A rut well-worn by our travels

So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God. Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it. (Philippians 3:12-13)

Sin has a way of wearing a path in our lives. We don't even realize it, but there is a 'groove' worn as we continue to follow the same old patterns. Much like the elephant pegged to the ground, sin wears away a groove we seem to just contentedly walk around within. We allow a worn path in our lives when we go through the process of the repetitive actions of a particular habit or sin. It may take a little effort to get out of the rut if we have been traveling in that rutted path for a long time. But...Jesus doesn't leave us in the rut, nor does he limit us in anyway. He totally removes all the reminders of the bondage - but we have to change our thought pattern about our bondage. We need to realize we are free! 

The elephant doesn't realize he is free - because he has accepted his position around that staked chain. If we want to be free, we need to be enabled to be free (shackles / bondage removed) and then we need to be "authorized" to take the steps outside of that place of bondage (enabled again and again until we learn to walk in our freedom). The elephant may need a little goading to move beyond the rutted pathway - we might just need the same! No freedom comes without a little work on our part. Jesus does the "lion's share" of the work - enabling us to be free and then authorizing us to live in that freedom. Our part is to take the first step into that freedom. 

No first step ever ends with just one step - we must continue to walk away from the rutted path. Until we learn to stop returning to the place of our bondage, we won't be truly free. Remember this - there is no stake or shackle left in that place, but the rut may remain. The shackles have been fully removed. When we return to the place of our bondage, it is because we remember it well. The rut isn't easily forgotten because it is so 'well-worn'. We need to have our remembrance changed! This is why God reminds us of the importance of the daily renewing of our thoughts - in order to begin to form a new view of our place of bondage - as something we don't really need or want to return to ever again. It would be silly for us to stand around in the same place forever just because it was a well-worn path when all the shackles have been removed which held us in that spot for so long. 

So, let's allow the Holy Spirit to change our remembrance of the spot of our bondage and help us to form new memories of our liberty! The path may have been well-worn by our frequent travels into that sinful pattern or habit, but God has provided a new path for us to travel. We just need to step out of the rut long enough to enjoy it! Just sayin!

All the kings horses...

The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. (Ernest Hemingway)

What are some of your worst 'broken places'? Maybe you have been 'broken' in the place we call the 'heart' - someone disappointing you so badly that you just have never fully healed. Perhaps it is in the place we call the 'spirit of man' - something occurring that just shredded your confidence and left you not wanting to ever try again. You and I both have broken places, but they don't have to be places where brokenness remains. There is hope for restoration beyond what we imagine possible when Jesus touches those places.

The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time. For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous; not one of them is broken! (Psalm 34:17-20)

We might believe the 'damage' is permanent, but the moment we ask Jesus to take over that 'damaged place', the healing begins. If what Hemingway proposes is true, that the world actually does 'break' everyone, then it is also true that ALL of us need some 'putting back together' from time to time. When we allow Christ to heal those broken places, we come away stronger than we were before. Not because we have formed 'callouses' in those places, but because whatever debris was there from the hurt is removed, not just covered over.

It was Hemingway that also reminds us, "When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you... Then, when you are badly wounded the first time, you lose that illusion, and you know it can happen to you." We might think we are never going to experience the brokenness we work so hard to avoid, but it is all an illusion. At some point, like it or not, we will experience that broken place. If you haven't realized it already, broken places are God's opportunities. Just sayin!

Inside the box?

Let's be frank here - we need to learn to walk together in unity. I think we all know how truly difficult it is to actually be and stay in unity. Deep, intimate relationships require a different commitment than mere acquaintances. Friendships help to sustain us and keep us on track. How we view each relationship tells us a little bit about what we may actually invest into and take away from those relationships. We may find some actually are an ordeal for us because they demand more than we want to really put into them, but does that make them unnecessary relationships? Some may seem like a big deal to us, but does that make them worthy of special attention while neglecting others? Other relationships seem like they are kind of ideal, almost making us want to be exclusionary within those relationships, but doesn't that isolate us from the other types of relationships which might actually help us chip away some of the rough edges in our character? I think we might just need all three!

You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17 MSG)

While connection is important, reconnection is sometimes more important! I don't believe God wants us to isolate ourselves from those relationships which are kind of an ordeal for us - because they have something within them we need to learn. Relationships which we might classify as an "ordeal" are those which seem to always be extremely severe in their ability to "test" us in some fashion. We actually need this "testing" in order to develop some trait we might not have developed any other way. To neglect these "severe" relationships is to cut ourselves us from the very thing we need for our growth. How do we "reconnect" with someone whose relationship with us has become a big ordeal and with whom we may have chosen to just pull away rather than make the effort to stay connected?

