Entry #15 - Psalm 46:10

"Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10). This verse is so very popular, and for good reason--what person, particularly a Christian and a lover of God, would not want to go to God and find rest from his stresses? I have heard this verse everywhere, and songs and meditations based on it. Today I found out that "Be still and know that I am God" does not make up the entire verse in which it is found. Here is the full verse of Psalm 46:10--

"Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!"

Taken in context we see that this verse is not so much about God running His hands through our hair as we disconnect from life while sitting in His lap, as much as it is about God's restraining and sometimes vengeful power over all the armies of the world (vv. 6-9...whom or what does God tell to be still?) and His clear intent to be exalted by people throughout the world (v.10). Quite a different story, isn't it? Different attitude, different focus, different aim. So why does the full verse not appear on coffee mugs, refrigerator magnets, and in songs? Can we not take comfort in the same things in the same way as the psalmist? Do we really believe that every time we read about God's passion to be exalted, and every verse we read from Paul that ends in "to the glory of God", that it is some kind of throw-away phrase? Do we believe that the more important thing is us?

Since listening to men like John Piper and Paul Washer my eyes have been opened to God's passion for His glory as revealed in Scripture. It's astonishing how I would often gloss over these phrases and statements. Not always--I was aware of God's passion for His glory and excited about it myself--especially the revealing of that glory, whether through world evangelism or the return of Christ. What took me much longer (ultimately at the redirection of said preachers) was seeing the preeminence of this passion among all of God's passions.

The Bible's testimony of this is both uncompromising and simple. God is intent on making Himself known, and being exalted throughout the earth. And for me, this is a fortress and a refuge. A mighty fortress is our God.

Entry #14 - God... and things.

There is a point when the things you care about in your life can either be aids in your walk with Christ or deterrents. It's a hard question to ask yourself: is this possession/profession/person something that brings glory to God? Does it help me to honor Him, to thank Him for its presence and purpose in my life? Or does it distract me from Him altogether, causing me to miss the gratitude I should be giving? Everything God created is designed for the good of God's kingdom. That includes things that help us or entertain us, the talents we can enjoy and use, the careers and friendships we invest in and help grow... God's heart is pro-creativity.

So where does it all go south?

For me, it was when I forgot that God wanted to be involved. It was as though I decided to pursue this investment, and God was mutually exclusive. My God time and my thing time were two separate entities. Oftentimes, I would ask forgiveness for thinking about this thing too much, and when I was doing my thing, I would feel weird acknowledging God through it all.

Any thoughts of God pervading my thing time or changing my thing time altogether were exciting but unnerving... I wanted God to take part, in fact I wanted God to breathe through it and dwell in it because my thing time brought me happiness. Now, all I needed was for my thing time to bring me joy, as well.

And for that to happen, I knew God's presence was a prerequisite.

It's a thin line between enjoying creation and worshiping it. Make it clear to God that you want to stay on the right side, and He will help you... It might hurt, but He will help you.

Entry #13 - Wasting Time

"I believe the greatest trick of the devil is not to get us into some sort of evil but rather have us wasting time."
--Donald Miller, "Blue Like Jazz"

When I read that statement, something resonated within me. When I think back over the years I wasn't really following God whole-heartedly, I realize that although I had plenty of friends, plenty of money, and was all-around a pretty happy person, I wasn't engaging God; I wasn't making Him part of my everyday life, and in doing so I wasn't walking in the fullness of who He created me to be. I was never depressed, wasn't doing drugs, sleeping around or enticing people to Satan-worship, but I also wasn't building the kingdom of God. Sure, I invited people to church, even sang on the worship team, but I was wasting time. I was not investing in my future, or future-minded at all.

I realize that the enemy had me right where he wanted me. I justified everything I did because it wasn't really "that bad," (like not doing drugs or something crazy), and I actually was involved at church. But there were very specific areas in my life that I would not let God touch. I didn't want to give control over... but that's a whole other blog.

My point is, what are we doing with our time?? Are we just doing the "Christian" thing, and going to church, reading our daily Bible devotions, reciting our prayer lists and staying out of "trouble"? Or are we engaging the Holy Spirit by actively pursuing His word, seeking His face, and getting on our hands and knees (and sometimes faces!) and crying out to God? I grow more in my spiritual walk when I'm consistently (just to clarify - "consistent" doesn't necessarily mean "daily") in the Word, and when I can find quit times with Jesus, than I ever do just going to church.

