What's your real need?

The Scriptures say, ‘I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.’ You don’t really know what that means. If you understood it, you would not judge those who have done nothing wrong. (Matthew 12:7)

Picture Jesus out with his followers, walking through the fields, probably on their way from one spot to another. It was the Sabbath - a day which carried very strict rules the religious of the day had to follow if they were to be even remotely close to being acknowledged by God. One such rule was that of not "working" on that holy day - so all manner of normal "housework" or "house care" was to have been pre-planned on the day prior to the Sabbath. This meant they prepared enough bread for two days instead of their normal one, laid aside a portion of the meat they had cooked on the day prior to the Sabbath for the partaking on the Sabbath, and ensured enough water was drawn from the well to make it through. It was like work shut down for the day - because the Sabbath was dedicated to the Lord. 

The only problem with this was that there was also a whole lot of other "rules" added as time went on and the purpose of the Sabbath somehow got "lost in translation". To the Jewish believer of the day, the Sabbath had so many rules attached from how many steps one might be able to walk in that day, to not even being able to pulverize a medicinal herb should the need arise. It was on this day, with this frame of reference, that the Jewish religious leaders point out the followers of Jesus as "non-adherents" to the rules of the Sabbath. They were passing through the fields, hunger setting in, and plucked a few grains of wheat in passing. Shucking the wheat a little in the palms of their hands, they partook of those tiny grains to give them nourishment and stamina for their journey. In so doing, they have "broken the rules" of the Sabbath and are now judged by the religious leaders as "non-adherents" to the Law. It was as though Jesus was being pointed out as one who was leading these people into some type of sin. It was just like Jesus to take their own "rule" and turn it around to show how utterly absurd it was to rely upon the "rule" more than the soul of the one being expected to keep the rule!

Hearing this condemnation, Jesus began to point out how much it mattered that they found nourishment. It was something they didn't have time to pre-plan for when they set out to follow the one who would lead them into all truth and liberty, they didn't know their journey would extend into the Sabbath. Truth was right there being revealed in the person of Christ setting at liberty all who would follow, but the religious leaders could only see the "rule-breaking" behavior, not the hungry hearts of those seeking truth. Isn't it just like us to focus more on the rule being broken rather than the heart behind the rule-breaking? Jesus counters their judging spirit with a pretty awesome answer when he tells them they really didn't know the "intent" of the rule - they were just keeping it without understanding why God gave the rule in the first place. That is sometimes how we go through life - keeping rules without any clue "why" we keep them or "why" the rule was given. We keep the rule because we feel some "obligation" to keep it. Maybe this is the way we view life within "religion" - as a set of rules for which there is no room for violation. We believe penalty awaits those who "violate" the rule.

While there is some truth to this, rules aren't given to penalize or punish the individual - they are given to provide the individual an element of safety or protection when they are kept. Rules place someone under obligation. If we view rules as always carrying a penalty, we will see them like the religious leaders of Jesus' day - judging the behavior of those who don't adhere fully to the rule as "wrong" or "deviants". We often "miss" the intent of the rule because we focus on the "action" over the "heart". Jesus countered with: "I want you to show kindness to people." Jesus was saying when we focus on the action only, we miss need within their heart. We see the behavior and don't even stop to consider the hunger driving their heart. These were "hungry" people - not just physically hungry, but emotionally and spiritually hungry. They longed to be in the presence of the one who revealed truth and who actually embodied truth. This even impacted their "planning ahead" so much that they had no meal prepared for the Sabbath. They were willing to "risk" the violation of the rule in order to be in the presence of the one who would give them what their hearts yearned to receive.

We are "doing wrong" by judging without knowing the heart of the one behind the "rule violation". Do we ever find ourselves seeing only the goodness of others by how well they keep the rules? The lesson for us today isn't whether the rule is right or wrong - it is that the heart is always to be considered anytime there is a violation of a rule. The rules are provided for a reason - but we might have a good reason for violating the rul. The heart always matters more than the rule - failing to see more than the rule will always set us up to discount the needs and the actions of the human heart. Jesus made it a priority to consider the heart - we would do well to follow his lead. Just sayin!

You are beautiful - inside and out

Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God.... (I Peter 3:3-5)

I might just burst your bubble today - that new hairstyle is nice, but your real beauty comes from within. The more 'beauty' your heart develops, the greater the true beauty within your life will begin to shine forth. This type of 'beauty' is only possible for those who have said a resounding 'yes' to Jesus' authority in their lives - not a casual acquaintance with him, but a deeply committed relationship with him. Some have used this passage to say we should not wear make-up, dye our hair, or adorn ourselves with jewelry, but this was not the meaning. The goal of these verses is summed up in the beginning of verse 5: They put their trust in Jesus. This is the only thing that will produce lasting beauty when all the other forms of 'adornment' begin to fade. A gentle and quiet spirit is not the byproduct of anything this world has to offer us. It is the byproduct of spending time with Jesus. The beauty produced in just a few dedicated moments with him in the quiet of your day can surpass all the masking of any beauty product, tuck, or peel you can find on this earth. We search for beauty in various places, but it is found at the foot of the cross. The moments we spend with him each day begin to soften our hearts - clarify our minds - and settle our emotions. Nothing produces such a beautiful 'adornment' as these three!

Was does it mean to put our trust in God? It means we stop trusting in the things 'we' can do for ourselves, and we begin to trust in the things God has already done for us. I had to see how the dictionary actually defined beauty and this was the first definition I found: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising from sensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningful design or pattern, or something else (as a personality in which high spiritual qualities are manifest). That part about a 'meaningful design' caught my attention. Why? I think God has given each of us a 'meaningful design' that only he can create and complete within us. That 'design' doesn't come together by casual encounter, but by consistent contact and submission to the one who loves us so much. Our 'design' is realized at the cross - it is completed with each contact we have with the one who makes all of life 'meaningful' - Jesus. So, get your true beauty on today by taking the best of your day and spending it with him. Your heart, mind, and will will be transformed so that the highest spiritual, mental, and physical qualities are manifest. Just sayin!

