Sitting in the middle of my boring, mundane Information Gathering class, my eyes wander over my left shoulder, to the window. I see the sun beating down on a beautiful campus, with lush greens and maroon brick roads.
It's so easy to get lost in the day-to-day and not notice the ways God is showing us love. Our eyes venture down, fixing all of our attention on the next step. We block out the peripheral, and we miss the big picture. While we are called to work to fulfill the works that Christ has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10), it's important to remember that God wants to give and receive love.
I don't know if it's the same for you, but I can go through a day only focused on the task at hand, with no time to reflect on how my day was glorifying to God. What happens is that I end up at the end of the day feeling empty, that my day was self-fulfilling and without purpose. It's an awful feeling, but one that can be avoided with some time spent with God. Meditate on who He is, and never lose sight of the cross. When we focus on the ultimate act of love, the atoning death of Jesus, we can begin to understand the love that our Father has for us.
"Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you."
– Psalm 73:23-25
He is our Father, we are His children. How is His love impacting your life today?
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Encouragement among Men
Tonight, halfway through week seven of the most taxing quarter of my two years here, I made a list of the classwork I have to do.
It's not encouraging.
So, to the word I turn. Would you know it, in a time of need, God responds. He's led me to the book of Job lately. Tonight, I'm dwelling in and drinking in the poetic exaltation that is Job 5. I personally invite you all to read it for yourself. I'm going to give you a much-abridged thematic flow.
"Call if you will, but who will answer you? ... His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender ... Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before Him ... He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away ... So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds but He also binds up; He injures but He also heals ... We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself."
I love this chapter. Best of all, it's an emphasis on the need for Christian fellowship. There are few things I enjoy more than talking to my friends about what they are going through, and how the Lord is working and showing them His love in their lives. This entire chapter is Job's friend, Eliphaz encouraging him after a stint in which Job lost most of his family, livestock and health. Job describes the time in chapter 6 by saying:
"if only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas."
It's a time where he needs to know that God is with him. God brings Job this encouragement and backing voice through Eliphaz, a fellow believer.
So, the next time you think about encouraging one of your fellow men, and reconsider because it doesn't sound manly enough, think about the example set in Job by Eliphaz. Even though Job spits in his face, Eliphaz stays strong by his friend. Eliphaz has the courage, the audacity to remain loyal. He's truly a man of God, and he encourages his brothers.
It's not encouraging.
So, to the word I turn. Would you know it, in a time of need, God responds. He's led me to the book of Job lately. Tonight, I'm dwelling in and drinking in the poetic exaltation that is Job 5. I personally invite you all to read it for yourself. I'm going to give you a much-abridged thematic flow.
"Call if you will, but who will answer you? ... His children are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender ... Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. But if it were I, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before Him ... He catches the wise in their craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are swept away ... So the poor have hope, and injustice shuts its mouth. Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. For He wounds but He also binds up; He injures but He also heals ... We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself."
I love this chapter. Best of all, it's an emphasis on the need for Christian fellowship. There are few things I enjoy more than talking to my friends about what they are going through, and how the Lord is working and showing them His love in their lives. This entire chapter is Job's friend, Eliphaz encouraging him after a stint in which Job lost most of his family, livestock and health. Job describes the time in chapter 6 by saying:
"if only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas."
It's a time where he needs to know that God is with him. God brings Job this encouragement and backing voice through Eliphaz, a fellow believer.
So, the next time you think about encouraging one of your fellow men, and reconsider because it doesn't sound manly enough, think about the example set in Job by Eliphaz. Even though Job spits in his face, Eliphaz stays strong by his friend. Eliphaz has the courage, the audacity to remain loyal. He's truly a man of God, and he encourages his brothers.
The Future
I was talking to a friend the other day whose dad was talking to him about meeting up with some of his old college buddies for a weekend.
Here's what he said: "These guys are the same as they were in college. They have the same passions and the same problems. They have more stuff and more responsibility, but they are all dealing with the same stuff."
It's a scary thought that when I'm 50 I'll be an impatient and (at times) overbearing person. I know we're all flawed beings, but I think we have a chance to make up some ground in those areas. God calls us to "put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24)
What is it that makes us resist this change, this improvement? How can we end up 30 years down the road, still trying to press out the wrinkles in our spiritual life? I believe if we truly surrender ourselves to the Lord, dedicating ourselves to prayer, to the Word, and to seeking wise counsel, we can truly put off the old self and put on the new self.
Here's what he said: "These guys are the same as they were in college. They have the same passions and the same problems. They have more stuff and more responsibility, but they are all dealing with the same stuff."
