Cheerful generousity

 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:7-8 (NIV)

A generous spirit is a decision of the will, not a fleeting emotion of the heart. We give generously in times of plenty, and in times of great need. Each of us spends our days in countless different vocations and pursuits, but whether you are a stay-at-home mom or dad, a member of the armed forces serving far from home, CEO, retail worker, in ministry or anywhere and anyone in-between, the call upon your life is to unconditional generosity.

As the Apostle Paul reminds us, we give what we have decided to give. Not reluctantly or under compulsion, but cheerfully. Again, a cheerful disposition is not reserved for those with a naturally bubbly personality. Cheerfulness is a choice every single one of us can make. And so, wherever life may have you, whatever the joys or challenges of your situation and season, you are called to cheerfully give your life away as a blessing to others. 

Cheerful generosity is a calling that requires a response. You and I are entirely free to reject the call and ignore the invitation of the Lord. We are able to carry on with our own personal concerns and cares, ignoring the needs of those around us. And because God is patient and abounding in love for his children, he will continue to extend his goodness to us, even if we are closed off from him and others. However, until we learn to use our freedom to say yes to Christ, we will never truly know the joy of being human. 

The details of your life may give you plenty of reasons to not be cheerful or generous. You may be drowning in the deep end of parenting. Your work may keep you on the road or overseas for extended periods of time, leaving you vulnerable to isolation, loneliness, and depression. Perhaps relational conflict or the loss of a loved one has left you upside down, without any natural impulse towards generous and cheerful living. 

Though we may struggle to see it, these are the moments that lead us into a deep and abiding faith.

In Paul’s words, we must daily remember that God is able to bless us abundantly. So often we believe the blessing of the Lord to be conditional, based upon our suitedness to receive his blessing. This is entirely backwards! God is able to bless because he is himself a pure and perfect gift. The blessing of his life can be encountered in all things and at all times, even this very moment you find yourself in. 

Receive the gift of his grace, and set your heart, mind, and will upon a generous and cheerful life, abounding in every good work. 

Contagious

 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. Ephesians 5:2, NKJV

Are you contagious? That seems to be the talk still on everyone’s lips these days, even with a vaccine being distributed. So much so that the other day when I was reading my Bible, I actually saw the word “contagious” when it really said “courageous” LOL That really got me thinking…what am I contagious with? Am I contagious with courage and faith or am I contagious with skepticism, fear, and doubt?

I am blessed in my life to be surrounded by some pretty amazing people and friends. People who are seriously contagious. Like some who have lost loved ones this year or a year ago and yet is contagious with joy. You can’t help but feel well...more joyful from their witness…when around or having conversation with them. Or there’s some who are contagious with Truth. You walk away realizing that the lies you have been believing are just that…lies. Their contagious truth empowers me to be bold, confident, and full of faith in my good. Then there’s those who are absolutely contagious with encouragement. One afternoon with them and all the “feels” of “not being enough” get destroyed through the contagion of their encouragement. 

Just like the coronavirus, whatever is inside of you will affect the people around you in some way. Since fear has been so contagious, certainly reaching its own pandemic proportions, I feel like the Lord is calling us to rise up in the opposite spirit, the spirit of contagious courageousness and faith expressed regularly. 

But I want you to see what I saw that day when I saw the word “contagious” instead of “courageous”. I feel like it may open up a whole new meaning to you, almost like a window into the impact of how what The Lord has placed inside of you can impact others for the Kingdom, with the contagions of love, joy, peace, hope, and healing. 

“Don’t yield to fear or be troubled in your hearts—instead, be contagious” (John 14:27)

“For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be contagious, for I have conquered the world” (John 16:33)

“Empower us, as your servants, to speak the word of God freely and contagiously” (Acts 4:29).

“And what I’m going through has actually caused many believers to become even more contagious in the Lord and to be bold and passionate to preach the Word of God…” (Philippians 1:14).

So just what do you want to cultivate in your life that makes you more contagious?  

Is it wholeness, peace, hope, joy, vision, wisdom, healing brokenness, trust, courage? The Lord is the giver of every good and perfect gift and He wants you to be contagious with it more than you do. Just ask, seek, knock… Trust Him. He loves to answer those kinds of prayers and make you a courageous-contagious carrier of His goodness and love.