A brilliant display indeed

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. 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. (Romans 12:9-12)

Integrity and Intensity don't seem to fit together all that well, but they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually complement each other. "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it." God asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it). They are indeed integral to each other. At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within. I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye. In the most literal sense, integrity is a state of wholeness - speaking to the "entirety" of something. God is asking us to make our expression (action) of love complete - thorough, lacking nothing, completely undiminished in any way. Nothing stands in its way of expression. We may think of intensity as something which burns hot - has some gusto to it. It is a focusing of energies - what is produced is more powerful than when energies are unfocused. It includes the idea of height and depth - for something with intensity is sharpest when it is focused. For example, take a regular light bulb and put it in a lamp. The light gives a glow to the room. Now, put a spotlight bulb in the same socket and what happens? There is light for the whole room, but the intensity of light is in the direct line of the "focused" light of the bulb. What makes the bulbs different? They add a "mirror" effect to the spotlight bulb to get the light to focus in a direct path. Begin to think of intensity as being focused, intent, and directed.

Intensity and integrity come as we run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. We are repeatedly reminded the importance of focus - running from evil, turning toward what is good. The integrity we must maintain in doing this is as though our entire life depended upon this action. What we run toward determines the outcome of our pursuit; how we run toward it determines how quickly we will attain our pursuit. Are you getting how these two traits are related? Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. We all burn out at some time or another. Why? Maybe the pursuit was not right for us at the time - we were simply running after something, focusing our energies on it, without thought of whether it was the right thing for us, the right timing, or with the right intent. When we do this, we find ourselves kind of running on a hamster wheel - just spinning and spinning, but not really getting anywhere. There is nothing more exhausting than just spinning your wheels. How do we avoid burn-out? In the first place, burn-out is never God's fault - it is ours. We didn't keep the right focus. Being vigilant to consistently evaluate our focus is paramount to avoiding burn-out. When a pilot is going from point A to point B, his eyes are on the gauges - not just the wings of the plane. He could focus intently on the wings, but if he never notices he is nearly out of fuel, he will find those wings do him little good as he is plummeting toward earth! The gauges show him his air speed, the fuel remaining, the altitude he maintains, the pitch of his wings, and his direction. We have some similar "gauges" in our lives we'd do well to watch with diligence!

What gauges do we have? We have the gauge of our time - what are we giving our time toward? Most of us "spend" our time - God's method of operating is to "give" our time. We have the gauge of our emotions - when we find ourselves getting a little frazzled or fraying around the edges, it may just be time to pull back a little. We have the gauge of our inner spirit - giving us a little "check" here and there to remind us that our "prayer" (communication) gauge is a little low. We need to make connection with the one who refuels us - so when our prayer gauge sends off a warning light, we likely need to get connected again! These are just some examples of what we have been given as gauges. You will likely think of others. Let God show you those which often "scream" their warnings in your life the loudest. When you identify them, begin to see how they relate to your focus and your intent. Remember the light bulb? They both serve the purpose of casting light into the room. Each has an effect - but only one does it with intensity. The gauges can help us to focus so our intensity allows for a brilliant display of God's light from within. Just sayin!

Filled gaps

Just think—you don’t need a thing, you’ve got it all! All God’s gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are all wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of his Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that. (I Corinthians 1:7-9)

Wouldn't it be nice to "not need a thing"? To be so "set" in life, nothing we could buy or be given is really needed any longer. If you were to ask a child what they "needed", their list of "needs" would perhaps include the latest super-hero characters, a new building set, or an electric scooter/moped - they might include books, clothes of the latest fashions, or more. If you ask an adult, their "needs" would be a little loftier - like a new set of tires for the car, the full collection of new pots and pans for the kitchen, or the shiny new appliance down at the local retailer. We probably have been asked what we want, only to answer back, "I have everything I need. I don't need anything else." It is likely true - we have a lot of stuff! But "stuff" doesn't fill the most important gap in our lives!

You and I don't need a thing - because we've received all we need in the person of Christ. We've got it all! What we often fail to recognize is just how much we have been given in Christ. Some of us only look at Christ as "fire insurance" - a means to avoid hell in the hereafter, but not really having much 'use' for him in the here and now. Others of us see Christ as a nice person - filling us with good feelings on occasion. Still others see Christ as a means to an end - thinking being "in Christ" entitles us to some sort of place of privilege. The issue with each of these "views" is their lack of connection with the work of Christ in our lives. Jesus is indeed our "means" to avoid hell, but we miss out on so much more if all we do is buy a piece of property and never see it developed! 

We might experience some "warm fuzzies" once in a while because we have Christ in our lives - maybe because we experience peace for the first time, or come to a new understanding of his peace settling our fearful hearts in the midst of a place where we definitely needed his protection. To merely focus on the "warm feelings" knowing him produces never helps us to focus on living "above" our feelings. Seeing Jesus as our "sugar-daddy" (the one who we go to whenever we have a need and then expect it to be met just like that) makes us guilty of treating God as our servant - something totally backward to God's plan of us being his servants. All God's gifts are right in front of us. This is the focus, not just that we avoid hell, get warm feelings, or have God at our service. God desires for us see the thing right in front of our eyes which we have such a hard time focusing on correctly. We possess all the "gifts" we will ever need - we just have to become familiar with how they operate in our lives. God is right there alongside each of us - getting us started and seeing us become proficient in their use!

God gets us started - he also sees us through to the end. In many cases, we give God access to "get things started" in our lives, but I wonder how many times we don't leave things alone long enough to let him see it through to the end? We have the "warm fuzzy" experience - but then after life begins to kick up around us again, we don't remember the "warm fuzzy" as much as we "feel" the presence of the present issue. The work God began is still being "worked" - we are just not keenly aware of it if we are just focusing on the "feeling" of the moment. Chances are, the present issue is just another means to bring out something within us where God is focusing his attention. There are two actions of God on our behalf "after" he gives us the gifts: keeping us steady and on track. In giving us the gifts, he knows we need to know how to use them. I have some "toys" (the electronic type) which I have purchased over the years. I learn some of the basic stuff - like how to turn them on, get them to play the songs I want to hear, and the like. Yet, I never really use them to their full potential. I possess a smart phone and Alexa devices - both probably smarter than the user! I don't take the time to find out much about the "other stuff" they can do because I am comfortable with what they already do for me!

I wonder how many times we approach God's gifts this way - not really concerned with how much more they could be developed in us simply because we are content with what we have already experienced. If I only used my smart phone to make and receive calls, I really did not need a smart phone! If I use it to alert me to my next appointments, keep my grocery list in, and be a tickler of upcoming birthdays, I am getting the hang of using it, but still way below its potential. If I actually begin to explore the apps, I may begin to surf the web, purchase a meal on the way home which will be waiting for me as I arrive at the local restaurant pick-up window, and even regulate my home air conditioning for me while away. I am coming closer to using this device as its "designer" intended. Same with Alexa - controlling lights whenever I need them on or off, starting the coffee pot, or changing the channel on the TV at the sound of my voice. God gives us gifts which will only reveal their full potential in our lives when we really nuzzle up to him and learn how to apply them in our lives! Just as with my smart devices, we have to "use the apps and skills" he gives us! The "gaps" in our lives are best "filled" with the gifts of God. Just sayin!

