A little bridge building is required

You are right and you do right, God; your decisions are right on target. You rightly instruct us in how to live ever faithful to you. My rivals nearly did me in, they persistently ignored your commandments. Your promise has been tested through and through, and I, your servant, love it dearly. I’m too young to be important, but I don’t forget what you tell me. Your righteousness is eternally right, your revelation is the only truth. Even though troubles came down on me hard, your commands always gave me delight. The way you tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so I can live to the fullest. (Psalm 119:140-144)

I don't imagine it is many of us who can say we are true to our word - for we all struggle with this at times - no matter how much we live in a manner where we strive to consistently follow through on what we say we will do. We struggle with the "promises" we make God more than we do the ones we make to our fellow man. Scripture outlines two inter-related character traits: Faithfulness and Fullness. It is in learning to be faithful where we are led into quite a full life! I think we follow through on what is important to us. If we hear our doctor tell us we will be dead in a year unless we make some dramatic changes in the way we eat and exercise, I daresay most of us would be on Weight Watchers, Keto, or the treadmill by the end of the day! We "value" our time on this earth, so we will make the necessary adjustments to our way of living because we want more than a year! If the "thing" motivates us enough, we take whatever steps are required in order to realize the goal, don't we? This is exactly where the "rub" comes at times in our lives. We find certain "value" in some things because they have an immediate evidence of "return" - such as when we get our haircut in order to deal with our "dowdiness". The haircut lifts our spirits and makes us feel better about our appearance. When the "value" of something isn't immediate, we sometimes wane in our commitment to it because we don't see the "return" for quite some time.

Faithfulness is something God honors - scripture reminds us God is right and always does right - his decisions for our lives are right on target. Why do we struggle with his decisions so often? I think it may be the "immediacy" of the "return" we are struggling with more than the decision! Faithfulness is based on a certain steadiness of allegiance - commitment to a purpose, the ability to remain even when the going gets tough (or the results just don't seem to surface immediately). Faithfulness begins in the action of listening. What we are "willing" to hear often makes the determination of heart much easier. When we "hear" the doctor with both our mind and heart, we are moved to action. If we just hear it as a "suggestion" of change, we might just linger in our unhealthy lifestyle a little longer. God rightly instructs us on HOW to live faithful lives. Any good teacher will confirm that a student only learns when he takes what he hears and puts it into action. This is the "bridge" between knowledge and learning. We can possess knowledge but be devoid of real learning. God's desire is for the "bridge" to be made between knowledge and learning.

Why is it we can stand on God's promises? Isn't it because they have been tested and they stand true? Then why do we struggle with them so much? For example, Matthew 6:33 tells us one of God's promises is to be anxious for nothing - to seek first his purposes - and then we will have all our needs met (maybe not all our "wants", but definitely all our "needs"). How many times do we worry over where we will find the money to pay the next bill, what we will do when we lose our jobs, or when we will see an end to a certain uncomfortable circumstance? There are even "smaller" worries we take into our lives each and every day - not because we don't have the resources to see them met, but because we aren't making this "knowledge - learning" bridge. We have the knowledge of the promise - we just don't have the "connecting" bridge which makes it a fact in our hearts! Faithfulness is directly linked to fullness. When we have this "connection" between "hearing" and "doing", there is a certain "fullness" which is created in the deep places of our lives. Fullness is defined as containing all that can be held. The amazing thing about God is his ability to expand our capacity! When we think we have come to the place of holding all which can be held, he gives us more capacity! Not capacity for "stuff", but capacity for him! 

Maybe this is where we find our struggle with faithfulness - in seeking "stuff" instead of him. We "want", but our "want" is sometimes for stuff that actually limits our capacity for being filled! I think it can be said - capacity is directly linked to our willingness to be emptied. "The way you tell me to live is always right." Look at what comes next: "Help me understand it..." There is nothing God loves more than to hear us ask for his help with understanding his ways in our lives. I don't think he ever leaves us hanging when we do. In fact, he often begins to "piece together" the knowledge we possess until they are "learned". He is "piecing together" the very bridge which will become our lifeline in times of need. The "piecing together" process may seem a little tedious at times in our lives - seeming to not show immediate evidence of the "bridge" but be assured of this - no bridge is built without a good master plan. Every piece fits perfectly because there is a plan for it. We want a bridge - no matter how well constructed. God wants it to endure! In order to endure, sometimes there is a "clearing process" in order to lay the foundations of endurance. Empty vessels are God's choicest vessels, for it is the empty ones he can fill! Just sayin!