Declare Today: I choose to be contagious for the Kingdom of God as His ambassador. I remind myself that I am seated next to God and have access to every good thing, unlimited peace, unhindered hope, unrestrained joy. Whatever I focus on grows and as I grow, I overflow to be a blessing to somebody else. Yes, I am absolutely contagious and that’s a good thing

Working out of debt

 When she told the man of God what had happened, he said to her, “Now sell the olive oil and pay your debts, and you and your sons can live on what is left over.” 2 Kings 4:7

An unnamed mom in Scripture was moved to seek assistance for fear of losing to creditors her most prized possessions, her two sons. The God-fearing widow wisely went to the man of God, prophet Elisha, and asked for help. Her dead husband was the prophet’s ministry colleague and friend. Though she was still in a state of grief, he did not prey on her emotional condition by creating codependency, nor did he offer pious platitudes of prayer and ignore the desperate situation. 

Instead, he asked her to take a step of faith by being creative and innovative in what he knew she could do; make olive oil. She humbled herself to her friends and asked for their empty containers to fill. Resourcefully and in faith she did her part by gathering the jars, and God did His part by filling the jars. The humble, wise widow and her two boys were given the gift of paying off debt with leftover assets to live on. 

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20).

How can we give the gift of paying off debt to other worthy souls? We look for those who really desire assistance. They want help for the sake of something bigger than themselves:  their children, their community, their Savior Jesus Christ. They are the 20% who are willing to do the hard work, be creative, change habits and trust the Lord to work in ways that are not our ways. Be intentional to invest in humble, wise hearts willing to ask those in their network for resources to help them meet their debt free goals. God takes Spirit-led efforts and exceeds our expectations.

When the people of God serve the people of God with the gift of paying off debt, those outside the faith will clammer to learn of this elevated level of generous love. Owing only the debt of love frees our souls to inhale and exhale the rarified air of generous love. A love not encumbered by creditors attempting to confiscate our joy and replace it with resentment. A love that gives a willing heart a fresh start to follow God’s heart. Be grateful for those who helped pay off your debt, so now you can be generous and do the same for coachable friends in the faith. 

“Don’t run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don’t sleep with another person’s spouse, don’t take someone’s life, don’t take what isn’t yours, don’t always be wanting what you don’t have, and any other “don’t” you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can’t go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love”

A good teacher

 You call me Teacher and Lord, and rightly so, for that is what I am. John 13:13

Recently I had been thinking about the teachers who poured into and had great impact on my life. Just think for a second that a portion of our success, and abilities in life are are result of  someone who was dedicated to teaching us to read, write, add and subtract. and was dedicated to it out of their passion to educate. Which leads me to this question. What would life be like if we hadn’t learned those things? I am so grateful for everyone who helped make me who I am today.”   

When I think about my many teachers, one stands out. Her name was Mrs. Graham. I  remember that she was kind and would not let me settle for anything but my best, and I will never forget how she forced me to do presentations before my peers to get me out of my shyness (which has blessed me since considering it is how to be a Pastor and shy).  I also remember she loved me and my classmates, as it showed in how she taught and pushed us beyond what we saw in ourselves. 

Just like I think of the impact of Mrs. Graham on my life as a teacher, I also think of another teacher of mine in Jesus. 

Matthew 4:23 shows how He teaches with power. 

Matthew 7:28 reveals how He teaches with authority. 

But in everything, Jesus always teaches with love. 

Of himself, Christ says in Matthew 11:29, “I am gentle and humble in heart.” This is His heart: gentle and humble. It’s who He is. So, even when Christ teaches with authority and power, He never stops being loving. Even when we sin and we need to be corrected, His love never fails. His loving heart motivates Him to show us the way and teach us how to navigate life’s problems, pitfalls, and even sin.   

One afternoon, I was thinking about a sin I had struggled with. In a quick moment, the Lord showed me a picture in my mind’s eye of three circles. One circle represented me. One circle represented my sin, and one circle represented Christ. He showed me by moving these circles around that I believed that when I am doing well and not being disobedient, that Christ is standing right next to me. Then, He showed me how I believed that when I sin, that He moves away from me and a black circle of sin is in-between the two of us. “This is not how it is,” He said. “I never move away from you. In fact, I am working to stand between you and your sin to deliver you.” 

He teaches with power. 

He teaches with authority. 

But He always teaches with love. Just like Mrs. Graham did. He is gentle and humble in heart. 

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). 

Sustainer

 I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. 

Psalm 3:5

I write these words early in the morning, watching the day slowly come to life out my front window. In the calm of this moment, I am reminded of how little I contribute to the rhythms of life that surround me, not to mention my own existence and sustenance. Yes, our Lord invites us to partner with him in bringing forth life and beauty in our world, yet this life does not originate with me, and it is impossible for me to sustain myself independent of the love and mercy of God. 

