We don't need longer ropes

God isn't looking for us to serve him out of duty, but out of enthusiasm. How many times do we find ourselves caught up in 'service', but there is a total lack of enthusiasm behind it? In fact, it is more or less what we'd refer to as 'duty'. Passion is lacking. There is no real heartfelt commitment to the project ahead of us - it is performed by rote or meaningless repetitive action. A hard thing for me to learn is that we don't lose our passion or enthusiasm, we actually leave it. We walk away from our passion - not quickly, mind you, but little by little, subtly drifting away from the very thing that once ignited a great passion within us. Most of us don't need more of God in our lives - we just need to realize where there has been this subtle change in our focus.

Call out with joy to the Lord, all the earth. Be glad as you serve the Lord. Come before Him with songs of joy. Know that the Lord is God. It is He Who made us, and not we ourselves. We are His people and the sheep of His field. Go into His gates giving thanks and into His holy place with praise. Give thanks to Him. Honor His name. For the Lord is good. His loving-kindness lasts forever. And He is faithful to all people and to all their children-to-come. (Psalm 100)

We have forgotten what it is like to actually 'go into his gates' because we have allowed ourselves the 'latitude' to skip a day here and there in our daily devotions. We have no idea just how many days it has been now, but we know we never intended for that separation to happen. We don't find ourselves moved by song any longer, tuning out even the memories of how much we were actually lifted in times of singing psalms and hymns of praise. We aren't calling out any longer, not because we have forgotten how, but perhaps because we are so used to just doing things on our own now that we don't even think God may have a different plan for us.

I rented a fishing boat last year with my grandsons in hopes of doing a little lake fishing. What I discovered is that unless the motor was actually on and we were moving in some fashion, the 'drift' of the boat would be toward shoreline. It took us away from the safety of the deeper waters and into the rocks and reeds without much effort at all. This is something we need to realize in our spiritual lives, as well. If we don't keep the motor running, drift will occur! You might ask me why I didn't put down anchor and just enjoy the fishing a while. I tried! The anchor didn't reach bottom, so the drift still occurred! There was an anchor onboard, but the 'line' wasn't long enough to keep us safe from the drift.

Passion isn't reignited in one magical moment in time and then it remains forevermore. Passion must be stoked! It must be guarded so that drift doesn't occur. Every now and again I had to rev the motor a little, carefully propelling the boat into deeper spaces again so that we'd be safe from the rocks and reeds. Every day we need to ensure our passion is fueled - not every now and again! We may have a good anchor in our faith, but if the line is too short to give the anchor good 'footing' to hold onto, drift is going to occur. We don't need longer ropes, friends. Just sayin!

Current strong?

It was the late Woodrow Wilson who said, "The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it." I imagine there are more than a few individuals in my circle of influence today who feel like they are swimming against the current - toughing it out and trying to battle to the other side. A long time ago, I learned if you'd 'tie off' on one side of the river to a sturdy tree or large rock, you could use the momentum of the river's current to carry you across to the other side, all while still tethered to the anchor on the side you were abandoning. That tether could serve as the guide to help others get across, because you would solidly secure it to the opposite side of the strong current's flow on the other riverbank. The next behind you could then 'tether on' and be guided safely across. Many times we are the ones taking the first risk to cross those troublesome currents of life, but as long as our anchor is secure, we can prepare the way for others!

Disaster strikes like a cyclone and the wicked are whirled away. But the good man has a strong anchor. (Proverbs 10:25 MSG)

The strength of the current doesn't have to be our worry when we have solid anchor. The current can toss us to and fro a bit, but as long as the anchor is firm, we are going to weather the tossing. The current serves the purpose of pushing us to our limits and then it requires we allow God to show us where our limits end and his take over! The moment we try to navigate the current without that anchor, the current is free to exercise a great deal more 'liberty' with where it takes us, what we brush up against, and how frequently we 'go under'. The current doesn't change - the anchor just changes the 'influence' of the current upon us.

