Tag Archives: scripture reflection

by

You Must Be Born Again


What does new birth and growth in Christ look like?

John 3:3, “In reply Jesus declared, `I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.’”

Galatians 4:19, “My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you..”

The process of birth is a helpful metaphor for thinking about Christian conversion and growth. Birth is not an event but a process. What happens on the day a baby is born has been taking shape for nine months. And what happens on that birthday continues to develop for years and decades to come.

Spiritual birth is no different. Those given opportunity to midwife another into new life will experience labor pains in prayer until Christ is formed in the people of God for whom they care. This is what formation is about.

And what does it mean that Paul prays passionately and painfully for his dear children in whom Christ is not yet fully formed in them.

Continue reading →

by

Reliable Constants of Life in Jesus


Morning walk on our first morning in Singapore last week.

Morning walk on our first morning in Singapore last week.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV, “Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

These simple pieces of counsel are an invitation to a steady and faithful way of life in Christ. This is how God wants us to live in Christ. Choose joy. Live in continual communion with God. See and affirm grace in every circumstance. This invitation inspires me. I feel hungry and thirsty for a life of deep joy, loving communion and faithful gratitude.

When it comes to the invitation to “rejoice always,” I find a complaint rise up from somewhere within me. I don’t think it’s an especially holy place. “But I don’t feel any joy. I feel depressed. I feel weary. I feel downcast (in the language of so many psalms).” The answer that arises in me comes from what feels like a better place, “Don’t measure or base your life on surface feelings. Those feelings are what they are. Joy comes from a deeper and more real place that has roots in eternal reality. You have more reason to be joyful than you can possibly imagine. A glimpse of the glories of God’s very presence would overflow your heart with a joy you couldn’t possibly contain.”

I also think of what my friend, Jon Byron, once said about worship. He calls it a “stimulated response” to God. It doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Worship is a response to a vision of–an encounter with–glory. Isaiah has a vision of the Lord’s glory and is overcome with holy fear and profound awe. Then, he worships God. Perhaps rejoicing, prayer and gratitude are also stimulated responses. Father, I welcome Your Spirit to open my eyes to see what I’m too often missing, to open my ears to hear words of love, grace and power, to open my heart to receive and express vital life. Thank You.

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

Blessed Are the Pure in Heart


IMG_9604(A morning prayer journal from April)

Passage: Matthew 5:1-10

Word or Phrase

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8 NIV)

Those whose hearts are single and unmixed are clear in their vision of God. When I allow my heart to be divided by many opposing movements, my vision of God is unclear, perhaps distorted like a funhouse mirror or obscured like a dirty window.

I’m not sure I have direct access to making my own heart clean. I think, like David, I need to come to God and ask for the gift of a clean heart. Perhaps I can seek to keep my heart pure.

Emotion / Response

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8 NIV)

I feel a deep thirst to know God’s blessing. Perhaps saying it that way, I sometimes feel unblessed. Maybe my need is to realize that I can be blessed in whatever condition I find myself.

I feel a little intimidated by the phrase “pure in heart.” It feels lofty and unattainable. I’m so aware of my own mixed motives in everything I do. Some of my motives are noble. Some aren’t. I thirst for a vision of You that would draw all of my motives into You to be refined.

In all of this, I do feel blessed…in many ways.

Invitation

Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God. (Matthew 5:8 NIV)

I sense You saying, “Offer this day to Me. Do not allow the motives for perceived productivity creep into this day. Do not worry about two-and-a-half chapters remaining in your writing. I can give you more and better in a few days than you can produce by your own efforts in weeks or months.

“Come to Me today. Linger with me. Take a walk with Me. Read with Me. Enjoy time with Gem before Me. Enjoy your meals with Me. Listen to others with Me. Allow Me to be your primary Companion throughout this day. Be patient in the face of distracting thoughts. Don’t let them divert you. You will be blessed. You are blessed.”

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

Morning Prayer: A Vision of God’s Glory


A painting we have been given by Valentin, an artist in the Dominican Republic.

A painting we have been given by Valentin, an artist in the Dominican Republic.

(From a morning prayer journal in April)

Psalm 105:3, 4 NIV
Glory in his holy name;
      let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
      seek his face always.”

Each line of this psalm verse seems alive to me this morning. What am I hearing?

      Glory in his holy name (3a). I tend to think of glory as a noun. It’s about weightiness. It’s about grandeur and brilliance. But here it’s an active verb. One dictionary suggests it is “to exult with triumph or to rejoice proudly.” I glory in his holy name when I begin to recognize the extent of His greatness and express my deep and humble praise about Him to Him. It is joyful. It is a 10 on the 1-10 scale. God is so beautiful, so mighty, so glorious, that the only fitting response is overwhelmed praise. When I lose sight of this God Who is always with me, my life becomes dimmer and smaller.