Do you say the right thing?

A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; it is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and time in which it is used.

(Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.)

True confessions here today - I don't always say the right things! Words escape my lips that would have best been left unsaid. What's worse is that I know there are times when I should just stay silent and someone goads me into speaking and then I let it all out! The truth of the matter is that whenever there is less thought behind the words and more emotion, they don't always come out in the best manner or with the most gracious of intent!

Don’t let even one rotten word seep out of your mouths. Instead, offer only fresh words that build others up when they need it most. That way your good words will communicate grace to those who hear them. (Ephesians 4:29)

Do you always say words that build others up? I have been around individuals that seem to always be speaking very 'sappy' words. The words just 'drip' from their lips like some sweet substance, but I often wonder if they are really heartfelt words, or just some form of flattery. It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between the two! Did you know that words that are spoken to flatter or 'build up' in an untruthful manner are just as 'rotten' as the ones spoken without much thought behind them? Flattery is a relationship killer - not a builder. Be intentional in your words, so that the words you speak genuinely build up.

How about the words you speak to yourself? Are they words that build up or tear down? We all speak 'about ourselves' - sometimes it is in our own head, but we all have these conversations. What do those words say about your view of yourself? If they are words that continually build up and 'stroke' one's own ego, maybe they are as hurtful as the harsh words that tear down. It isn't wrong to build one's self up, unless we are developing an elevated view of our worth in the process. For example, if I begin to tell myself over and over that the project I am engaged in could not go well without me, believing that others really aren't as 'significant' in their contributions as I am, I am likely developing an unhealthy 'mind conversation' that is feeding my ego.

Positive words are good, but the intent behind them is equally as important. Be genuine in your praise, but don't speak it to flatter. Flattery is really insincere compliments or praise that has at its roots one's own self-interest. Be truthful within your 'mind conversations'. Remember - the true value of our worth is not found in what we can do, have done, or think about ourselves. It is determined by being in right relationship with God - our worth is found in restored relationship. Life isn't about our 'self-esteem' because that is never going to change in God's eyes. He gave his Son to declare our value! Just sayin!

More than positive intent

Is there really an real time in our lives when we are too young, immature, or obstinate to be important to God? Sometimes I think we discount our potential based on our chronological age, accomplishments, or obedient responses! God doesn't! He sees potential in the words of a child just learning to speak and the aged who share from a vast wealth of accumulated knowledge. He sees only the best in the one who seems to struggle with obedience repeatedly because he knows how badly we don't want to do the stuff we do. The potential one has in his eyes is really determined by the way we choose to yield our hearts and spirit to him - even when we do it less than perfectly.

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 119:141-144)

Do we all have days when it seems like trouble is nipping at our heels? You bet! There are days when I don't know if I have seen my tail coming or going because I have been chasing it so long I don't know the difference! There are definitely times when trouble is chasing us and other times when we are chasing it. We just cannot do much about this phenomena except to pull closer to Christ and place him in control. The more difficult times for us are when we are the ones chasing trouble! This is a situation we can, and should definitely change! What we pursue is quite different from what pursues us, isn't it? Make the right choices and the pursuits are likely to be different than making a whole lot of wrong choices.

To chase trouble is simply unwise all the way around. In order to break the cycle, we must recognize that we are in the cycle of chasing something unwise, unprofitable, or unkind! It is likely unwise because of what the pursuit embodies, such as selfish motives or impure (unholy) outcomes. It is definitely unprofitable because of what if produces - things like destroyed character, lost relationships, hurt feelings, habits, and hang-ups we just have multiplied troubles ever trying to be free from. These kind of troubles we CAN avoid - - but do we? Living to the fullest is only possible when we get a handle on the things we are chasing! We can do very little about what is chasing us, but we can learn how to respond to the chase! When chased, do we allow the troubles to stop us in our tracks, surrendering to their influence, and just allowing ourselves to be taken in by the pressures of the trouble? If so, we are playing the part of the victim. God wants us to remember that we are not the victim, but the victor!

Police officers learn the tactical expertise of "the chase", going after the criminal in a skillful manner so as to "minimize" the potential for injury to bystanders. Have you ever noticed the troubles that seem to chase us are not as skillful in minimizing the injury to innocent bystanders in our lives? Why is this? Probably because we haven't learned how to avoid responding to the troubles chasing us by turning them over to God for him to deal with them! When we try to deal with them, others often get hurt in the process. We can do much about what we allow our mind, spirit, and emotions to chase after, respond to, and be affected by. It is equally important to allow God to prepare our minds for the troubles we will face with each new day - some out of our control, others brought on because of our "lack of control". Every response to trouble begins with the thought we attach to it. If we attach the thought process to a troubling circumstance such as, "With God, all things are possible," then we are more likely to look for a solution instead of surrendering to what we may feel we have no control over. Every thought leads to an action - every action leads to a reaction. Respond to trouble with the right action and the reaction will be positive! Just sayin!

Grace when I need it most

In watching one of those shows set back in the 'old country' of Scottish history, I observed as these homeowners kept their sheep 'penned in' within stone walls they'd erect from stones found right there in their own fields. It didn't have to be high - just about the same height at the sheep. They'd graze along until they came to this stone enclosure, then they'd almost turn around and graze in another direction. These small, but quite effective boundaries actually kept the sheep from wandering willy-nilly off into pastures not theirs to graze upon, or into areas where harm would await them. The Word of God presents a wide variety of "boundaries" that actually act quite similarly. Those boundaries actually serve to give us a sense of safety - we stay within them and we are safe - we step outside of them and no telling what will happen. One of those 'boundary areas' should be in our thought life. Our thoughts are not really all that "right" or "good" without boundaries. Eventually an uncontrolled thought life will begin to display in our words. 

Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don't act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action. (James 1:22-25)

It is by the intake of his Word that we are able to begin to get control over the outflow of words, and eventually those actions that flow from our mindset. We may find that we have engaged in wrong thought patterns and therefore, the actions behind those thoughts are being displayed, despite our efforts to not display those actions. An example of this is when I begin to formulate thoughts that someone is just being selfish in their demands of my time. When I entertain this thought over and over again, I begin to resent every action I take to fulfill that person's desires. My speech may be a good warning sign of what is actually going on in my mind - those subtle jabs and snippy answers tell me a lot about what I am really thinking!