It's a scary thought that when I'm 50 I'll be an impatient and (at times) overbearing person. I know we're all flawed beings, but I think we have a chance to make up some ground in those areas. God calls us to "put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness." (Ephesians 4:22-24)
What is it that makes us resist this change, this improvement? How can we end up 30 years down the road, still trying to press out the wrinkles in our spiritual life? I believe if we truly surrender ourselves to the Lord, dedicating ourselves to prayer, to the Word, and to seeking wise counsel, we can truly put off the old self and put on the new self.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Purpose
Just started reading The Call by Os Guinness. I'm only about 20 pages into the book, but I think it'll be a good week's read.
The book discusses three different views on purpose from three different schools of thought.
1) The Eastern View – used in religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, the view of purpose is like the view of everything else. It has no significance in this life or in eternity. The final reality is an impersonal ground of being, or "undifferentiated impersonal." Forget yourself, and forget your purpose. "Seen from this perspective, freedom is not freedom to be individual, but freedom from individuality."
2) The Secularist Answer – used by Atheists, most agnostics, naturalists and humanists. The final reality is chance and there is no God, so purpose is completely up to us. We don't discover it, we decide it.
3) The Biblical Answer – Common to Jews and Christians. Purpose isn't impersonal or chance, but a personal creator God who has a purpose for all of us. Purpose is two-faceted: who we are created to be and who we are called to be. "It gives our lives an inspiration and a dynamism that transforms them into an enterprise beyond any comparison."
What sets Christians and Jews apart in the Biblical Answer, is that we aren't just called, but our Caller is a personal savior. His name is Jesus. His call: "Follow me."
The book discusses three different views on purpose from three different schools of thought.
1) The Eastern View – used in religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, the view of purpose is like the view of everything else. It has no significance in this life or in eternity. The final reality is an impersonal ground of being, or "undifferentiated impersonal." Forget yourself, and forget your purpose. "Seen from this perspective, freedom is not freedom to be individual, but freedom from individuality."
2) The Secularist Answer – used by Atheists, most agnostics, naturalists and humanists. The final reality is chance and there is no God, so purpose is completely up to us. We don't discover it, we decide it.
3) The Biblical Answer – Common to Jews and Christians. Purpose isn't impersonal or chance, but a personal creator God who has a purpose for all of us. Purpose is two-faceted: who we are created to be and who we are called to be. "It gives our lives an inspiration and a dynamism that transforms them into an enterprise beyond any comparison."
What sets Christians and Jews apart in the Biblical Answer, is that we aren't just called, but our Caller is a personal savior. His name is Jesus. His call: "Follow me."
Friday, May 8, 2009
Asking the right questions
As a journalist, I've learned that during an interview, the way to a person's true self is to ask the right questions.
When you're sick, you go to the doctor. The doctor, through a series of questions, makes a quick diagnosis and then finds a way to cure your illness.
Sometimes, I try to find a cure before I've fully diagnosed the spiritual illness. Instead, we need to fully understand what our symptoms are before we can pursue a cure.
Some questions I've found helpful:
Where is your heart in the dark? When you leave the church, when the lights turn low, when the praise music stops, where does your heart turn?
What do you put your hope in? Money? Relationships? School?
Is there something in your life that is distracting or blocking your view of the Lord and His purpose?
Are you representing the Lord in life, or somebody else? Yourself, your family, your company, your school? Who or what are you an ambassador of in this world?
Are you seeing fruit of the spirit's work in your life? (Galatians 5:22-23)
Is your mind clouded by guilt over sin more often than it is by joy in the Lord's grace?
Are you listening to and succumbing to the voice of temptation in your head, or do you turn to the word, prayer and wise counsel for your decision making?
And the final question – taken from a graduation speech given to Stanford by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2005 – Look at yourself in the mirror each morning and ask: If today were the last day of your life, would you do what you are about to do today?
Pray about your answers. Consult the Word (not the world) daily. Trust that the Lord will not only point out the iniquities in your thinking, but burn them away so that you may live your life with the unbridled joy that comes only from glorifying the Lord of the universe.
When you're sick, you go to the doctor. The doctor, through a series of questions, makes a quick diagnosis and then finds a way to cure your illness.
Sometimes, I try to find a cure before I've fully diagnosed the spiritual illness. Instead, we need to fully understand what our symptoms are before we can pursue a cure.
Some questions I've found helpful:
Where is your heart in the dark? When you leave the church, when the lights turn low, when the praise music stops, where does your heart turn?
What do you put your hope in? Money? Relationships? School?
Is there something in your life that is distracting or blocking your view of the Lord and His purpose?
Are you representing the Lord in life, or somebody else? Yourself, your family, your company, your school? Who or what are you an ambassador of in this world?