It takes some real courage to even admit you have pulled away. When two people deal with the "hard" parts of relationship by saying it is too big of an ordeal to actually work on the things pulling them apart, there is an opportunity to allow those "hard parts" to actually smooth off some rough edges in our character. One of the things which drives a wedge between two people quicker than you might imagine is when either of us become defensive in the relationship. When stuff is too hard to deal with at the moment, it is very easy to get a little defensive about our behavior and choics. We might imagine another's focus on something in our lives as a little too intrusive and even a little "nit-picky". Regardless, defenses go up and we get nowhere when these walls just remain in place.

If we don't recognize the "walls" quickly, we will allow them to be reinforced by future actions and responses to behaviors within the relationship. Fear causes us to become defensive - we don't like being exposed, so we build up what we believe will "cover over" the area we feel the most exposed within. Walls might be manifest by being overtly sarcastic with another - allowing the sarcasm to take the focus off the area for just a little bit. Another method of wall-erecting is when we push others away with our anger. A wall drives people away - most will not choose to "scale the wall", but will be turned away by it! It is the rare friend who will actually make the effort to scale the wall and a real friend who will help you dismantle it once they get on the other side of that huge wall!

Dealing with others in relationship requires the ability to see things as the other person sees them. This is why I like the idea of using a friend as a "sounding board" of sorts. I bounce ideas off a friend because the friend actually might just not be seeing things quite the way I do at the moment. Some of us need someone outside of our "box" to help us see there are choices outside of the box we have been confined within. All we can see is the inside of the box, we will never know what the outside holds for us. A friend can help us see things from the outside of the box - giving us perspective we do not possess on our own. Some of the toughest relationships require us to see things outside of our box. If you stop to think about it, a box is really just another set of walls we have established. The walls of a box only serve to confine us - the ability to break free from the confines of seeing things only from your limited perspective is not just healthy, it is wise!

When you actually can see things another sees and the way they see them, you are breaking down walls which would have otherwise torn you apart. Part of seeing things the way another sees them is the ability to allow the things which have become "wedge drivers" within the relationship to be removed. Where there is no wedge, the distance between two objects is free to return to being joined again. Just sayin!

A stirring stick

The journey you travel - what does it look like for you today? Some of us have been on a dead-end journey for a while, kind of just going along, but not really getting to anywhere worth all the effort. It is indeed hard to correct a course when it has been going along for quite some time, even when it is not getting us to where we want to be, isn't it? It is like we get way too comfortable just plodding along on that journey - not really satisfied, but comfortable because we 'know' the course well. When we say 'yes' to Jesus, we find ourselves making some immediate course corrections, and others come along the way that we didn't even know we'd be asked to make, but we make them. The first ones may be a little easier than the latter - maybe because we are experiencing God's grace and redeeming power in a very special way at that point in our lives. When the latter course corrections have to come, we may not be as excited about them because they will be a little harder, getting at a little deeper stuff in our character that we have buried, denied, or even not really know was there. Those are the hard corrections, but they are also some of the most rewarding.

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God. (I Peter 1:18-19)

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God - that pretty well sums it up, doesn't it? This 'deep consciousness' isn't just instantaneous in our lives. Conscious appreciation of all that God asks of us and how he works in our lives is kind of a 'learned thing'. You have to keep exposing yourself to it and then eventually it kind of 'sticks'. I watched a show the other night that was a little 'gross' in terms of what this African tribe does to stay well nourished in the barrenness of the desert. They actually 'blood-let' their cattle and mix that blood with the cow's milk and then drink it. While it absolutely made me gag to even think of such a thing, I observed something quite interesting. They took a stick and stirred the cow's blood vigorously for a good few minutes. During that time, the 'solid parts' of the blood began to congeal and stick to the sides of that stick. That congealed part was good food for the dogs, but it wasn't what they consumed. They consumed what was left - the 'purer' parts of the blood. The stick and stirring did something - it brought together the stuff that wasn't needed and then it could easily be removed from the mixture. 

In many ways, the consciousness we maintain in our journey with God is kind of like having a big stick constantly 'stirring up' the stuff in us that doesn't belong and needs to be removed from the 'mixture' in our lives. As we think upon his scriptures, enjoying quiet time in his presence, and then talk with him about the things he is showing us, the stick is stirring and the 'not so good parts' of our lives are beginning to cling together. In time, because of our continual consciousness of him and his presence, we can actually see the things being 'removed' from our lives that don't really serve any good purpose for our journey. The stirring of our lives is oftentimes something we resist - we don't like things being 'disrupted'. I have said this before, but it bears repeating - God disturbs our present because he is preparing us for our future. Out of chaos he brings order. We may not know what needs to be removed from our lives, but along the way, God stirs and stirs. In time, those things we have held onto for so long begin to 'hold onto' his 'stirring stick' and then at the point when he knows the things we need to let go of are firmly attached to the 'stirring stick', he takes them away and we are left with nothing but the best. It is hard to be 'stirred', but considering what happens when we are, I think the stirring process is kind of neat! Just sayin!