(I think of the group of worship leaders I will be with in a couple of weeks. They are charged with leading us in this kind of vision of and response to God. How easy, though, to become captured by worship leading as a profession, details of improving technical excellence, and opinions of those we lead, losing sight of the God to Whom we intend to draw attention.)

“Let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice (3b).” I’m drawn especially to “seek.” This is an active orienting of my attention towards God. I have felt so distracted lately that it feels I’m seeking nothing…or everything. The psalm here invites me to a single focus on the Lord that inspires overflowing joy within me. Keeping the presence of God before me enables me to experience and express how deeply I am moved by joy before Him. Does my vision of God inspire joy? Do I see Him as He is—generous, masterful, magnificently good, longing to be gracious and delighting in mercy? Wouldn’t that fill me with joy that cannot help but overflow in thanksgiving and praise?

“Look to the Lord and his strength (4a).”  I’m invited especially to see the Lord’s might, and to recognize that I am strengthened in my life and my work in Him. When I feel weak, I am not alone. I am companioned by a powerful God Who is also my Father. When I am tired, I can remember I live my life in the presence of the One Who is my Rest. Thank You!

“Seek his face always (4b).” Looking into someone’s face is an act of intimacy, of friendship. I don’t gaze into someone’s face unless I feel free and welcome there. (I can’t imagine stopping in a grocery aisle and staring into a stranger’s face. I might even get kicked out of the store!).

Always. I imagine trying to live my life with Gem’s face always before me. Something like this is humanly impractical. Gem and I going through a day always in one another’s presence, let alone always looking into one another’s eyes, would be goofy…and probably dangerous! But I can live the whole of my life seeking His face. It is a face I can “see” with my heart and soul. I can live in The Presence. I can grow in my continual awareness of the smiling, caring face of Jesus before me.

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

Morning Prayer: In the Lord


1 of 5 paintings Valentin had on our walls during the retreat.

1 of 5 paintings Valentin had on our walls during the October 2012 DR Journey retreat.

A passage I’ve often returned to for leadership insight is Philippians 2:19-30. Here are a few recent reflections:

I’ve often reflected on Philippians 2:19-30 for spiritual leadership insight. Recently, I was drawn to a phrase Paul uses often in his writings: “in the Lord.” Here are a few scribbles from my recent reflections:

Vs. 19, “I hope in the Lord Jesus to…” What Paul hopes to do with hope in the Lord Jesus is to send Timothy along to the Philippian church to get an update from them—to hear how they are. There is a sense of being in communion with the Lord when we are engaging another.

Vs. 24, “And I am confident in the Lord that…” Paul wants to come visit them personally, and expresses confidence that the Lord will open such an opportunity to him.

Vs. 29, “Welcome [Epaphroditus] in the Lord with great joy…” There is a heart hospitality we feel with others with whom we share communion with Jesus in common. Because we are consciously aware of Jesus in us and Jesus in the other, we share in common His love and vitality.

Paul mentions Epaphroditus risking his life. For what reason does he do this? Was it some sort of ministry ego trip? Was he trying to make a name for himself in the Christian community? No. He risked his life by coming to Paul’s aid even in the midst of personal illness, even to the edge of death. He risked his life for the sake of his love in Christ for Paul, a brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier. What a remarkable person he must have been.

Reflection: How is Jesus inviting you to live your life and conduct your work “in Him” today?

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

Psalm 99: Acknowledging God’s Reign


A morning walk with Jesus

A morning walk with Jesus

Psalm 99:1 NIV
The Lord reigns,

      let the nations tremble;

he sits enthroned between the cherubim,

      let the earth shake.

Jesus, Your majesty and your might are good reason even the highest human rulers to tremble with fear. The earth itself should quake before You. For me, it would be better to tremble before the gracious might of a loving heavenly King, than to tremble for all the lesser reasons that I do: fear of what others will think, fear of being unable to do what I’ve been given to do, fear of financial troubles.

In all of this, I either believe or I don’t in Your reign. You are either King or You aren’t. I’m either living in the light of reality of Your rule or I am not. There is an unhealthy version of “all or nothing” thinking. This isn’t it. When it comes to You, there are “alls” and “nothings” to be embraced and affirmed. Apart from You, I really can do nothing. And I really can do anything through the strengthening of Jesus Christ in and with me.

You reign over my life and my work today. You are King. No one else has effective say over me but You. This is unless I come to wrongly believe that some other force, authority or power is over me. What do I believe? What are my convictions? Where is my confidence settled?

Help me to see You, Jesus, and my Father in heaven through You. May Your kingdom come and Your will be done both in and through me. I offer that prayer hardly knowing what I’m asking. I ask anyway. I trust Your goodness and wisdom to answer me better than I could imagine. I look to You to be the gracious and merciful God. Thank you.

Thank you for many who are doing their Amazon Christmas shopping starting with the link below. It has already helped our ministry. 

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

How to Invest My Freedoms


1 Corinthians 6:12-13 NIV, “’Everything is permissible for me’–but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible for me’–but I will not be mastered by anything. ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food’–but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.”