Thought has power - it is that which is the "igniting" source for what it is that we say and do. Thoughts can be creative, or entirely destructive. They can be edifying, or spoken in such a way that they almost carry a damning effect to them. They can be spoken in such a way that they are instructive, or they can be so frivolous that people wonder why you are even speaking them at all! They also can be challenging, moving us ahead in relationship, or complacent, keeping us in a rut. They can be ruminated upon, giving them an acidic taint - so be careful with your thoughts! Lest you think that there is no hope for "unbridled" thoughts - those that are really given no real boundaries to stay within - I want to point remind us we are all given "filters" by which we can "test" each thought before it ever has a chance to become an action or a spoken word. Those filters come to us through the action of the Holy Spirit in our lives, the intake of the Word of God, and the development of our conscience. It only takes ONE tiny seed thought to change the entire course of our actions! The exact change you so desperately desire in your heart begins with that one tiny seed thought placed there by the intake of the Word, the urging of the Holy Spirit, or the niggling of our conscience.

Did you know that if you rehearse even the smallest "good" thought, it has the potential to become the greatest influence over the rest of your thoughts? It is true. Begin to entertain just one good thought about something you are struggling with today in a relationship you are engaged in and then keep rehearsing that thought. Then look specifically for insight from the Word of God as it relates to that "good thought" and allow it to fertilize that thought. Eventually, it will grow and begin to become pervasive in your mind. That one "seed thought" begins to "over-grow" the other less edifying thoughts you might have been entertaining about that relationship. It isn't always the bad stuff we see in each other that we should be rehearsing - it is the good. There is safety in setting boundaries in our thought life. When we begin to exercise the authority over what it is that we allow into our minds, we begin to form the right mindsets. Boundaries have a two-fold purpose: They keep us in the right mindset, and they keep the wrong thoughts out! When we begin to set the right boundaries, we begin to reap the benefits of a more controlled mindset and a more fruitful display of God's grace in our lives. Grace that actually 'gives grace' when others need it most. Just sayin!

Soul-Empty

Lots of time is spent pouring out our heart and then hearing from God as to what has been transpiring around us that seems to give us concern, fear, or a lack of peace. It is impossible to live without faith, as scripture plainly reminds us that the just shall live by faith. Faith must be growing, continually developing. There are times when all we want is for God to do what he had done at times past in our lives - in other words, be awesome in every way, delivering us from whatever is just about to come in around us, and keep us from any type of mind or heart captivity. It might have been a while since we really experienced God in the 'earth-shattering' way we did in previous times - almost failing to sense his presence and longing for things to 'be good again' where is applies to our 'closeness' with God. We could even say we have allowed our 'souls' to get a little bit on the 'empty' side - we just seem to lack what we need.

"Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—full of himself but soul-empty. But the person in right standing before God through loyal and steady believing is fully alive, really alive."  (Habakkuk 2:4)

There is both first-hand and 'hand-me-down' knowledge of God. Second-hand or 'hand-me-down' knowledge about God is never all that fulfilling - it is still good, but when we experience God's goodness ourselves, it is so much better. We are sometimes challenged to really take in the various aspects of what we are beholding in our lives - looking intently at the man who is bloated by self-importance - and painfully, that man could be us. At a cursory review of this passage, we may immediately think about someone who is filled with pride, boastful and living with his "nose in the air". The actual intent is quite different - being bloated with self-importance actually encompasses any man or woman who spends more time focusing on the things that please or fulfill the selfish desires of the heart more than on what pleases the heart of God.

We are asked to look at the intentions of our heart - why it is that we do what we do, what drives us to make the decisions we make, how it is that we have chosen to live our lives. Here we are reminded, albeit not very tenderly, that choosing to live in a self-centered, ego-centric way is to live a life that is "soul-empty". There is no real substance to it - it is vacant of what really rewards. We may have "full lives", but they are filled with that which really brings no satisfaction in the end - soul-empty lives. The intent is for each of us to come into the experience of God's presence in our lives - getting to know the "ins and outs" of how he works, having our heart "tugged" by the things that move his heart. It is quite easy to get so focused on what "I" want, how a circumstance will affect "me", and what "I" think is important. In the end, "I" truly does "stand alone". When an individual is "ego-centric", that person is focused on self - others are tolerated, but they are not the focus of life (including God).

We can be fully alive - but it is only by steady and loyal believing. It is the commitment to keep God in focus - central in our lives - that keeps us steady. As long as we are focused inwardly on our needs (our wants), we don't have our eyes on anything that gives us stability, assurance, or lasting "advantage" in life. In fact, all we are focusing on is something that will "pass away" in the course of time. Faith is a growth experience - it is taking our eyes off of ourselves long enough to put them on Christ, intentionally seeing him. We can keep two things in our line of sight, but it is impossible to focus on both at the same time. This is a basic principle of photography - the photographer can go for the big picture (really focusing on no "one thing"), or can obscure the big picture (take it out of focus) to move in with clarity on one thing in the shot that is brought alive as the "focal point" of the image. When we see this type of image, properly displayed, we are awed by the brilliance of what is captured. So it is with our focus in life - if it is obscured by trying to constantly take in the "big picture", we will miss the awesomeness of the brilliance of God in the midst of the "picture". Remember, the right perspective determines the image that is ultimately portrayed. Just sayin!

I choose to be intentional

"These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock.  "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."
(Matthew 7:24-27)

Jesus wants us to remember that the words he speak are not just to be "incidental" in our lives, but a living part of who we are.  If we really get the meaning of this passage, it can be life-transforming. Jesus tells us that we have to "work these words INTO our life" - not just roll them over a time or two, but really mull them over until they are ingrained into the fibers of our being!  Having to "work" to get hold of what God has for us in the Word of God is sometimes more overwhelming than we would like, so we just don't do it. We hear them, but we don't really do much with them. The difference between "incidental" learning and "intentional" learning is significant.  Incidental learning is that which happens without any coordinated effort on your part - it is almost accidental.  Since there is no coordinated plan for learning, so when it occurs, it is called incidental.  Incidental learning is almost always contingent on someone else's learning - in other words, we get the learning because someone else taught us what they had learned first.  It is not wrong to get our learning this way, especially when the subject matter becomes a little easier for us to grasp when it is presented by someone who already has this stuff down pretty well themselves.  

