Frame me

Choose your friends with caution; plan your future with purpose, and frame your life with faith. (Thomas S. Monson)

17 But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure and full of quiet gentleness. Then it is peace-loving and courteous. It allows discussion and is willing to yield to others; it is full of mercy and good deeds. It is wholehearted and straightforward and sincere. 18 And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of goodness. (James 3:17-18 TLB)

We are all in the process of "framing" our lives each and every moment we make split-second decisions. It is what precedes those decisions that often determines the "steadiness" of the course we will take. As Monson stated, we need to ensure our lives are "framed" with faith - in other words, we have the firmest of foundations upon which to allow our steps to be taken. That foundation is Christ - it begins with saying "yes" to him, but it continues each and every moment when we allow the "frame" of our lives to be filled with him. The frame was that moment in time where we said "yes", but the picture that is contained within that frame is made up of all those moments when those split-second decisions are made!

A life of faith is built on all those moments when Christ's wisdom becomes our own. We step into his plans and purpose, assuming not so much the leader role, but the disciple role - allowing his teaching and wisdom to be imparted and then "grafted-into" our lives. If you have ever watched an arborist take a portion of one tree and graft it into another tree, there is a skill to his work. If he makes too big of a slit for the graft to fit into, the tree will be more susceptible to disease, allowing moisture and insect to invade the tender place created for that graft. If he makes too small of a slit or doesn't bind the new graft just tight enough, it won't make contact as it should with the "host" tree and it will not survive. The placement of the graft is important and the way it is bound to the host is equally so. The same is true of each of us - our lives of faith are not going to survive and grow as they should until the "bond" between Jesus and us is secure, well-founded, and free of invading disease!

The grafted branch doesn't always take on the characteristics of the tree where it is attached right away. It makes every effort to live as it used to live, but if it wants to grow, it must yield to where it is placed for that growth. As with each of us, we can try to live independently, but we will soon find we are cut off from the life supply we so desperately crave and need! The friends we choose are a direct result of the lives we allow to be framed - they make up the "picture" within the frame - for they affect each choice we make within that frame. The plans we make (or allow to influence our lives) are going to equally affect the picture within the frame. The one constant thing is the frame - the picture might change a little from time to time, but the frame is the same! When that frame is Christ, the picture doesn't yearn to be outside that frame - it is adorned by the absolute beauty of the frame! Just sayin!

What's taking shape?

^5-6Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

(John 3:5-6 The Message)

Nicodemus came to Jesus under the cloak of darkness - maybe because he was a prominent religious leader of the day, afraid to be seen seeking answers from the very one that those religious leaders would ultimately send to the cross.  As the story opens for us, we see a familiar scene of Old Testament times.  The Rabbi (the teacher) would pose a question or introduce an idea that would stimulate thought and provoke conversation.  Then, in the customary manner, the Rabbi would begin to "unpack" that question.  Nicodemus acknowledges that Jesus is a great teacher and that he must have been sent by God because his "works" and his "teaching" display things that Jesus could only know and do if he were "backed up" by God.  Jesus then begins the "dialogue" of the Rabbi - the teacher.

Jesus lays out the idea or concept that he will "unpack" for Nicodemus:  "You're absolutely right. Take it from me: Unless a person is born from above, it's not possible to see what I'm pointing to—to God's kingdom."  Now, in the customary form of the Rabbi's, Nicodemus begins to "take apart" this statement, ""How can anyone be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"  To that, Jesus adds our passage above - with the crux of the answer being in the statement:  "But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch - the Spirit - and becomes a living spirit."

Many would say that the Rabbis were great debaters - able to set up a topic for discussion, then skilfully bring it to a place of "dissection" until all the pieces of the topic were fully understood.  Jesus is really using the "skill" of the Rabbi to bring the topic of what happens at the moment of "salvation" to light.  To the unbelieving, this is some hard, and often ethereal mystery, too difficult to fully grasp.  It needs "unpacking".  To the one who is moved upon by the Spirit of God, it begins to be understood in small ways over time.

We cannot see the Spirit in our lives - he is not something we can touch, get our hands around.  In fact, we often don't know he is there, except when we sense his "prompting" or are energized by his "infilling".  The person of the Holy Spirit has a unique purpose in our lives - our growth!  It is the Spirit that bears witness with our spirit that Jesus is the Son of God (I John 5:5-7).  It is the Spirit of God that transforms us into the image of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18).  He is at work - we don't see him - but we see "evidence" of his action.

Jesus reminds Nicodemus that a mother does not "see" the work of conception or the development of what is inside her.  She "knows" something is at work - that a baby is taking form.  That which is formed within is a mystery until it is revealed.  Today, we have 3-D Ultrasound, so the "mystery" of fetal development has really been unveiled in a whole different way than when Jesus was walking this earth.  The woman "trusted" that what was being "created" within was something that would be awesome and a delight to receive.  The same is true in our spiritual lives - the Spirit is at work bringing about what is awesome and a delight to receive.  We don't "see" it now, but just wait!

There are all kinds of mysteries at work in our lives through the power of the Holy Spirit who resides within.  Those mysteries are being revealed in the right time, and in the right "framework".  Two things that go hand-in-hand:  God's timing and his framework.  He has to "frame" us in a way that makes the growth he is bringing forth in our character a lasting thing - we call that laying the foundation.  That is the work of the Holy Spirit - to lay the foundation.  Then he has to produce the "evidence" of the work at the best "timing" in our lives.  Not all growth is appreciated, but that which comes at the right "timing" is embraced in a welcoming way.  Ever wonder why events are taking place the way they are?  Perhaps it is the "framing" of our lives so that the appropriate "timing" can reveal what is taking form within!

Don't know what God is at work in your life "forming" within - but I trust him to "frame" you well, bringing about that which gives evidence to the "forming" process that is at work within!