You drowning?

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. (Havelock Ellis)

At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)

What do you hold onto what actually weighs you down? A drowning man seeks to be free of all that adds weight to his body - shoes, jacket, shirt, and even pocket change! Why? It will drag him down - creating extra 'drag' on his body. Learning what creates 'drag' in our lives versus what liberates us to move freely is sometimes quite a challenge. We hold onto what God says we should give up and then wonder why we don't seem to have the 'capacity' to take on what he wants to give us next. 

I know this seems simplistic, but when God deals with something in our lives, he is asking us to give it over to him. Does this mean it will never surface again as a memory or 'tempting force'? No, but just because the man sees his shed shirt and jacket come to the surface once again, it doesn't mean he has to put them on! He shed them for a reason, and he needs to remember all he did to be rid of their 'drag' in his life. He also remembers what his end goal is - to be rescued, placed on dry ground, and living without encumbrances.

The drowning man clings to that which gives him buoyancy and lets go of what weighs him down. We cannot cling to both - one will pull us down if we don't rid ourselves of it. Christ's goal is to give us 'buoyancy' in this walk. When he asks us to let go of something, it is meant to be a means of finding that 'buoyancy'. When we let go of what gives us 'buoyancy' and reach again for what will just pull us down, we struggle to keep going until we let go again and reach for his hands once more. Just sayin!

A little 'parenting' lesson

The Lord shows mercy and is kind. He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love. He will not always accuse us, and he will not be angry forever. He has not punished us as our sins should be punished; he has not repaid us for the evil we have done. As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is his love for those who respect him. He has taken our sins away from us as far as the east is from west. (Psalm 103:8-12)

I find it very good news that God does not punish us as our sins should be punished. As a parent, I often considered the ill-behavior of my children and found myself in a quandary as to how to 'punish' the ill behavior. There were even times I'd ask the offended party to name the punishment for the offending party - as though a brother or sister who was angry with the other was the right one to pick the punishment! I even tried asking the ill-behaving child to pick their own punishment on occasion. I guess I was out of options at that point - sorry kids. God doesn't relish punishing bad behavior any more than we did as parents. In fact, he would rather we just listen closely, obey the first time, and avoid the need for any 'corrective action' within our lives. Doesn't that sound familiar? The amazing thing about our 'heavenly parent' is that he doesn't need to seek advice on what to do when our behavior isn't quite up to snuff. 

God knows very well that our own consciences can be the greatest 'punishment' any of us can endure. We act incorrectly, realize our behavior was directly the opposite of what God would have desired, and we begin to 'feel' the pain of our choices. Why? Our conscience begins to 'condemn' us. We begin to feel the 'inward disapproval' of our actions caused by the tugging of our conscience. The good news is that we don't have to wallow in our condemnation - we can bring our misguided deeds to God and lay them out before him. As we do, we begin to find an easing of those feelings of 'internal disapproval'. Why? God is restoring us inwardly. Confession is really a means of inward restoration - the renewing of our minds. The feelings may take a while to follow, but what God sets in motion is sure to come to fruition.

When I asked one of my children to determine the 'right punishment' for something their sibling had done against them, such as breaking one of their favorite toys, it usually ended in a good outcome. I guess I am fortunate this way because they were more reasonable and forgiving of each other than I would have wanted them to be at that moment of frustration in my life as a parent. I was caught up in the emotion of their adverse behavior - they were caught up in doing what I asked them to do - forgive one another and show each other the love and respect of siblings. As I witnessed how 'lenient' they were toward one another, I began to realize just how 'lenient' God has been with me, as well. My bad behavior throughout the years could have 'deserved' much worse 'punishment', but somehow God's grace provided for a much 'lesser' punishment. 

We don't 'deserve' forgiveness - but it is rendered all the same. We don't 'deserve' leniency - but it comes our way time after time. We don't 'deserve' to be loved - but love involves risk and God risked it all to show us how much we are each loved so very much. Bask in his love today - let your conscience be healed - and then begin to embrace him fully. Restoration begins in realizing just how deeply we are loved. Just sayin!