I regret nothing. Everything I went through made me the person I am today. And I know that God forigves and restores, but it makes me sad to think about all the lives I could have changed or influenced, and the growth I could have achieved had I been serving God whole-heartedly.

My challenge to you is to think about this: which areas of your life do you still have control? We all have at least one.

Entry #12 - Give, Help, Serve.

I want to give...

All of me. What is the purpose of my body, my hands, my feet, without their outpouring?

One of the ugliest sights is the vision of someone holding onto themselves with fists clutched tight, their skin rippling with the grip, their arms inhibited from catching any falling thing.

Whatever we do to the least of God's children, to the least of our brothers and sisters, to the hardest people to love or the easiest people to love, we do directly to God.

I don't want to live with starving God. I don't want to face the harsh reality that I have ignored His needs, His cries for help.

Granted, my God does not need me; He is not helpless in the slightest. He invites me. He welcomes me into a life of giving, of serving, of employing myself as His instrument. What greater purpose is there?

Once I've got that attitude dwelling within me, I must only ask God to show me how to direct my passion. Every morning, every afternoon... I ask that He shows me a need that I might fill it.

Eternal significance starts with humility here on Earth.

What can we do for each other?

Entry #11 - Walking through meadows and walls

The path Christ calls us to is a varied, winding path. Faithfulness to Him and His truth brings us into all sorts of contradictions--being loved and hated, being envied and pitied, being alone and in profound fellowship, laughing and weeping, meditating and preaching.

The novelty of this exotic metaphorical locale is not enough. It may sound heroic at first hearing. But really it is nothing of our own doing. It is even nothing of any value whatsoever, if not empowered, inspired, and inscribed by a mesmerized and passionate love for God. Without that love, it is also impossible to get through.

Only this love for God, awakened by the Holy Spirit, is powerful enough to take a person through all of these ups and downs--these meadows and walls. And rest assured that both the meadows and the walls will come. Meadows where you are loved and celebrated, and where the companionship you share with other believers is amazing. Walls where you are rejected by people--sometimes even by those claiming Christ, as a result of taking His Word seriously. Walls where you struggle even to know what obedience would look like in this particular situation.

Be prepared to excitedly cherish those meadows and to awkwardly walk into those walls. Do what needs to be done and fix your heart on Him through it all.

Entry #10 - Pray

This is not an entry about prayer. This is a challenge and an appeal for you to pray before you close this window or move on from this blog.

If you would like to see your church more awakened to the reality of Christ, to be more sensitive to sin, to be more awed at God, to be the irresistible force it was meant to be, through the power of God alone (the only real power that can bring this about), please pray.

Pray for your pastor and his family. Pray for the godly to be more influential, and for the influential to be more godly. Pray for your brothers and sisters, and name them as brothers and sisters before God.

Entry #9 - The Family of God/Surprised by Love

In the first post, I talked about how I wanted to encounter God. I spoke about it mainly as an individual--I wanted to experience God in the fullest way possible as me. My list toward the end of the entry included wanting to weep, wanting to fear, and wanting to be comforted. I still want these things. But it was a narrow view of what it would mean to be awakened to the reality of Christ. Narrow can serve a purpose for a little while as we strive for some form of closeness to God, but as God's people we do not call the shots as to deciding who He is--and what the reality is that He calls us to.

This is a confession and a rejoicing. The confession is that my heart was closed. Through several events in only a week, God opened my heart to see that in my surroundings here I was in the midst of a family. I had come with an all business mindset--"give me the facts, the models, the techniques of ministry, so that I can be on my way." And the change came when I realized, not that I was in the midst of a family, but that this family had begun seeing me as one of its own. It felt very human, and I say that in the positive sense of the term, the God's image-bearing relational being sense. I did not come to an intellectual conclusion. Rather I was smited by the kind words of a young girl I hardly know. So I confess my undue cynicism, skepticism, and my closed heart. And I rejoice in God's kindness. And I rejoice in the family of God.

To embrace the "reality of Christ" in the form of the written word, and the spoken word, and yet miss the incarnational reality of Christ as represented in the family of God would be an absurd, pathetic, self-harming and strange form of hypocrisy. Be careful, because it is possible to believe strongly in something and yet miss it when it's right before your face.

I feel like this has gotten ironically wordy.

That's enough for now.