If you are looking for a companion for Lent (for yourself, your family, your friends, your staff, etc.), my Lenten devotional guide Journey to the Cross is available on Amazon. Spread the word. This year, Lent begins on February 26 (Ash Wednesday).
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Journey to the Cross
If you are looking for a companion for Lent (for yourself, your family, your friends, your staff, etc.), my Lenten devotional guide Journey to the Cross is available on Amazon. Spread the word. This year, Lent begins on February 26 (Ash Wednesday).
Monday, March 2, 2020
lies
The biggest temptation in life is to give in to the lie that we are not
who God says we are. Therefore, the
voices we choose to listen to are key.
Will we listen to the voice of the culture, the voice of our enemy, or
the voice of the God who made us beautifully and loves us dearly? It’s up to us. Will we listen to the voice of the one who
came to kill, steal, and destroy, or will we listen to the voice of the One who
came to give us life abundantly? (John 10:10)
The voice of our God says: “You are my son, my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” And the voice of our enemy says: “If you really are the son or daughter of God, prove it.” (Mt. 3:16-4:11) I don’t know about you, but I have spent just about every day of my life trying to prove to myself and my world that I am worth loving. It is as consuming as it is exhausting.
For we live in a world that says, “You are what you do, you are how you look, or you are what you have. It’s all about how you perform, about how you stack up against those around you. Do more, be more, and have more or you will get left behind. Others will get the attention and affection you so desperately desire. After all, there’s only so much love and admiration to go around, so you better make sure you get yours, even if it’s at the expense of others.”
But we don’t have to live that way. We don’t have to live according to the lies. After all, Jesus himself said that it is “the truth that sets us free.” God created us for so much more than the scarcity we tend to live out of. He created us for abundance. His love is both unlimited and unfailing, it will not run out. He is the only one who can give us the love and affection that is able to satisfy our deepest longings. You see, identity can never be achieved, it can only be bestowed. And it can only be bestowed by the One who made us. We are of infinite value in his eyes, not because of what we do or how we look or what we have, but because of who we are. Or, more appropriately, because of whose we are. Only when we live out of that truth can we have any hope of living the free and whole and loving lives he created us to live.
After all, that’s why the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness in the first place. It was an offensive move. It was to wage war. It was restore our God-given identities. The forty days and forty nights in the desert were symbolic of the forty years the people of God wondered in the wilderness. The temptations that Jesus faced, and defeated, were pretty much the same temptations the Israelites succumbed to. Jesus was reversing the effects of the fall. He was going into the wilderness to do battle with the enemy for our God-breathed identities. It was a journey that began in the wilderness and ended at the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus was showing us that we, like him, are the beloved. He was making a way for us to reclaim, and live out of, our true identities.
And even though it is a battle that has already been won, we certainly don’t live as though it has. For some reason we still let the lies enslave us. Jesus has given us the power and the ability and the freedom to reclaim and live out of his deep love and affection, rather than out of the lies of the enemy. The only question is: Will we? Will we listen to and live out of his truth, or will we continue to be controlled by the lies of the enemy? The choice is ours.
The voice of our God says: “You are my son, my daughter, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” And the voice of our enemy says: “If you really are the son or daughter of God, prove it.” (Mt. 3:16-4:11) I don’t know about you, but I have spent just about every day of my life trying to prove to myself and my world that I am worth loving. It is as consuming as it is exhausting.
For we live in a world that says, “You are what you do, you are how you look, or you are what you have. It’s all about how you perform, about how you stack up against those around you. Do more, be more, and have more or you will get left behind. Others will get the attention and affection you so desperately desire. After all, there’s only so much love and admiration to go around, so you better make sure you get yours, even if it’s at the expense of others.”
But we don’t have to live that way. We don’t have to live according to the lies. After all, Jesus himself said that it is “the truth that sets us free.” God created us for so much more than the scarcity we tend to live out of. He created us for abundance. His love is both unlimited and unfailing, it will not run out. He is the only one who can give us the love and affection that is able to satisfy our deepest longings. You see, identity can never be achieved, it can only be bestowed. And it can only be bestowed by the One who made us. We are of infinite value in his eyes, not because of what we do or how we look or what we have, but because of who we are. Or, more appropriately, because of whose we are. Only when we live out of that truth can we have any hope of living the free and whole and loving lives he created us to live.