A full tank - fueled for the day

When my BBQ grill runs out of propane, it is usually right in the middle of cooking something like chicken or steak. There I sit, expecting a tasty BBQ meal and then at about halfway through, I have to improvise by bringing it all inside and cooking it on the stovetop. What a disappointment it is when the flames 'burn out'. In our spiritual life, our flame can burn out if it isn't kept fueled and ready for use. Just a little fuel is not enough - it can leave you 'improvising' life - and we all know improvised life isn't as good at the one 'finished well'!

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality. (Romans 12:12)

How is it you keep yourself fueled and aflame? I know some like to get away to that special spot in the woods, just taking in nature for a while. Others appreciate a great family gathering, complete with card games and good food, where laughter abounds and the 'bragging rights' of being the best at canasta or euchre is something we know isn't a 'pride thing', but a way of having a little fun with the sibs. Another may feel a special 'infilling' of God's best just by taking a long walk, feeding a few ducks along the canal, and observing the beauty of the trees in full bloom. 

Fuel is found in a lot of things, but there is one fuel that never burns out - the fuel of the Word. We need to take it in regularly, so we remain fueled for the 'fire' of life. We also find fuel in times of contemplative prayer - those times when we just let our mind wander in God's presence - allowing him to speak into us and embracing his peace as it envelopes our lives. Listen to a long play list of your favorite worship songs and see what it does for your spirit. It will refuel you without you even realizing it - little bits and pieces of those songs speaking something deep into your spirit. 

Keep yourself fueled - this suggests to us that there is an active participation in us remaining fueled. It doesn't happen by osmosis. We just don't sit and expect to be refueled. We open the Word of God, get into it, come across passages we don't really understand, and then we ask God to show us the meaning. We dig out the dictionary and discover the various meanings of the words used. We allow God to open his Word to us and to break us open with it, as well. We take time to admit our sin, seek his forgiveness, and listen intently as he breaks chains in our lives. Keep means we don't let up - ever!

Be alert and cheerfully expectant. If I am waiting for a delivery from Amazon, I am 'alert' to the sounds of the idling engine outside by the curb and the footsteps of the one coming to the door. If I am not expecting anything that day, my level of alertness to the 'street noises' is different. I am not 'on alert' because there is nothing expected. Part of keeping ourselves fueled is living with an expectation of receiving something each day - of being filled over and over again - so we are ready for the day. Expectant people find they aren't disappointed in his presence. For it is there they find filling for their 'tank' that is unlike any other 'fuel'. Just sayin!

You are so full of it

Joy is prayer; joy is strength: joy is love; joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls. 

(Mother Teresa)

If you have ever been told that you are 'full of it', I doubt anyone meant it as a compliment! In fact, it was probably meant to be a means of point out some ridiculous idea you had, or that you are just full of yourself over some matter. It was said as a 'slam' on your character or behavior, not a compliment. When God looks at us and sees us as full of his joy, his words of encouragement are just that - encouragement to fill us up just a little more with the 'good stuff' he has prepared for our lives. What God desires most for us is that we be 'full' - not with ourselves - but with him. In turn, the joy of the Lord begins to overflow from our lives, touching the lives of others, so that what we are 'full of' becomes a means of blessing.

Be full of joy always because you belong to the Lord. Again I say, be full of joy! (Philippians 4:4)

How is it we can be 'full of joy'? It comes in remembering whose we are - who we belong to. If you belong to Jesus, you are full of his grace. You are overflowing with his peace. Your life is filled to the brim with his love. Maybe those things aren't what some would call 'joy', but if you begin to combine the ingredients of his love, grace, and peace, your heart gets pretty doggone joy-full! When we 'belong', that which we 'belong to' begins to permeate every part of our being. When I first went into the military at the age of 18, I actually lived and breathed being a part of our country's defenses. It permeated my whole being so that I even stood taller, somehow making me walk a little more determined with each step I took. It is possible to be 'filled' because we allow something to so 'permeate' our being that it becomes the very thing we live and breathe.

When that object of 'infilling' is Christ himself, we are certain to have the very 'ingredients' that lead to us being 'filled with joy'. Did you realize joy stems from having placed a great value on what becomes the source of your delight? The 'value' you place in whatever that source of your delight is determines the amount of joy your heart and mind is filled with! If you value your money, your source of delight is something that will fritter away over time, especially if you put it in something as volatile as the stock market. If you value a vehicle that is your 'dream car', you might find great delight in it while it is running well, but when it begins to suffer from the inevitable breakdown of parts, where will your joy be then? Joy is found in more than the 'object' - it is found in the delight we place in that object.