What are you banking on?

Have you ever thought of your heart as a vault of sorts? It is more like a vault than anything else, because we oftentimes hide things away there forever and ever - our special treasures and sometimes our 'special non-treasures' that we might not really want to let go of! Look at what God's Word does when it enters our hearts. I think we often don't give credit to God for the work he does in the "changing" of our hearts - through his Word and times with him. We sometimes just think he is "mending" our hearts, but as you soon come to realize, simple mending by anyone other than a skilled surgeon leaves us leaking! He replaces those hard hearts with pliable ones, diseased with healthy, and empties those that need a little 'cleaning out' in order to be whole.

I've banked your promises in the vault of my heart so I won't sin myself bankrupt.  (Psalm 119:11)

Today I might focus on the importance of allowing the Word to affect our heart (mind, will and emotions), as a guide for our steps, an owner's manual of sorts. I could on how our hearts are like a piggy-bank, since we are to "deposit" the Word in our hearts in much the same manner as we would our pennies into a bank. If I used that image of our hearts, you'd get the impression that the Word is something that we need to "put into" our hearts - allowing it to multiply until we see the "yield" on the investment. If we see our hearts as an image of an empty vault it gives us the impression that a heart without God's Word tucked inside is simply a vault without content - a place to hold something of great value, but not filled!

All are suggestive of exactly what God expects for his Word to do within each of us. Yet, those illustrations did not catch my eye as much as one of a heart mended that had once been torn, worn, and left rejected. Getting the Word "into" our hearts is easy - allowing it to "heal" or "affect" our hearts is another. It is much the same as with the foods we take into our bodies - we can stuff ourselves full of food, but some of it has more nutritional value than others. Why is that? Simply because it is something our body needs at that moment in time. Our bodies have a unique way of using what they need and then laying up stores of resources for later use, discarding what they cannot use at all.

The Word of God is that way - it can be taken into our minds (hearts) in huge quantities, and then one little thing will begin to work on our hearts. That "little thing" is more powerful than a double-edged sword. It begins to do the work of the skilled surgeon! The result is health in our mind and emotions. What makes the difference is the "skill" of the one who is "working the Word" into our hearts. Try as we might, we are unable to be our own "surgeons" when it comes to healing our emotions. We need the skill of our Lord to accomplish that feat! The "stores" of God's Word accomplish a great deal in our lives. God starts with the preparation of the heart - so it will be able to contain what is taken in, using it to accomplish the work the Word is intended to do, and then holding it up in reserve for those times when we will need it again and again. God is the one that mends (heals) the heart - mind, will, and emotions. His skillful touches don't leave our hearts "leaking". Instead, they leave us feeling like we have "new" hearts!

God is skillful in his timing - he brings to light his Word in just the right time! He is like the surgeon calling for each instrument in the operating room in just the right order. One instrument accomplishes the task that will lead to the next, until the finished product is a healed heart. His work is consistent - he doesn't stop short of healing! All we could possibly do in our own efforts to mend the disappointments of our past is just that - a mending job. Some of our hearts look like patchwork quilts! Here a mend, there a mend, everywhere a mend, mend, mend. God is not in the work of mending - he is in the work of making new! I've seen this in so many ways in my own life. I went through divorce - laying up years of resentment and bitterness over the many disappointments of my marriage. He did the work of taking his Word into the recesses of my mind, will and emotions (my heart). In turn, those resentments were cut away, that bitterness was cauterized so it could bleed no more. In the end, the work of the Word in his hand brought newness - no more "leaking" heart here! I faced medical diagnoses that almost crippled me with fear. His Word challenged my heart to beat harder for him than ever before. Peace invaded my mind, overcame my shaky emotions, and let me pass through those times with grace and peace.

His Word - hid in our hearts - is a very precious gift. His Word - skillfully applied by the guidance of his hand - is a healing touch. His Word - laid up by regular intake - is a reserve for times when leanness would threaten to wreak havoc in our emotions. His Word - powerful provision! His Word - purposeful protection! Don't "bankrupt" yourself! Get it in; allow it to be used by him to bring about healing! Just sayin!