We all have varying degrees of 'strong anchors' we have trusted in over the course of our lifetime, some of which have proven to be unstable in the face of the strength of the current itself. The current exerted enough pressure against the ANCHOR that the 'hold' was broken. The captain of a large sailing vessel wouldn't expect a 12 inch rock tied to a length of rope to even begin to 'hold steady' the vessel against the current's strength. The size of the anchor is equally as important as the strength of the current against which it must give anchorage! We sometimes trust in 'anchors' that are less than trustworthy - like money or talent. While both are capable of giving us 'security' for a while, they can both be very untrustworthy anchors.

There is but one solid anchor to which we must 'tie on' as we face the currents of life. That anchor isn't crafted out of anything material or even taken from nature. It is Christ and Christ alone. There is not stronger or more secure anchor than the cross! Just sayin!

Boast only...

“Whoever boasts should boast only about the Lord.” What people say about themselves means nothing. What counts is whether the Lord says they have done well. 

(2 Corinthians 10:17-18 ERV)

Someone once reminded me my present issues and troubles don't determine where my life is headed - they merely make up the place where I can start (or perhaps even start again). I think they may have been quoting Nido Qubein who also reminds us, "Change brings opportunity."  As a novice using Excel spreadsheets, I built spreadsheets and workbooks of data only to find the elements I needed to extract from that plethora of data were so jumbled up I could not really get much meaningful data out of that mess. Over time, I came to realize the significance of not only the data housed in these sheets, but how it was organized in order to make meaningful use of it later on. In life, we often know we are supposed to do something with what it is we have right in front of us, but it is just such a jumbled mess we don't know how to go about it. We want to scrap it all and just get a fresh start. If I had scrapped all those worksheets of data, I'd have to start all that data entry again. Often all we really need in life is a "restructuring" of that which is right in front of us and we can go in a totally different direction than wherever it was we were headed.

In terms of what we say about ourselves while we are in the muddle of a mess we have created often determines how we will look at the mess as defining our destination, or describing the place we "begin again". Seeing "opportunity" in the midst of a mess is harder than one might imagine - because most of us have a tendency to get caught up in the mess. Yet, it is in observing these "disguised opportunities" as "launching pads" that help to drive us to our next destination, not keep us anchored where we are, that we finally move onto the journey that reveals the opportunity hidden deep within that mess! The ideal is that we don't get bogged down in the muddle, but that we see it as a place of beginning or beginning again. The reality is that the muddle clouds our view of the possibilities ahead.

If we could master one thing in life, we'd be all the better for it. What is that one thing? It is that we learn not to boast about ourselves when we are 'doing well', or bemoan the mess we are in because of our actions that bespeak us 'not doing so well'. We are to boast and hope in the Lord - for he is Lord IN and OVER the muddle and mess as much as he is the Lord IN and OVER all the stuff we find pleasing and orderly in our lives. It is in keeping this perspective that we can determine to make the mess a launching pad and not an anchor. Just sayin!

Fact check it

Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind. As a result, you will be able to discern what God wills and whatever God finds good, pleasing, and complete.  (Romans 12:2 VOICE)

Something will "mold" our beliefs, morals, and ultimately our choices as we make our way through this world. We often have very little idea we are actually being "molded" in one way or another - it so subtle that we likely don't even notice the changes to begin with.  It isn't until we finally step back, taking in the totality of the change, that we see just how much we have been affected by the environment we are in, the people we are with, or the things we have allowed "into" our minds such as media messages. I saw a post the other day declaring that if you weigh a certain weight on earth, you'd weigh somewhere close to one-third that weight on Mars - so that meant we were living on the wrong planet!  

While this was intended as humor, you can see that the thought is it is easier to jest about being overweight on earth, wishing we could move to the red planet, and just not have to deal with it there! We may not have to "deal with it" on another planet because it wouldn't "report" on the scale as the same weight, but would we really be any different in total body mass there?  No. We just have a different set of "input" by which we now view ourselves.

Lots of times we find the "viewpoint" that conforms to what we want to believe or hear, rather than seeking the viewpoint that might make us a little uncomfortable, or creates enough sense of unease in our lives that we actually begin to deal with whatever has been molding us into what it is we have become. When we do this, we lose ourselves in whatever it is we are trying to actually avoid facing - we are no longer resisting the "molding" - we are becoming what we are most influenced by in life. 