After all, that’s why the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness in the first place. It was an offensive move. It was to wage war. It was restore our God-given identities. The forty days and forty nights in the desert were symbolic of the forty years the people of God wondered in the wilderness. The temptations that Jesus faced, and defeated, were pretty much the same temptations the Israelites succumbed to. Jesus was reversing the effects of the fall. He was going into the wilderness to do battle with the enemy for our God-breathed identities. It was a journey that began in the wilderness and ended at the cross and the empty tomb. Jesus was showing us that we, like him, are the beloved. He was making a way for us to reclaim, and live out of, our true identities.
And even though it is a battle that has already been won, we certainly don’t live as though it has. For some reason we still let the lies enslave us. Jesus has given us the power and the ability and the freedom to reclaim and live out of his deep love and affection, rather than out of the lies of the enemy. The only question is: Will we? Will we listen to and live out of his truth, or will we continue to be controlled by the lies of the enemy? The choice is ours.
Friday, February 28, 2020
lilies
"Like a weaned child is my soul within me." (Psalm 131:2)
Don't I wish! Yet the reality within me tells a different story. I long for this to be true: to have a stilled and quieted soul, to be like a weaned child, safe in the loving arms of its mother. But that is simply not my reality most days. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Even after praying this line every Friday for almost three years. . .not so much. My soul is still consumed and chaotic, churning and spinning with all of the worries and concerns of this life that I simply can't seem to let go of. Oh how I wish I could be like the lilies of the field who do not labor or spin. (Luke 12:27) But I am not. Instead my mind and my heart and my soul are like a broken record, constantly playing and replaying conversations and scenarios and circumstances that will probably never even come to pass. It's maddening.
But I'll have to admit, that even in the midst of all this spinning, I am still so grateful to have the words of this ancient prayer to offer hope that such a life is indeed possible. That one day I will be so deeply convinced that God really is both able and willing to care for me, and all of my worries and fears, that I can actually trust him, and simply be, just like the lilies.
Don't I wish! Yet the reality within me tells a different story. I long for this to be true: to have a stilled and quieted soul, to be like a weaned child, safe in the loving arms of its mother. But that is simply not my reality most days. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Even after praying this line every Friday for almost three years. . .not so much. My soul is still consumed and chaotic, churning and spinning with all of the worries and concerns of this life that I simply can't seem to let go of. Oh how I wish I could be like the lilies of the field who do not labor or spin. (Luke 12:27) But I am not. Instead my mind and my heart and my soul are like a broken record, constantly playing and replaying conversations and scenarios and circumstances that will probably never even come to pass. It's maddening.
But I'll have to admit, that even in the midst of all this spinning, I am still so grateful to have the words of this ancient prayer to offer hope that such a life is indeed possible. That one day I will be so deeply convinced that God really is both able and willing to care for me, and all of my worries and fears, that I can actually trust him, and simply be, just like the lilies.
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
the real work
It may be that when we no longer know what to do,
we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have come to our real work
and when we no longer know which way to go,
we have begun our real journey.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
The mind that is not baffled is not employed.
The impeded stream is the one that sings.
~Wendell
Berry
How necessary it is in the spiritual life to "come to the end of ourselves." Oh sure, we can go through life pretending like we have it all together, like we actually know where we are going and what we are doing, but there comes a day when all of that comes crashing down--and, unfortunately, it usually takes a crash. There comes a time when we see all too clearly that what we have experienced of God, and of life, up to that point was just a prelude for the work God really wanted to do. And now we are finally ready, he just needed to get our egos out of the way first. So he allowed us to run out of gas, or into a brick wall. Just enough to stop us in our tracks. A severe mercy, some might call it. Not something we would have chosen, but something that we would never trade. A difficult time and a hard season that brought us to a spacious and abundant place. A place where we were finally able to stop trying and start being. Because that's when the best work, the real work, takes place. It just took a while to get us there.