Intentional learning is the type of learning that is done with a purpose in mind.  When you are intentional about learning, you know what it is you seek to learn about, then you use resources available to you to dig for the truths yourself, and you consult other types of references when you need to dig even deeper.  With intentional learning, lessons are first-hand - they are 'work' for you, but the expenditure of effort yields a positive result.  You come to know the truth yourself.  This is the type of learning that Jesus was referring to here - "working the word" deep into your life so it impacts your every action - getting to know the truth for yourself. It isn't that we have to ferret out the truth - we allow the truth to become evident to us by becoming so familiar with it that we begin to realize how that truth can be applied in our lives. 

Jesus refers to these intentional lessons as foundational - they give us a stability when times get tough.  Rains come, strong winds blow, but we stand strong.  How does that occur?  Through intentionally allowing the Word of God to get worked into the very fibers of our being.  At first, it seems hard and like nothing will ever make sense, but in time, little truths begin to pop off the pages at you.  Most importantly, when you are working that word deep into your life, it is there when you need to stand upon it!  That is why Jesus referred to it as "foundational". A foundation gives us stability when there is counter-pressure pushing against us that would seek to topple us. If you are like me, you want to get those walls and roof up quickly in your life (you want something to show for your efforts) - but you cannot neglect the grounding of a good foundation.  A good foundation takes time to build.  There is a footing that must be laid - it must be plumb and well positioned.  If it is laid on sandy soil (a heart that really is not intent on holding to the truths), it will be difficult to build a solid foundation.  As the footing of God's word is laid, then we are ready to "fill in the spaces between the footing" with the stuff that gives us the character to stand strong.  Now, we have a foundation!

Maybe you are in the "footing" stage of growth - being made plumb and just beginning the work of having a solid foundation.  Maybe your foundation has been laid for a while and it is time to begin to build upon it.  Either way, God is eagerly awaiting the time you will take each day with him to allow him to assist you in "working" the word into your life - it is a mutual effort, intentionally performed, that yields the greatest results.  The incidental learning will happen along the way, but we cannot rely upon this as the only means by which we grow up in Jesus. We need those moments of intentional, committed study to help us develop that solid foundation. Just sayin!

What's that I see?

We justify our actions by appearances; God examines our motives. (Pr. 21:2)

I can honestly way that we sometimes spend far more time working to show ourselves as good, or as justified in what we do, than in trying to change what it is we are doing. We want to be free from blame or guilt that might be associated with our actions or thoughts, but really don't rise above the wrong ones as much as we'd like to. What is worse is that we look at the actions of another and we begin to form judgments about that individual based solely upon their actions. The problem: we are making evaluation of that individual by what we see on the outside. We evaluate the activities of man, thinking we know the motives based on the actions that we see revealed - but I think we can also be totally truthful here - it is almost impossible for us to know the motives of another.

It is pretty clear to me that actions do not always align with motives. This is why God looks closer at the motives of our heart than the activities we engage in. In fact, he told us he'd rather have their worship - stemming from a grateful heart - than any measure of sacrifice.  Our motives are those inner drives, or impulses, that lead to action on our part. God knows the specific reason for our actions - man does not, although he tries to by means of 'analysis' and 'patterns' which are manifested frequently enough. They call this profiling in the law enforcement community. Yet, we all know a 'profile' is just a guess - it is not always going to be spot on. So, the lesson for us: Don't rely on appearances! We may find ourselves in a position of mis-judging someone and then be guilty of forming very incorrect opinions about their actions.

The important thing for us to remember is that "mixed motives twist life into tangles; pure motives take you straight down the road." Since God pays such close attention to our motives, it would be wise to ask him to keep us on track with those motives. When our motives are selfish, we make choices that are self-serving and "anti-Christlike" in appearance. If he knows our motives, it is also possible he has the way to help us change them from the inside out - so that our appearance matches our motives! Pure, pollution-free, motives get at the heart of right choices - when we are influenced by motives that are tainted by any form of self, we make wrong choices. Those wrong choices lead to wrong paths in our daily walk - inconsistencies in our choices. It is when we are on those wrong paths that we appear to "walk alone". God wants us on paths that don't lead to our destruction - involved in things that just end up tying us up in "knots" on the inside!

Nothing clever, nothing conceived, nothing contrived, can ever get the better of God. Clever stuff is the kind of stuff that is "thought to be smart", but often proves to be far from intelligent when put to the test (in fact, it usually is kind of dumb). We will do well to remember that our own intelligence pales when compared to the omniscience of our God. We may think our clever plans are "all that", but God knows the skills we possess are made by him alone and are only worth their full value when used for his purposes! Conceived things are those things that we allow to form in our minds, or imagine in our hearts, that may not even be true or accurate. They can be tainted by the view of life we have at the moment. We don't even know the motives of our own heart, let alone the motives of another. When we put "faith" in the in the imaginations of our mind, we may be selling ourselves, or another, totally and completely short. Contrived thoughts are unreliable - they are devised without much attention to outcome. Our thoughts, at best, are "one-sided" - they need the filtering of the Holy Spirit so they become balanced, reliable, and trustworthy.

Our thoughts, as flawed as they are, can be instruments God uses to bless others, but we have to allow them to be energized by God. No matter how creative we are in our own self-thought / self-taught manner, we can never be as clearly thinking as we'd like to be - we need God's help to keep clarity in our thoughts and mixed motives out of our actions. Just sayin!

But...I want to know it all!

12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and prayerful always. 13 When God’s children are in need, you be the one to help them out. (Romans 12:12-13 TLB)

Some of our plans don't always work out as we had hoped they would, do they? The best laid plans, so to speak, are pretty unreliable at times. I can remember when my kids were little and they'd get sick right around the major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas. One or both would have an earache, runny nose, croupy cough, or some sort of thing hit them full-on. My plans were for a "normal" holiday, without the additional expense or worry of a sick child. Their plans were probably just to have fun. The reality was that some bug would catch up with them and they'd be sick! Plans don't always work out, but when we do our best to listen to God about what he plans for us, we have a much better chance of seeing the "right stuff" come out of those plans.

God makes plans - each part of those plans fitting into perfect order in our lives - even the sore throats and earaches "fit" somehow, although we may not know it at first. Maybe that sick child kept us home off the roads avoiding some catastrophic car accident or natural disaster. Perhaps their illness helped us dust off one of those books we used to read and just settle into some "alone time" with the kiddos. I am not saying God 'made' the kids sick, but it is quite possible their illness helps us grow together in some way as a family unit. That would be God's plan for the family - growth. So, even out of bad God can bring something quite good if we are willing to see it!