I frequently engage in performing "fact checks" in my own life. I want to make sure I am seeing things as I should, not just changing my viewpoint to make it look as though I am on the right path. That is why I advocate "fact checking" against reliable and consistent sources - such as scripture. If it said it once, it will say it again - I just need to figure out if I am listening to it, embracing it, and allowing it to transform my life (mold me) and not the other things or people who might want to influence me in a certain direction. When I see drift, I have one of two choices - get back on course with what scripture declares; or allow the drift to continue. It is impossible to stay where I am at - either I anchor deeply into truth, or I will drift aimlessly - there is no middle ground. Truthfully, we never just "stay where we are" - drift means we are not anchored at all!

As hard as it may be to go back to the facts, comparing my present condition or performance against what scripture declares or commands, it is well worth the effort. When we do, we are doing more than just moving onto a new place where we won't look or feel all that bad, such as the one who wants to move to Mars. We are moving out of a place where we shouldn't have been in the first place, but which we drifted into because we were being molded by some influence either inside of us, or external to us which we didn't see at first. Sometimes facing reality is hard - but when facing it head-on brings us back to "anchor" in life, it is well worth the "reality check". Just sayin!

The Eagle, The Globe and The Anchor

³⁰ Even young people become worn out and get tired.  Even the best of them trip and fall.  ³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will receive new strength. 
   They will fly as high as eagles. They will run and not get tired. 
      They will walk and not grow weak.

(Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV)

I wonder how much we know about the United States Marine Corp's emblem.  I listened to a mother on the radio yesterday describing her son's pursuit for the coveted emblem of honor - showing he had completed his grueling basic training as a new U.S. Marine recruit.  She was so alone in her loneliness, not knowing the status of her son's latest achievements, his struggles, or the state of his health.  As she drove to work (an hour long commute in the Michigan area), she was overwhelmed by the "God moment" she experienced - so much so that she had to pull over to the shoulder and just revel in the beauty of his touch.  You see, as a Marine Recruit, her son's focus was to obtain the coveted Eagle, Globe and Anchor.  As a mom, praying for her son's welfare, God sent an Eagle across her path, soaring right in front of her car.  There she sat, wondering about his well-being, and God reinforced that he was with her son in his pursuit!  We serve an awesome God!

As I continued my commute to work, that young man's pursuit of the Eagle, Globe and Anchor began to speak to me about who God is in our lives.  You see, first and foremost, he is like the wings beneath us - quickly taking us from the pits of our despair, into the heights of his presence - much like the Eagle.  It is his Eagle-Sharp vision that targets the enemies of our soul and makes nothing more than prey of them.  It is his ability to view things from the vantage point high above life's situations that gives us perspective that we never would have otherwise.  So, as this young man is pursuing his Eagle - let us pursue ours!

The Globe portion of this emblem spoke to me about the fact that God is our "world".  He becomes the center of our existence - in fact, he is the very thing around which we find our world rotating!  In thinking this through, I began to see that God calls us to be "all in" with him - in turn, he commits to being "all in" with us.  He becomes our world!  He becomes that which gives us footing, sustains us, and meets our every need.  I think my message to that mother with a hurting heart for his war-bound son is simply this:  "He is all in with Jesus - Jesus is all in with him!"  He will sustain him, encourage him, and found him on a firm footing.  My message to each of you is the same!

Last, but not least, this young recruit is pursuing the Anchor.  Need I say more than that God is the thing that holds us steady when all around seems to be at unrest, pounding waves seek to carry us into the currents of depression, the hurricanes of disease threaten our peace, or the drifting of the lazy currents of apathy catch us unaware of our drift.  God is an anchor like no other.  His steadfast attention to every detail of our lives, every threat to our walk, is what we hold onto today.  

Lest we forget the most important words of this emblem - lodged securely in the beak of the Eagle:  Semper Fidelis - the meaning speaks volumes!  The words are "Always Faithful".  Now, what could describe our God better than those two words?  Nothing!  He is the one, always faithful, always there, always watchful over our lives!  

This young recruit may be pursuing the honor of the emblem of the Eagle, Globe and Anchor.  We are pursuing the honor of knowing the Eagle, the Creator of the World, and the Anchor of our Souls.  So, "recruit", what about you?  Are you pursuing the honor of the "corp" of the Chosen of the Most High?  If so, you are indeed honored to bear the emblem of the Eagle, the Globe, and the Anchor of your Soul!