When the object of our delight is Christ, we are placing our delight in something that is unchangeable. His love and grace don't change - our appreciation of them might over time, but his love and grace remain consistent for all time. His peace is as reliable today as it was yesterday, yet we may not appreciate the fullness of that peace equally at all times. It isn't that what 'makes us full' has changed, it is that we find our need for these things vacillates over time. We might need a little more of the sense of his love right now because we are feeling kind of down on ourselves, or that we are not as 'lovable' as we should be right now. We could need to have a huge infilling of his grace because we have been trekking down paths that have led us to places of compromise in our lives. Regardless of the need, the filling comes from exactly the same source!

Be full of joy - not of yourself, or the circumstances, or the momentary and fleeting privilege we enjoy. Be full of that which never changes, is always consistent, and is ever there in our lives. Be full of Christ and in so choosing to be 'filled' you will find peace unimaginable, love deeper than you've experienced before, and grace beyond your wildest dreams. Joy comes not in the 'thing' we have, but in the 'one' who fills us with all these things. Just sayin!

Half full or Half empty

Time has a way of slipping through our fingers without us even recognizing it has passed us by. We can fritter away time easier than anything else. To fritter means to allow something to slip away little by little, almost like the sands seeping through the hourglass. Frittering something away is not like a glass slipping from our hand and shattering on the ground because we had wet hands when we tried to hold it. In this case, we were unprepared to hold the glass securely, so it slipped and we were fully conscious of it slipping. To fritter a glass out of your hand is kind of like dozing off with a glass of water in your hand, then slowly, little by little, the glass tips ever so slightly. Then it tips a little more, and a little more. Then in the next short passage of time, the glass lays on its side, contents flowing freely from it. We can remain asleep, unaware of the contents being spilled, or the condition of our "hand" which actually "relaxed" its grip and allowed the spillage to occur. Frittering happens - most of the time completely unnoticed by us.

A life frittered away disgusts God; he loves those who run straight for the finish line. (Proverbs 15:9)

The key difference between the two events described above is awareness. In the first circumstance, we were aware the glass was slipping, but could do little to stop it simply because we weren't well prepared when we picked up the glass. In the latter, we were neither aware, nor attentive. Life and time come at us this way sometimes. There are things that life seems to ensure will get put on "our agenda" for the day - some we know about, others we don't. I work in the healthcare arena, so my "agenda" is constantly being altered by the immediate demands of the "urgent" or "emergent". As aware as I am of what needs to be done for the day, some "agendas" have to be placed aside for the more urgent needs of another - the glass slips from my hand because I was not prepared for the next demand. 

I may lose control of my "agenda" for a period of time, but I still remain very aware of what requires my attention when I can get back on track. I have learned the "urgent" may cause things to slip out of my control for a while, but in short order, I will get back on track, because I have prepared for the "urgent". You see, I work "ahead" a little in many of my tasks, so I don't see them slip from my hands when the "urgent" comes my way. As a matter of fact, I am writing this blog post about seven days in advance of it being posted. Slippage is pretty much assured at some point in life, but I don't have to be unprepared for it! Neither do you! There have been times when things seem to be running rather "smoothly" - times like this almost set us up to do some "frittering". It is not that I am lazy, but when there are no "urgent" or "emergent" things demanding my attention, it is easy to change my pace to a slower, less hectic pace for completion of my agenda.  For most of us, we'd rather have the latter, but we all know it is not always the best for us. We are actually doing more harm when we fritter away our time, talent, or treasure, aren't we? God made each of us with both the ability to experience the "adrenaline rush" of the "urgent" and to enjoy the "peacefulness" of the routine - one really doesn't exist without the other.

If we are always operating in the mode of "frittering away", we are really operating in the arena of becoming less and less alert to our surroundings. In time, we become less alert to the things we'd normally pay close attention to, such as the glass of water in our hand! In so doing, we allow things to slip away - they get poured out, or wasted. This may not be a big deal if the "glass" contained only water, but if the "glass" contained something more significant, such as deep purple grape juice, you might be more than a little concerned when you finally realized what you'd allowed by your "frittering". Now, think of your "glass" as filled with relationships, talents, and treasures. We fritter away our relationships, neglecting them little by little until one day our 'relationship' glass is empty. Sadly, we never realized the "spillage" over time, but nonetheless, it occurred. If our glass is filled with talents and treasures, the slippage may leave us feeling empty, unfulfilled and a little remorseful over the loss. Either way, we realize the impact of our "frittering" way too late! Let's be the kind of people who are alert to the tendency we have to "fritter away" what we may not want to find ourselves without when all is said and done! I guarantee you, today's attentiveness to your "glass" will make all the difference with tomorrow's supply within the "glass"! Just sayin!