Garbage pick-up day

There are times we all feel like quitting. We also have heard the words of Vince Lombardi, "Winners don't quit and quitters don't win." Another quote goes something along the line, "Quitters are good losers." Nobody wants to be labeled a loser, nor do the want to really be at the point of being so 'under water' that they feel they have no other choice than to just walk away. So, we keep plugging along, hoping not to be labeled as a quitter, trying hard not to be thought of as a loser in some fashion. I think God may look at us, realize our desire to quit, and then somehow begin to meet this despondency with his provision. In those moments, what we do with what he gives us matters. We can embrace his provision, or we can continue to stumble along as we have been doing. The choice we make in those moments will determine our outcome.

God gives a hand to those down on their luck, gives a fresh start to those ready to quit. (Psalm 145:14)

Robert Ingersoll once said, "Happiness is not a reward - its a consequence. Suffering is not a punishment - its a result." We base so much on what we label "happiness", don't we? It is something we find ourselves caught in a constant circle of 'next moves' in order to try to realize it. There are indeed times when we think we will never be "happy" - but look at the quote again. It is a "consequence" - an outcome of something we do, or perhaps don't do in life. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is to make a "fresh start" with what we have been given. We take the pieces we have left, pick them (and ourselves) back up, and move forward in obedience. Thank goodness for the "fresh starts" we get in life! If it were not for these, where would we each be?

God GIVES a hand to those down on their luck. It is an extension of his grace which "turns the tide" for us. No amount of self-effort or self-determination is the answer to really getting the "fresh start" we all want - it is a matter of God GIVING us the fresh-start we often don't even deserve. Whenever we think of someone "down on their luck", we think of an individual enduring a whole lot of suffering because a whole lot of bad things are happening to the individual. Look at what Ingersoll said - Suffering is not a punishment! So, what is the intended result of suffering? Often, it is to make us open to receiving afresh something God intends for us to possess, but which we have been too preoccupied to receive!

God uses the results of our suffering to open us afresh to his GIVING touch - he didn't want us to suffer, but he will use it to bring out something beautiful in our lives. He extends his touch to us in our times of highest accomplishment, our moments of gleeful celebration, and even our moments of being at 'our worst'. The fact remains, we are probably the MOST open to his "giving" when we are experiencing our greatest sense of need - those times when we are in our greatest moments of suffering! We have to begin to embrace need as an opportunity for a fresh start - for our hearts, minds, and wills to be open to the fresh touch of God.

Quitters don't win and winners don't quit. A valuable idiom indeed, yet flawed! Here's the flaw - winning often begins when we finally quit! Sometimes we can be so wrapped up in the efforts of trying to NOT quit, missing the very point God wants us to see - WE need to lay whatever it is we have been holding onto so long down so he can finally give us what he desires for us to hold in its place! Stop holding on - in letting go, we EMPTY our hands so they can be refilled with what God intends for them to be filled with! It is only empty hands which can be filled! A fresh start begins with an end. When we come to an "end", God stands ready to GIVE us another "start".  We can never make too many starts in life. Vince Lombardi also said, "The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have." Sometimes the best we can do with what we have is to lay it down! When we finally yield it to God's touch, we find the very thing we possess may be the very thing which "possessed" us - consuming us in ways God never intended. Want a fresh start? It begins today in us emptying ourselves so we might be open to receive exactly what God intends to GIVE us in order to launch us into the "newness" of a fresh beginning. Just sayin!

More than a hug

Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, represents not only a characteristic we develop, but a person - the person of Jesus Christ. The very life of Christ was a display of wisdom by which we can pattern our daily walk. We are reminded frequently of the importance of choosing wisdom over any other action - all other action paling in comparison to the one directed toward embracing both the person and trait of Wisdom. We are told, "When you find me, you find life, real life" - these words point us directly to Jesus. In him, we find all the things in life we label as "good" and "real". There is nothing as fulfilling as coming into relationship with Jesus. Yet, so many of us live far below what we would really call a "fulfilled" life - we just don't "feel" fulfilled. Why is that? Well, we might just find out that we have not embraced God's ways as we should - this is key to experiencing God's fullness every day of our lives. 

"So, my dear friends, listen carefully; those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely; don't squander your precious life. Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me, awake and ready for me each morning, alert and responsive as I start my day's work. When you find me, you find life, real life, to say nothing of God's good pleasure. But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul; when you reject me, you're flirting with death." (Proverbs 8:32-36)

The concept of embracing involves the idea that we take something with eagerness, excitement, and anticipation. There is a gladness in accepting what is offered and a willingness to allow ourselves to come close to what we are embracing - almost like taking it to ourselves in such a way that we become one with it. God's promise to us is that if we embrace him, he embraces us back (we become one) - and his embrace carries with it more than just physical comfort. God's embrace carries with it "blessing" - the sense of knowing that we are safe, secure, and sheltered. When we understand that God values a daily "embrace" as much as we do, we find ourselves eager to run to him. It is as we come to him with listening ears, awake and ready for him each morning, we find real life and his good pleasure. There is nothing more that God desires of us than to be alert and responsive. 