Are you seeing fruit of the spirit's work in your life? (Galatians 5:22-23)
Is your mind clouded by guilt over sin more often than it is by joy in the Lord's grace?
Are you listening to and succumbing to the voice of temptation in your head, or do you turn to the word, prayer and wise counsel for your decision making?
And the final question – taken from a graduation speech given to Stanford by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2005 – Look at yourself in the mirror each morning and ask: If today were the last day of your life, would you do what you are about to do today?
Pray about your answers. Consult the Word (not the world) daily. Trust that the Lord will not only point out the iniquities in your thinking, but burn them away so that you may live your life with the unbridled joy that comes only from glorifying the Lord of the universe.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Songs that lull us to sleep
Today, I had the 'ol ipod on shuffle
Some examples:
"Belief is a beautiful armor, but makes for the heaviest sword
like punching underwater, you never can hit who you're trying for
some lead the exhibition, and some have to know they tried
it's the chemical weapon for the war that's raging on inside
oh, everyone believes from emptiness to everything ...
we're never gonna win the world, we're never gonna stop the war
we're never gonna beat this if belief is what we're fighting for"
— "Belief" by John Mayer
"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today."
— "Imagine" by John Lennon
"Hollywood glamourized my wrath
I'm the young urban psychopath.
I incite murder for your entertainment
'Cause I needed the money.
What's your excuse?
The joke's on you.
Slow motion, See me let go"
— "Slow Motion" by Third Eye Blind
"Very superstitious, wash your face and hands,
Rid me of the problem, do all that you can,
Keep me in a daydream, keep me goin' strong,
You don't wanna save me, sad is my song.
When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition ain't the way, yeh, yeh."
— "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
"How she wishes it was different
She prays to God most every night
And though she swears He doesn't listen
There's still a hope in her He might
She says, 'I pray'
Oh but they fall on deaf ears"
— "Grey Street" by The Dave Matthews Band
When I listen to these songs, as melodically beautiful as they may be, they get me down. When I listen to them too much, they affect me. I become anxious, worried, doubtful – everything the songs suggest.
So, where do these songs come into play? Should we ever listen to these songs? If the music begins to affect you, drop it like any other vice that would lead you from the grip of God. I listen to it for the same reason I like to read Ecclesiastes. It's a great barometer for the world, and the need for Christ in the world.
What do I listen to instead? Christian music as a genre is booming. There is plenty of amazing, truth-filled, uplifting music to listen to.
Who am I listening to now?
Chris Rice, Phil Wickham, Needtobreathe, Matt Redman, David Crowder Band
Scripture:
Psalm 100:1-2 ; Psalm 146:2 ; Ephesians 5:18-19
Some examples:
"Belief is a beautiful armor, but makes for the heaviest sword
like punching underwater, you never can hit who you're trying for
some lead the exhibition, and some have to know they tried
it's the chemical weapon for the war that's raging on inside
oh, everyone believes from emptiness to everything ...
we're never gonna win the world, we're never gonna stop the war
we're never gonna beat this if belief is what we're fighting for"
— "Belief" by John Mayer
"Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today."
— "Imagine" by John Lennon
"Hollywood glamourized my wrath
I'm the young urban psychopath.
I incite murder for your entertainment
'Cause I needed the money.
What's your excuse?
The joke's on you.
Slow motion, See me let go"
— "Slow Motion" by Third Eye Blind
"Very superstitious, wash your face and hands,
Rid me of the problem, do all that you can,
Keep me in a daydream, keep me goin' strong,
You don't wanna save me, sad is my song.
When you believe in things that you don't understand,
Then you suffer,
Superstition ain't the way, yeh, yeh."
— "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder
"How she wishes it was different
She prays to God most every night
And though she swears He doesn't listen
There's still a hope in her He might
She says, 'I pray'
Oh but they fall on deaf ears"
— "Grey Street" by The Dave Matthews Band
When I listen to these songs, as melodically beautiful as they may be, they get me down. When I listen to them too much, they affect me. I become anxious, worried, doubtful – everything the songs suggest.
So, where do these songs come into play? Should we ever listen to these songs? If the music begins to affect you, drop it like any other vice that would lead you from the grip of God. I listen to it for the same reason I like to read Ecclesiastes. It's a great barometer for the world, and the need for Christ in the world.
What do I listen to instead? Christian music as a genre is booming. There is plenty of amazing, truth-filled, uplifting music to listen to.
Who am I listening to now?
Chris Rice, Phil Wickham, Needtobreathe, Matt Redman, David Crowder Band
Scripture:
Psalm 100:1-2 ; Psalm 146:2 ; Ephesians 5:18-19
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