How hard it is for us to be patient in prayer. I know there are times in my own prayer life where I just blurt it out to God, wait a couple of seconds for an answer, and then give up in frustration because he 'didn't reveal his plans' as quickly as I'd have liked. Maybe  you are in the same boat on occasion, finding yourself 'less than patient' to see God reveal his plans, not really all that willing to get still enough to hear what he intends. I will say this, any opportunity God brings to 'still' my mind and soul is a good thing - because it usually re-centers my focus and opens me up to seeing what his plans might just be. I may not get the full picture, but I get hints of his intent and then I begin to act upon them. 

Some of us need to learn to be content with the 'hint of intent' God reveals and then take the necessary action God desires. It is in acting upon what we know to be true that we find greater truth. I don't know about you, but God doesn't always reveal his plans to me like an architect displays layer after layer of blueprints for a building project. There isn't that finite detail at first. I might see the 'first set' of prints, the ones were the work of leveling the ground begins, but do I see the finished product of that action ahead of me? Nope! I just act upon what he asks me to do. Prayer isn't going to always give us ALL the answers we need, but it will give us hints about the right direction we should be heading! Just sayin!

Feelings....whoa, feelings....

"Love dies only when growth stops." Pearl S. Buck (American Novelist)

13 Look at what God has made. You cannot change a thing, even if you think it is wrong. 14 When life is good, enjoy it. But when life is hard, remember that God gives us good times and hard times. And no one knows what will happen in the future. (Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 ERV)

Buck also reminds us, "You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings." We cannot underestimate the power of our feelings, for they often become either the catalyst behind our actions, or the anchor behind our inaction. There are days when we look at what comes our way and "feel" like we can handle each challenge, while at other times we simply have different "feelings" that tell us we won't handle another thing. Most of us engage in this insurmountable task of "changing things" because some "feeling" tells us change is necessary. When we find the difficulty in accomplishing the change, we get all balled up in even further emotion which leads to more and more frustration with the lack of change.

We have all probably heard the old adage of "taking the good with the bad" on more than one occasion. Easier said than done, right? We don't find the emotions hard to follow when they are steering us toward something we view are "rewarding" or "fulfilling". As soon as the emotions are not really being pulled in the direction we "want" to be going, we get bogged down and sometimes even find the task ahead of us as what we label "too hard". Things we view as "too hard" are often abandoned. I abandoned learning to play golf simply because getting that tiny white ball into that tiny hole so doggone far away was "too hard". I abandon a fishing hole that isn't yielding any fish after a reasonable amount time and effort, but I don't abandon fishing! Why? I enjoy it!

Changing based on feelings is kind a perilous place to be since our feelings aren't always all that reliable. I think God would rather we be honest about our feelings, though, than to go about "doing stuff" just because it is stuff that needs to "get done". There are days I don't "feel" like writing - I'd rather just go fishing! You know what I do to when this happens? I go fishing. Why? Sometimes I need the renewal and "clearing of my mind" being at the fishing hole brings. There is nothing wrong with observing how one is "feeling", then acting upon it when the feeling pushes us in the right direction.

In fact, there are times when I observe the tiresome work of the ants moving back and forth to their nest and think of the next thing I will write about. At other times, I listen to the gentle breeze, observe the incoming clouds of a summer's rain storm, or see the eagle swoop down with such grace to scoop up fish bigger than I'd imagined could be in the waters. All of this gives me gentle pushes toward writing again - it renews my inner being and often gives me reminders about the care, protection, and provision of the God I serve.

Feelings aren't to be our motivating force, but they are behind our every action. As Buck said, sometimes we "do right" despite how we are feeling. I need time in the Word - so even when I don't always "feel it", I take in even a little bit. That morsel may be what gives me fodder for the day's thoughts, keeps me centered when I want to get off-balance, and holds me firm when I find the journey rougher than I'd hoped. We cannot ignore our feelings, but we can learn to "use them" to drive us forward, instead of keeping us anchored in places we would do better to move away from. Just sayin!

The muddle demystified

If the heart of man is made up of mind, will, and emotions - the place where we make choices, decide which "voice" sounds the most "credible" at the moment, and what it is we will hold onto when times get a little challenging - then we had better figure out pretty quickly what is IN our heart and what CONTROLS it.  If the right stuff is IN there and the right ONE is controlling our heart, then we stand a better chance to have consistency in our lives which is reflected in our correct choices and wise responses.

We may think we are doing the right thing, but the Lord always knows what is in our hearts. (Proverbs 21:2 CEV)

I enjoy pleasing you. Your Law is in my heart. (Psalm 40:8 CEV)

God knows how many times we set out to "do" the right thing, but then somewhere along the way we get distracted by something which influences our thoughts, will, or emotions just enough to get us pursuing something else entirely.  It may not have been our original intention, but it ended up being the one we listened to or followed.  When God's Word (his Law) is allowed to get deeply into our hearts, we stand a much better chance of not being swayed by our emotions, or listening to voices which would be better off not heard!

Getting the right "stuff" into our lives is important.  Whenever we want to overcome something which has been a bit of a challenge to us, we often need a kind of "tutor" to help us figure out the right steps to take to get beyond that "sticking point".  I play these matching games which require a great deal of strategy at times.  If I make the right moves, I pass the level.  If not, I get stuck in the rut of trying and trying time and time again until I finally get it.  I have learned to seek out those who have passed the level already to learn from their strategies because if they have it figured out already, I know their tutelage may actually help me pass the level myself.

The same is true of the "spiritual sticking points" in our lives - those things we get hung up on where obedience is the ultimate desire, but compromise tends to become the response. We likely need a little tutelage in that area - either because emotions are out of control, will is just plain not enough to get us past the "sticking point", or we don't possess the knowledge to really understand what is at the "core" of the issue.  Either of these areas of struggle can be undermining to our walk with Jesus.  Getting the tutelage of the Word of God may be the one thing we overlook when struggling.

Joyce Meyers said, "Once I realized that right thinking is vital to victorious living, I got more serious about thinking about what I was thinking about, and choosing my thoughts carefully."  Don't miss what she said - she focused on what she was thinking in order to change the actions she was producing.  It has often been said the main place of battle over things which become "sticking points" to us living above compromise in our lives is mostly in the mind - the way we are thinking and what it is we choose to think upon the most.

It is not just that we know "what" to think, but it is actually choosing to think about those things most when there is a muddle of thought which is getting us confused about what is our real priority in life at the moment.  For example, anger causes a muddle of emotions and thought - leaving us responding out of a place where we make wrong choices and often deliver wrong actions in response.  I can find myself getting a little frustrated with mom when she wants something done her way or in her timing.  It isn't always convenient for me, nor is it the "necessary" thing to do at that moment, but it is in her mind and that is all she can think about.  Whenever I fail to see this, I kind of get a little short with her because she just keeps stating the same thing over and over again - something we call perseverating.