Alertness involves being ready and prepared for action. Responsiveness involves responding readily to what God shows us. Think about an embrace. When we reach out to another human being in embrace, aren't we hoping to find that person as open and responsive to our embrace as we are - ready and totally prepared for the embrace? God is no different - he is waiting each morning - arms outstretched. His hope: That we will respond readily to him - prepared for the action he will call us to be involved in that day. Today, the willingness to embrace God in a responsive and alert way may not come as easily as it will two or three week's down the road - but do it anyway. Yield some of yourself to him today and ask him to show you how to live a life of discipline and learning. Then faithfully return each day - reaching out with an "embracing" heart - open to what God has for you each new day. In turn, God's embrace begins to become the thing we cannot live without. It may be a little uncomfortable at first, but a thing of blessing as we practice his embrace more and more.

We can squander away our time on all the "agenda items" we have lined up for our day - things we have labeled as "important", "urgent", or "requires attention". God is not an agenda item - he is a relationship. At first, you may have to "pencil him in" - but, in time, he will become your first priority even before you step out to "check off" the things of your day.
God knows that we have a need to experience affection - not just the physical kind we find in relationship with others - but the 'spiritual' kind we find no other place than in times where we are embraced by God himself! Think of how much more God wants to fill us up with the good things we can enjoy as a matter of being embraced by him! His arms are waiting - are you ready to be embraced today? Embrace on!

Me, me first!

33 They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?” 34 The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest. 35 He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.” 

(Mark 9:33-35 MSG)

Sometimes silence 'says' it all! There is nothing more 'convicting' than to be called out for one's behavior, is there? When it is done in a kind fashion, out of love and with grace, we can embrace it pretty well, right? To be 'called out' because we are too self-absorbed to see the needs around us is kind of hard at times, but we all have a tendency to drift into the 'what about me' kind of moments and need a little nudge to get back to the 'its not all about me' mode!

Over the past week we have been considering prayer - the life of communication and maintained connection. Service to others stems from times of just being in God's presence, sensing his heart, and then acting upon what it is we sense. The closer we get to him in our times of connected communion, the more we see others and the less we will see ourselves! How does that work? God has a way of turning us 'outward' when all we want to do is turn 'inward'. It is a process of transformation that really is accomplished in small exchanges of his grace.

Servants are 'grace-filled' individuals. They have a way of sensing or noticing the needs of others and are inwardly driven to meet that need. Do you know what Jesus used as an illustration to his disciples when he said these words? He brought a small child into the center of the room and simply embraced him. There is something within service that embraces another - it is one wrapping their arms around another, surrounding them in all the grace-filled way that individual needs.

Grace embraces. Pride pushes away. Grace engages. Pride pits one against the other. Grace entreats. Pride portrays impatience. We cannot embrace with full arms. We cannot engage unless we really look and listen. We cannot entreat if our lips or attitude convey we have no time or interest. It is as we commune with God throughout the day that our pride begins to receive little pin pricks of conviction. It is there we can lay down those things that push others away and open ourselves up to giving those grace embraces just like we have repeatedly been receiving from Jesus all day long! Just sayin!

Therein I find love

They invented hugs to let people know you love them without saying anything. (Bil Keane)

Many of us grew up reading the Sunday funnies and pouring over "Family Circus" - Bil being the faithful creator of that cartoon regular. Many times the scene was one big quarter sheet spread, depicting some element of family life that we all associated with, such as the fiasco of trying to pack up the car for the summer vacation, or the gathering of family around the Christmas tree to open presents all the while remembering the reason we celebrate the season. Did you know it continues in syndication today because his son, Jeff, has taken up the pen to keep it going? Mr. Keane had one very special way of helping us to connect the "reality" of family life with the need we all have for understanding, acceptance, and compassionate love. Many of his cartoon depictions showed family members being embraced by each other - revealing a tremendous truth that each of us longs to be embraced in that hug that tells us we are loved exactly as we are!

