taking possession of the land

A large part of the spiritual journey, it seems, is learning what it means to take possession of that which we have already been promised. God promised a land to the people of Israel.  It was a land that was beautiful and abundant and fruitful.  It was a land that represented his goodness and his peace and his presence.  It was a land where they could grow and flourish and prosper.  And yet, for so many years, and for so many reasons, they simply failed to take possession of it.

So God spoke to Joshua and encouraged him to lead the people of God into the land he had promised them. (Joshua 1:1-9) He told him three separate times to “be strong and courageous” and not let anything, or anyone, deter or dissuade him.  Because taking possession of this land, even though God had promised it to them, would be no easy matter.  In fact, it would not happen without a fight.

Which sounds a little odd to me, that they would have to fight in order to take possession of something God had promised them.  But that’s just the way life with God is.  As Richard Foster so beautifully reminded us, “It will not just fall on our heads.”  We will have to arrange our lives in certain ways, if we ever hope to experience the depth and the fullness and the richness and the wholeness of the life God made us for. 

The question is, are we up for it?  Are we willing to fight for that life?  Are we willing to do whatever it takes to experience the love and the joy and the peace and the presence God made us for?  It will not come easy, but it will definitely be worth it.

Lord God, give us the courage and the strength and the grace to fight for the life you want for us.  Help us to never, out of fear or discouragement or apathy, settle for less than the life and the love you made us for.  Amen.

Advent 2021 is coming

 

Advent 2021 begins on Sunday, November 29.  If you are looking for a good companion for yourself, your family, your small group, your staff, your church, your volunteers, or your friends then Watch and Wait might be just what you are looking for.  Don't wait till the last minute.  

real

when people are buying

what you’re selling

it’s easy to get seduced

into believing that all is well

when it’s really not

pretense always makes  you

the worst version of yourself

because it’s not really you at all

but merely a fabrication and an illusion

someone who does  not actually exist

at some point real has become

nothing more than a growing

proficiency in image management

and manipulation

Continue to make me, O Lord, into the person you want me to be.  Forgive me for trying to make people believe I’m better than I am.  The only good in me is because of you.

divergence and convergence

Divergence and convergence.  Two important, and really underrated, concepts as far as the life of the Spirit is concerned.  One involves a growing apart, while the other involves a coming together.  One consists of differing paths, while the other consists of adjoining ones.  One involves dissonance, and the other consonance; one harmony, and the other disharmony.  One often requires a letting go, while the other requires a taking hold.  I could go on, but I think you get the idea.

It is often with these subtle, almost imperceptible movements, that the Spirit of God attempts to lead and guide and direct us.  Which means we must be in constant prayer.  We must pay careful attention to the very ebb and flow of his currents, both within and around us.  If not, we might miss what he’s up to; for God’s nudge is ever so gentle at times. 

Thus, it is imperative that we keep a lookout for the ways and the people and the places where life and love and growth and fruitfulness and freedom are bubbling up within and around us, so that we may join with him in those.  And it also means that we must pay careful attention to those ways and people and places where just the opposite is happening.  The places where there seems to be a growing distance, either spiritual, emotional, or physical.  The places where differing goals or desires or passions or paths are trying to communicate a need for a reorientation of some sort.  Or maybe even a letting go (even if it's just a letting go of expectations and demands), if that is what God is calling us to.

So let me ask you, where are you noticing divergence and convergence within or around you?  And what is God trying to say to you through that?  Are there ways he is asking you to let go?  And are there ways he is inviting you to take hold?  These questions can be a great help as you seek to know his will and his ways.

prayer is the first thing

Sometimes we forget, in the midst of the pain and chaos and need of the world around us, that our primary role is to pray—to stand in the gap between God and men, and beg for his mercy. (Genesis 22:16-33) Sadly, all too often prayer is the last thing we do, instead of the first.  I guess that’s pretty telling.

If the lives of the saints have taught us anything, it’s that the first movement of ministry is always toward God, not toward man.  He alone can save, we cannot.

O Lord, apart from you, we can do nothing.  And apart from you, this world has no hope.  Help us to be willing to stand in the gap and beg for your mercy.  Amen.

open doors

“Always maintain a habit of prayer: be both alert and thankful as you pray.  Include us in your prayers, please, that God may open for us a door for the entrance of the mystery of Christ (for which I am at present in chains), and that I may make that mystery plain to men, which I know is my duty.” (Colossians 4:2-4, JBP)

More and more, it seems, I’m finding that our main role in life and ministry is just to pray and pay attention.  To look for, and pray for, open doors, and to walk through them, however God leads.  A part of that process is to realize that we can’t open the closed doors, but we can certainly miss the open ones if we are not paying attention.  Personally, I find it amazing to consider how much time and energy I have wasted through the years trying to force open closed doors, while open ones are standing right in front of me.

Help me, Lord Jesus, to not get so consumed trying to force open the closed doors that I miss the open ones.  Help me to be prayerful, alert, and attentive to the movement of your Spirit within and around me.

"We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his doors to us.  We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise." (Romans 5:1-2, MSG)

true confession

do not let us

o Lord

stop too near the surface

in our confession

for if we do

we never really

get to the source

of our problem

we merely chop the weeds

off at the surface

only to see them

grow right back again

instead of pulling them

up by the roots

for apart from you

we don’t really even

know what to confess

we deal only with symptoms

rather than the disease

so show us

o Lord

what we really need to see

and give us the courage

to confess it

so that we might be free