Saturday, February 15, 2020
prove it
“If you are the Son of God. . . .” (Matthew 4:3, 6) And there you have it. The enemy
tips his hand right from the start. His
chief strategy for attacking Jesus, as well as attacking us, is to go straight
for our identity. The greatest
temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness was not hunger, or the loneliness, or
even power, but the temptation to try and prove himself. “If you are the Son of God, then prove it.”
That’s why God gave him those beautiful words after his baptism, to remind him of who he really was. Before Jesus had performed one miracle, or healed one disease, he was told by God that he was Beloved. It was not something he had to achieve, it was not something he had to prove, it was a truth he was given to live out of. How incredibly kind of the Father it was to remind him of the truth, because in the wilderness Jesus would encounter all kinds of lies. The core lie being: “You are really not the Son of God.”
Why should we expect that our greatest temptation in the spiritual life—and the biggest lie we tend to believe—would be any different? I don’t know about you, but my doubts about the fact that I am worth be loved, and my desperate need to prove myself (and my value), infect everything I do. And when I live out of that dark place I am not able to be the fearful and wonderful creation that God made me to be. In fact, I become the very worst version of myself: possessive, controlling, competitive, demanding, defensive, aggressive, insecure.
That’s why I am so grateful that Jesus comes to each of us and says, “Do not give in to this desperate need to try and prove yourself. You have nothing to prove! Your identity and your value have already been determined long, long ago. They have been bestowed upon you. Nothing you can do can change that. Live in that truth and in that freedom, because if you don’t it will keep you from being the loving, grateful, humble man I created you to be.”
That’s why God gave him those beautiful words after his baptism, to remind him of who he really was. Before Jesus had performed one miracle, or healed one disease, he was told by God that he was Beloved. It was not something he had to achieve, it was not something he had to prove, it was a truth he was given to live out of. How incredibly kind of the Father it was to remind him of the truth, because in the wilderness Jesus would encounter all kinds of lies. The core lie being: “You are really not the Son of God.”
Why should we expect that our greatest temptation in the spiritual life—and the biggest lie we tend to believe—would be any different? I don’t know about you, but my doubts about the fact that I am worth be loved, and my desperate need to prove myself (and my value), infect everything I do. And when I live out of that dark place I am not able to be the fearful and wonderful creation that God made me to be. In fact, I become the very worst version of myself: possessive, controlling, competitive, demanding, defensive, aggressive, insecure.
That’s why I am so grateful that Jesus comes to each of us and says, “Do not give in to this desperate need to try and prove yourself. You have nothing to prove! Your identity and your value have already been determined long, long ago. They have been bestowed upon you. Nothing you can do can change that. Live in that truth and in that freedom, because if you don’t it will keep you from being the loving, grateful, humble man I created you to be.”
Friday, February 14, 2020
you are loved
"Like a weaned child with it's mother is my soul within me." (Psalm 131:2) You are LOVED!
shhh
you press your finger
to my lips
to gently quiet
the voices
without and within
hush now, my child
be still and quiet
my little one
just sit with me a while
and let me hold you
shhh
you press your finger
to my lips
to gently quiet
the voices
without and within
hush now, my child
be still and quiet
my little one
just sit with me a while
and let me hold you
Monday, February 10, 2020
become less
what if john and jesus were right
what if the point of this life
was not to become more
but to become less
how profoundly different
this world would be
in the best possible way
right would give way to love
pride would succumb to humility
other would take precedence over self
and revelation would replace validation
affirmation and admiration
would be things of the past
and hiddenness and service
would be the treasure in the field
for trying to become more
always leads to far less
and becoming less
always makes us more
it is the dying of self
that leads to real life
what if the point of this life
was not to become more
but to become less
how profoundly different
this world would be
in the best possible way
right would give way to love
pride would succumb to humility
other would take precedence over self
and revelation would replace validation
affirmation and admiration
would be things of the past
and hiddenness and service
would be the treasure in the field
for trying to become more
always leads to far less
and becoming less
always makes us more
it is the dying of self
that leads to real life
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