This I declare, that he alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I am trusting him. For he rescues you from every trap and protects you from the fatal plague. He will shield you with his wings! They will shelter you. His faithful promises are your armor. Now you don’t need to be afraid of the dark anymore, nor fear the dangers of the day; nor dread the plagues of darkness, nor disasters in the morning. (Psalm 91:2-6 TLB)

I think the wings of a mother hen depict how God brings us close to his heart. As a mother hen spreads her wings, the little chicks can burrow deep within the softest place of her feathers and find not only warmth from her protective embrace, but it as though they become one. The chicks are no longer visible, for the overshadowing protection of those wings helps them be absorbed into the very image she presents to all who would see her. In much the same way, God embraces us under the shelter of his wings - helping us to know both shelter from the coolness of this hard life as it oftentimes can present itself, but also to help us become one with him - so as others look upon us they only see him!

Mr. Keane also reminded us, "A hug is like a boomerang - you get it back right away." God's hugs aren't going to linger forever, but we definitely know when we have experienced his embrace! We are pulled in, held close, if even for a short while, and then we are released with a deeper sense of his love and approval. This won't be a long post this morning, because I just wanted to remind us of the importance of nestling into his wings, but not to neglect the importance of sharing those hugs with those in our lives who have made a difference. Don't neglect to embrace those who need to have a difference made, as well! Just sayin!

Not just a night light

Some of humankind hated the light. They scampered hurriedly back into the darkness where vices thrive and wickedness flourishes. Those who abandon deceit and embrace what is true, they will enter into the light where it will be clear that all their deeds come from God.  (John 3:20-21 VOICE)

As a child, some of us absolutely hated the dark. We wanted nightlights left on, the door to our rooms to remain open, and some even would not fall asleep unless the radio was lightly playing in the background. Why? Light dismissed some of the shadows of darkness. An open door assured us we weren't totally alone as someone was readily within calling distance. The noise on the radio masked those noises of night we all hear from time to time, like the creaking of a house settling, the noise the furnace makes when it comes on, etc. All in all, it was still nighttime; it was still dark. We just did thing that made it seem "less dark" and "less fearful". Truth be known, we cannot change darkness - we only do things to make it "less dark" in our lives.

In the realm of our spiritual life, we can take a number of measures to ensure we have some light in our life. Perhaps we go to church on Sundays, hear a good sermon, and even nod in agreement with the speaker. We get exposed to a little light at that moment in time, but unless we take that sermon into our hearts and minds, allowing it to change the way we live out our lives, it was merely a glimpse into the light. We can even take a little time each day to read the Bible, take a few notes, and even memorize a verse or two. Yet, we can still live with a whole lot of "dark places" in and around our lives which begin to have an effect on us. I think we must go back to our passage and remember how it is we actually find ourselves "in the light" rather than dabbling in the darkness with no clear way of out. We find ourselves immersed in light because we abandon darkness, not that we just try to deal with it!

Most of us work hard to deal with darkness in our lives - then we wonder why we still get a little overwhelmed by it at times. It is hard not to stub your toe when we have to navigate things in the dark! Jesus described a "two step process" to his followers: Abandon and Embrace.  To abandon means we leave something so completely that it is deserted - our leaving is final. There is no turning back. Most importantly, this idea of abandon means that we give up completely - we surrender the darkness to whom it belongs (Satan) and never look back.  To embrace means that we take something so eagerly, pulling it close, making sure it makes a heart connection. When I embrace my grandsons, it isn't just a quick wrap of my arm around their shoulders. It is a pulling of them close to my heart, holding them tight for even just a moment. 

Embracing light happens when we get our hearts close enough to the light to have them totally affected by the light. Light carries a sense of warmth - because there is an exchange of energy. In using the term "embrace", Jesus is describing this process of giving ourselves over to the pull which brings us closer and closer to God's heart as we do. My grandsons give good hugs. They know how to come up to us, wrap their arms around us tightly and then just squeeze us a little. Why do they squeeze us as part of their hugs? I think it might just be a little more than letting us know they are making "contact", but they are ensuring we know they are committed to that contact - that connection is important to them and they want us to sense just how important it is. 

