should live narcissistic and conceited lives. That’s not love. Love is beautifully defined for us in 1 Corinthians 13, and has nothing to do with self-absorption, and everything to do with God’s nature. God is in His very essence – love.
One of the banes of our existence in the 21st century is our ability to artificially prop ourselves up for extended periods of time in order to cover over our neglectful ways of not loving ourselves properly. Not getting enough sleep? Drink more coffee! Too busy to spend much time with loved ones? Have quality time! Too many things on the schedule? Multitask! Can’t fit in a “quiet time”? Do it on the fly! Too rushed to prepare healthful meals? Take more vitamins! Sooner or later these things will catch up with us and we’ll find our wells depleted. Jesus promised believers that “streams of living water will flow from within” us. This living water is for us and for others. Let’s get in shape by loving ourselves well so that as we encounter others along our courses, we’ll have something to give them – God’s water of life.
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