Paul takes some one-liners from the Corinthians that are designed to provide a rationale for their “do what I feel like doing” orientation.

“I can do whatever I want. I’m free. There is nothing to limit me.” In a sense, Paul affirms the statement but qualifies it. Of course I am able to do just about anything I want. God is not in the habit of preventing my exercise of free will. Paul simply reminds the Corinthians that not everything that I am free to do is good to do. Every exercise of freedom is not equal in its outcome. I can freely choose life and I can freely choose destruction. That is the nature of the options God gives me.

The other argument Paul offers against the “I can do whatever I want” impulse is that I do not want to be mastered by anything I choose. Do I use my freedom in a way that reduces it, or in a way that increases it? Do I spend my freedom or invest it? There is a way to spend my freedom so that I have less of it over time. Such is the nature of addiction. Choosing to smoke cigarettes may be a freedom I exercise at one point, but a freedom that ceases to be as free as I become habituated to it.

“Food for the stomach and the stomach for food” seems to be a way of saying “In one end, out the other. It’s never really in me. It just goes through me. What does it matter what I eat?” Paul’s response is to say, “Neither food nor the current physical body is eternal. They are destined to be destroyed. They are temporary realities.”

More important is that the body is meant for the Lord. It is God-given and should be God-honoring. Do I use my body in a way that draws me towards God or moves me away from Him? Seeking sex apart from Him would be destructive and life-destroying. Seeking pleasure from eating and drinking apart from Him does the same.

The question I think God is inviting me to ask myself is, “What would be good for me? What would increase my freedom?”

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

The God Who Wants to Help Us


A boat on the Sea of Galilee

Psalm 18:17-19 NIV
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

      from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

      but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;

      he rescued me because he delighted in me.

David shares here his testimony of what God has done for him. I can think of times when I have been rescued, supported, and released into a spacious place. I may not feel much that way today, but I have known that inward sense of support, release and protection.

So Jesus, I come to You this morning feeling more constricted, oppressed, even abandoned. These are my feelings, which I recognize aren’t a strong indicator of reality. I need Your help to find my way to a spacious and supported place this morning. You are a God Who wants, even longs, to help us. I need Your guidance to the life-giving, creative, fruitful place where I can faithfully do the work You have entrusted to me. This week, I have mostly felt paralyzed and distracted.

I feel, like David, that I’m up against a powerful enemy. It isn’t an enemy brandishing physical weapons to do me bodily harm. They are weapons that wound my soul and heart. They are weapons of discouragement, fear, doubt, low confidence, anxiety, and deception. Rescue me from these attacks. Enable me to walk in a spacious, supported, free place like David in this psalm. Help me see You as the Way. Help me find my way to You as my Door into such a place. I can’t make this happen on my own.

I feel like Thomas (John 14:5) who, speaking on behalf of the other followers, asks, “We don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” The “where” that Jesus has been talking about was His Father’s house. That was where He was preparing to go. Jesus answer is not to show them a path to take, something to do or somewhere to go. Jesus simply reminds them of His original invitation, “Come to Me.” He says, “I am the Way…” Don’t look for a place to go. Come to Me. Walk with Me. In this way You’ll find truth and life.

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

Being Saved by What God Says


James 1:21b, “…humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.”

Do we approach the scriptures only with our minds to understand, or also with our wills to humbly accept and respond to what we hear? Sometimes I wonder about my own response.

If I think of the word of God as a seed, then sometimes I approach scripture like a person describing the seeds, or explaining how seeds work, or collecting seeds, instead of simply planting and tending those seeds so they can grow. Are we teachers teaching in such a way that enables hearers to receive and embrace what God is saying? Can we help them take what they hear into their hearts and not only their minds?

That’s the question I’m wrestling with.

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]

by

Thoughts on Seeking God First


Matthew 6:33-34 NIV, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

This simple and life-changing little invitation from Jesus to “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” has been on my mind a lot lately. It strikes me that this echoes the line in the prayer Jesus gave us when we ask, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done.” We give sufficient time to such seeking until our hearts remember again the reality of his reign and the goodness of his way.

I read one commentary that pointed out that “first” here isn’t so much about sequence (this first, then the rest) as about being all-encompassing (foremost in our thinking at all times). We invite Him to be first in our affections, our intentions, our plans, our work. We acknowledge Him as first—as King. I find that this deepens my sense of His generous, powerful, guiding Presence with me in all that I do. I find that this kind of “seeking first” flourishes in unhurried time to pay attention to His presence, listen for His voice and become aware, like Jesus did, of what the Father is saying and doing around me.

On Tuesday and Thursday this coming week, I’ll be sharing what I’m learning about this “seek God first” orientation as it relates to ministry leadership. It’s been a very fruitful journey.

Click here to make any Amazon purchase in support of this blog.
This does not add to the cost of your order, but provides a referral fee to this ministry.
[Click to learn more]