I have no doubt many of us want to abandon the darkness in our lives, but we lack a sense of how to do it. The truth is, until sunrise, we all deal with "managing the darkness". At the point of sunrise, the atmosphere in the entire room changes, doesn't it? The things hidden become apparent; the noises that haunted us just hours earlier don't seem to matter. As the light dawns, there is an overwhelming sense of peace - because light embraces us and gives us that "little squeeze" that shows us how much we can count on God to be there in our lives. We don't force light into our lives - it comes in a gentle and reassuring way. It could be that some of us are just beginning to sense the dawn in areas of our lives that have been in the dark for way too long. Don't dread abandoning that darkness, but allow the light to pull you into the position where a heart connection is made with the one who is responsible for the light in the first place. Just sayin!

Embracing Arms

^32-36 "So, my dear friends, listen carefully;
   those who embrace these my ways are most blessed.
Mark a life of discipline and live wisely;
   don't squander your precious life.
Blessed the man, blessed the woman, who listens to me,
   awake and ready for me each morning,
   alert and responsive as I start my day's work.
When you find me, you find life, real life,
   to say nothing of God's good pleasure.
But if you wrong me, you damage your very soul;
   when you reject me, you're flirting with death."

(Proverbs 8:32-36)

Wisdom, in the book of Proverbs, represents not only a characteristic we develop, but a person - the person of Jesus Christ.  The very life of Christ was a display of wisdom by which we can pattern our daily walk.  Our writer spent the first eight chapters of this book reminding us of the importance of choosing wisdom over any other action.  If something is repeated that many times in Scripture, it is pretty important that we put on our spiritual "ears" to hear what is being said.

When you find me, you find life, real life - these words point us directly to Jesus.  In him, we find all the things in life we label as "good" and "real".  There is nothing as fulfilling as coming into relationship with Jesus.  Yet, so many of us live far below what we would call a "fulfilled" life - we just don't "feel" fulfilled.  Why is that?  Well, we can turn to the passage today to find some advice with this question.  Those who embrace my ways - this is key to experiencing God's fullness every day of our lives.  

The concept of embracing is involves the idea that we take something with eagerness, excitement, and anticipation.  There is a gladness in accepting what is offered and a willingness to allow ourselves to come close to what we are embracing - almost like taking it to ourselves in such a way that we become one with it.  God's promise to us is that if we embrace him, he embraces us back - and his embrace carries with it more than just physical comfort.  God's embrace carries with it "blessing" - the sense of knowing that we are safe, secure, and sheltered.

When we understand that God values a daily "embrace" as much as we do, we find ourselves eager to run to him.  Our writer indicates that when we come to him with listening ears, awake and ready for him each morning, we find real life and his good pleasure.  There is nothing more that God desires of us than to be alert and responsive.  

Alertness involves being ready and prepared for action.  Responsiveness involves responding readily to what God shows us.  Think about an embrace.  When we reach out to another human being in embrace, aren't we hoping to find that person as responsive to our embrace - ready, prepared for the embrace?  God is no different - he is waiting each morning - arms outstretched.  His hope:  That we will respond readily to him - prepared for the action he will call us to be involved in that day.

Today, the willingness to embrace God in a responsive and alert way may not come as easily as it will two or three week's down the road - but do it anyway.  Yield some of yourself to him today and ask him to show you how to live a life of discipline and learning.  Then faithfully return each day - reaching out with an "embracing" heart - open to what God has for you each new day.  In turn, God's embrace begins to become a thing we cannot live without.  It may be a little uncomfortable at first, but a thing of blessing as we practice his embrace more and more.

We can squander away our time on all the "agenda items" we have lined up for our day - things we have labeled as "important", "urgent", or "requires attention".  God is not an agenda item - he is a relationship.  At first, you may have to "pencil him in" - but, in time, he will become your first priority even before you step out to "check off" the things of your day.  

I have a friend who reminded me this week of how much God loves her.  You see, she loves to cuddle - as a single woman, she doesn't have the privilege of another human being to share that with at this time.  So, God in his faithfulness, gave her a pet that enjoys "cuddling" each morning.  She gets to enjoy a few minutes just "cuddling" with her furry friend, enjoying the display of pleasure that her pet experiences in the tender pats, the scratch behind the ear, or the stroking of its fur.  God knows that we have a need to experience affection - even when we find it in a furry friend, it is a very good thing!

Think of how much more God wants to fill us up with the good things we can enjoy as a matter of being embraced by him!  His arms are waiting - are you ready to be embraced today?