What I fail to see is that she cannot get beyond her perseveration over the same thing until I take the action she desires.  To reason with her is just not going to change her impression of what she needs done - in her mind, it is what it is and I just need to see it from her standpoint.  To respond in the emotion of anger or frustration only makes things worse, because she doesn't get what she perceives she needs done and now her feelings are hurt because I was short with her in my response.  I compound the issue whenever I respond out of a "muddle" of thought rather than clarifying the thought enough to respond in a more reasonable and loving manner.  You might have been there on occasion - responding out of the muddle instead of getting control of your thoughts - thinking about what it is you are thinking about - and then choosing your thoughts just a little more carefully.

The Word of God helps us settle the muddle - it helps us clarify the intent of our thought, see the futility of others, and to get the emotion out of the middle of thought so that we can see the reality of what we are considering.  We need this kind of clarity - without it, we just respond to life out of the midst of the muddle - something which leaves us standing in the midst of compromise, wrong response, and just plain bad choices.  Getting it into the midst of our thoughts will help us make sense of the muddle and deal more consistently with the choices we make.  Just sayin!

Meet my other brother Larry....

Have you ever read a portion of scripture so many times, you just gloss over it because you think you are already "familiar" with it?  What happens is we tell our brains we already know the "story".  It is like when we asked mom or dad to read us the bedtime story for the 2,000th time!  We didn't need them to read it out loud because we could have just looked at the pictures and told THEM the story!  It wasn't that we memorized it - we remembered enough of the details to "tell the story".  I like to go back to some of my favorite portions of scripture frequently because they have challenged me, given me hope, set my thinking straight, etc.  I count on what happened before to give me something "new" this time around.  The most amazing thing about scripture - it almost always does this when we come with an open mind and a seeking heart!

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.   (Romans 8:29-30 MSG)

This passage is one of those places where you can find richness each time you look into it again.  Here are just a couple of things which came alive to me today:

- God knows what he is doing, even before he sets out to do it.  This should give us hope we don't just live by "fate" or "happenstance".  There is a plan in every experience - because God designed us!  Too many times, I hear people saying they will just play the cards they are dealt, as though there is no one in control of what "hand" they receive.  It is like saying the thing was just unavoidable - it is just chance or luck.  Let me tell you - we don't live by chance if we are God's kids.  We don't rely upon luck to get us through.  What we rely upon and live by is the truth and reality of being created by God, to be his kids, and to enjoy the privileges of this relationship.  It isn't kismet.  It isn't good fortune coming your way.  It is predetermined planning on the part of our Creator!

- God shapes our lives, not into some whimsical fancy of his on a particular day, but by the "standard" of his Son.  In other words, he created us and formed us in the image of who he is!  Our lives follow a pretty unique "standard" - that of the life of Jesus Christ.  The word "shape" here should give us a moment to pause.  Shape is used as a verb here, not a noun.  As such, it is a word which describes an action, not on our part, but on God's.  He shapes us (from the outset) to conform to the image of his Son.  In the most literal sense, this means he gives us a definite "form" by which we should live.  Yet, it also means he adjust, adapts, and directs our lives so we will come into and maintain the perfect form he envisions for our lives.  He makes the necessary adjustments, brings us to the place we "adapt" our behavior, aligning character, and directing our path. 

- God gives us the "finished product" as an example because he knows we do better when we "see" what it is we are moving toward.  It is like when we get a jigsaw puzzle in a bag.  If all we have is the pieces, we struggle for a while bringing order and form to the pieces.  We don't "see" how they fit.  Now, give us the box it came in and we now have a perspective by which to evaluate each piece in comparison to the original.  Jesus stands as our example of how to live in relationship with others - sometimes they are easier than others. He stands as our example of how to deal with temptation - using the Word to drive a wedge between the tempting thought and the right action.  Having the right example helps us know how the pieces fit together in our lives.

- God is not content to just create - he also names his creation.  There have been goofy comic routines throughout history where someone will introduce themselves as Larry, then introduce their brother as Larry and their other brother Larry.  In essence, they are designed to poke a little fun at some corner of society, but I think we might just occasionally believe God doesn't know us any better than the guy next door.  We have a hard time with this idea of believing he could know us each by name, paying close attention to each detail of our lives, simply because there are so many of us!  We think it must be like him calling us Larry, our other brother Larry and his brother Larry! Truth is - we are each unique in his eyes and perfectly attended by his care.

- God is concerned with our footing.  It is one thing to stand us up straight; it is quite another to give us solid footing upon which to walk through this life. The wobbliest of objects can be made to stand up with enough ingenuity.  Try taking it out of its "environment" and it may not do as well!  It is great to know God goes with us into our new "environment", preparing the footing we need to be able to navigate through it safely.

What God envisions, he completes.  This probably baffles some of us because we struggle so much with completing the stuff we set out to do.  It is indeed good news to know the Creator sticks with his Creation all along the way, so as to get us more than "established", but also totally "in line" with what he envisioned in his creative work!  Just sayin!

Integrity and intensity - the "I" list

Two words come to mind when I think of our "I" List of character traits God would like for us to possess:  Integrity and Intensity.  At first, these two seem to stand alone, but I think you will come to see how they are uniquely interwoven traits which actually compliment each other.  As you can see from our passage below, Paul begins with "Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it."  Now, consider our two traits - he asks for us to have some intensity (fervor) in how we love (from the center of who we are), but he also expects us to have integrity in our love as he asks us to be real in our love (don't fake it).  They are indeed integral to each other.  

Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.   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.  (Romans 12:9-12 MSG)

At first, we may only think of integrity as honesty - some adherence to a moral code within.  I believe there is a little more to integrity than meets the eye.  In the most literal sense, integrity is a state of wholeness - speaking to the "entirety" of something.  When Paul asks us to love this way, he is asking us to make our expression (action) of love complete - thorough, lacking nothing, completely undiminished in any way.  It also carries the idea of being unimpaired - nothing stands in its way of expression.  

We may think of intensity as something which burns hot - has some gusto to it.  You wouldn't be far off if you went with this definition, but there is just a little more I think we need to see.  It is a focusing of energies - so what is produced is more powerful than when energies are unfocused.  It includes the idea of height and depth - for something with intensity is sharpest when it is focused.  For example, take a regular light bulb and put it in a lamp.  The light gives a glow to the room.  Now, put a spotlight bulb in the same socket and what happens?  There is light for the whole room, but the intensity of light is in the direct line of the "focused" light of the bulb.  What makes the bulbs different?  They add a "mirror" effect to the spotlight bulb to get the light to focus in a direct path.  So, for our purposes today, begin to think of intensity as being focused, intent, and directed.

As we glimpse the instructions Paul lays out for us, we can begin to see how each of these must have both character traits in order to be fully met. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.  He reminds us of the importance of focus - running from evil, turning toward what is good.  He also reminds of the integrity we must maintain in doing this - it is as though our entire life depended upon this action.  Indeed it does - for what we run toward determines the outcome of our pursuit; how we run toward it determines how quickly we will attain our pursuit.  Are you getting how these two traits are related?  

Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.  This is probably the hardest part of this passage.  We all burn out at some time or another, in one pursuit or another.  Why?  Well, maybe the pursuit was not right for us at the time - we were simply running after, focusing our energies toward, without thought of whether it was the right thing for us, the right timing, or with the right intent.  When we do this, we find ourselves kind of running on a hamster wheel - just spinning and spinning, but not really getting anywhere.  There is nothing more exhausting than just spinning your wheels.  So, how do we avoid burn-out?  In the first place, burn-out is never God's fault - it is ours.  We didn't keep the right focus.  So, being vigilant to consistently evaluate our focus is paramount to avoiding burn-out.  When a pilot is going from point A to point B, his eyes are on the gauges - not just the wings of the plane.  He could focus intently on the wings, but it he never notices he is nearly out of fuel, he will find those wings do him little good as he is plummeting toward earth!  The gauges show him his air speed, the fuel remaining, the altitude he maintains, etc.  We have some similar "gauges" in our lives we'd do well to watch with diligence!

What gauges do we have?  There are all kinds, but here are just a few.  We have the gauge of our time - what are we giving our time toward?  Most of us "spend" our time - God's method of operating is to "give" our time.  We have the gauge of our emotions - when we find ourselves getting a little frazzled or fraying around the edges, it may just be time to pull back a little.  We have the gauge of our inner spirit - giving us a little "check" here and there to remind us our "prayer" gauge is a little low.  We need to make connection with the one who refuels us - so when our prayer gauge sends off a warning light, we likely need to get connected again!  These are just some examples of what we have been given as gauges.  You will likely think of others.  Let God show you those which often "scream" their warnings in your life the loudest.  When you identify them, begin to see how they relate to your focus and your intent.  Remember the light bulb?  They both serve the purpose of casting light into the room.  Each has an effect - but only one does it with intensity.  The gauges can help us to focus so our intensity allows for a brilliant display of God's light from within.  Just sayin!

Going through the motions?

Going through the motions?  If you have ever found yourself on "auto-pilot", you probably have been "going through the motions".  On auto-pilot, the deed is getting done, but it is without conscious effort and often without intention. It is rote.  It is not the best way to go through life, but we often find ourselves involved in lots of things we just do because we have to - making no real effort to be intentional in the thing we are doing.  There are two things missing when we do:  interest and involvement.

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you.  I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered.
Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. (Psalm 51:16-17 MSG)

Our passage today deals with living both with interest and involvement - two things God requires of us if we are to really get the most from our relationship with him.  In the theater, actors and actresses "go through the motions" night after night, play-acting the scenes they have rehearsed over and over again.  It almost becomes "rote" - something they can do without thought.  There is a routine to it, but the audience often doesn't see it because it is all new to the onlooker.  To the one "performing", the motions are familiar and come across polished to the onlooker.  The problem:  they are "play-acting" and this is not real life!

God deals with us on the plane of real life!  There is no room for "play-acting" when it comes to our relationship with him.  Most of us try to "re-infuse" our lives with meaning, much like we fill up a gas tank in our car, wondering why we run out of gas just a short way down the road.  The issue is we only focus on the "soulish" things in life which we can "fill up" our "tanks" and we miss out on the "spiritual" things in life which only God has the capability of providing the true "filling" for.  At the end of the road, we often hear words like, "I am so burned out".  Why?  Burnout is a result of us living by our own efforts, filling our own tanks - going through the motions instead of living with intention and purpose.

Look at what David says, "Heart-shattered lives ready for love..."  He is giving us insight into what it is to have an "empty tank".  We feel like life is falling to pieces around us (and sometimes right inside of us).  We cannot get a handle on the pieces.  We have just been living life by rote, truly not committed or intent on the outcome.  Then we hit a wall - leaving us shattered, in pieces, grasping for some semblance of meaning.  Your wall could be the loss of a job or a loved one; the brokenness of relationship or the pain of disease.  There are lots of ways we begin to "break down" in life.  Our tank is empty and we need filling.

He points out something we shouldn't miss - true worship (not just the motions of worship) is learned when the pieces begin to fall apart.  I don't know why it is, but we humans have a hard time really engaging in life with intent and purpose until something "urges" us into paying attention again!  It may be we just get too consumed by life, so we just flip on the auto-pilot to get through.  The first time we do this, it is a little uncomfortable, but the more we "fly" on auto-pilot, the easier it gets to just go that route.  Before long, we don't even pay attention to the destination - we just set off and go with the flow.

As I shared a couple week's back, I regularly take seasons of time to just "re-center" and "re-energize" my life.  I do it because I know my tendency to just go through the motions if I don't.  I "do" all the right stuff, but the "purposeful enjoyment" of the actions is missing.  I don't think we always need a catastrophic event in life to alert us to our drift into "auto-pilot".  If we remain attentive to the need to "create a little space" in our lives, we can avoid many a devastating time when we just "run out of gas".  My pastor calls this "breathing room" - I call it "balance".  We need balance - to have time each week to create a fresh connection with the things which matter.  In time, we need a little longer "breathing room", such as we accomplish with an occasional long weekend away.  Then there are the longer vacations - those which really renew us on multiple planes.  Regardless of the "span" of time, the creation of some "room" for balance in life is important in order to avoid the tendency to drift into the "routine" and "normal chaos" of a life too filled, but one which lacks intent or purpose.

Our human hearts work best when there is a little space maintained around them which doesn't become filled with stuff that doesn't belong there.  There is a small "sack" of sorts in which this space is created for our human hearts.  Fill it with anything which doesn't belong there and it presses upon the heart until it stops functioning.  Our spiritual hearts only remain soft, pliable, and open to God's touch when they have a little space around them, too.  Pride fills the spaces to capacity - humility leaves room for God to fill the space with what belongs.  Just sayin!