We face a global moment in which the world longs for safety and security. After a brutal year of lockdowns and quarantines, social distancing and contact tracing, we are all eager to return to normalcy. But beyond a desire for indoor dining, live music, or sporting events, this moment has also alerted us to our own vulnerabilities and weaknesses, a truth that we spend most of our lives trying hard to ignore!

A return to normalcy does not bring with it the end of your dependence upon God for the very breath you take. Vaccines may protect you from a virus, yet they do not free you from the curse of sin and death. We still live in a world that longs for redemption, healing, and freedom, which is only found in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He alone is the source of salvation and the hope that death does not and will never have the final word. 

Do not let your desire to “get back to normal” keep you from looking ahead and longing for a world that is transformed by the power of God. While it is good and right to desire to be free from the suffering brought on by a global pandemic, we must set our hopes on the coming kingdom of God, looking to the day when every disease will be healed, every relationship restored, and every tear wiped away. 

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

God who loves

 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8-9

The generosity of our God is unprecedented with His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds. He gives rest when we are weary. He gives peace when we are fearful. He gives joy when we are sad. He gives comfort when we are sorrowful. He gives forgiveness when we are guilty. He gives hope when we are doubtful. He gives us His son Jesus for salvation and His Holy Spirit for our comfort, conviction and direction. He gives.

Why is the Lord so extremely charitable to His children? He gives because He loves. He loves you too much to leave you lost in your sins. This is why He gave Jesus as your gift of forgiveness. He loves you too much to leave you bound by lies. This is why He gave you the Holy Spirit to lead you in all truth. The revelation and understanding of truth is part of the Lord’s abundant provision. “He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man” (Amos 4:13). His truth is your freedom to live well.

God gives you contentment in your work, and wealth and possessions to enjoy. “When God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 5:19). Genuinely praise and thank the Lord for what you have and trust Him for what you don’t have.

Because God has been so generous to you, how can you be generous to others? Perhaps you give grace instead of judgment, forgiveness instead of resentment, transparency instead of deception and freedom instead of control. Do you have family or friends that desperately need you to listen, offer advice and provide financial assistance? Pray God’s provision for people you know, and then be available as an answer to your own prayer.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love…” (Ephesians 3:16-17).

Rich in what matters

 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven?  Luke 16:11, NLT

Jesus cuts to the chase! How well we manage worldly wealth determines how much we can be trusted to manage God’s true riches. What is worldly wealth? Stuff we can enjoy on earth but not take to heaven is worldly wealth. Management of worldly wealth is important because it is an indicator how faithful we will be with what’s most important—true riches. What are true riches? True riches originate from God and are initiated from heaven such as our relationship with Him and our relationship with each other. Loving the Lord and loving people—the two great commands!

Whether managing a lot or little worldly wealth, and we should stay faithful and prudent in overseeing the Lord’s resources. But, to be wise, we must not be carried away by money that flies away into the sky. Our hope is in Christ, not cash. The beauty of true riches is they grow and thrive in intimacy during times of stillness, solitude and silence. Feel familiar? Our God pause can be a catalyst to draw us closer to Jesus and to each other—if we let it. Focus on the balance sheet of your true riches and watch it soar. Avoid obsessing over less cash. 

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need. So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matthew 6:31-34).

Are you content knowing and loving Christ and knowing and loving those who know you best? What valuation can you place on the priceless asset of true riches? One of my mentors for many years, defined his life and work with Luke 16:11, calling it his signature, years later he still does. Why? Because Christ’s calculus for faithful living in Him never changes. By observing Howard up close and at a distance, the secret to a faithful life in Christ is humility. Humility to confess daily the Lord is owner of all I have. Humility to give generously out of a grateful heart, discarding greed. Humility to be loved and to love with forgiveness, patience, kindness, peace and joy. 

Yes, be wise and prudent in the management of worldly wealth so you can enjoy the true riches of an abundant life. Pay down debt. Consider refinancing your home mortgage to increase cash. Spend less. Save more. Give freely. But avoid obsessing over your hope and security in your net worth, and instead exchange the inferior idol of love of money for the superior love of your Savior Jesus. Manage worldly wealth wisely, so you can be trusted with heaven’s true riches. 

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” (Luke 16:13).

Joy for my sadness

 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Philippians 4:4-6

These times can truly be so sad. Every day it seems that all we are confronted with are sad stories that dominate the news. Whether it is another group of children taken hostage by terrorists, the shooting in Colorado, the spring break incidents in Miami, the violence we see and hear in our own communities, the more still being infected and dying from COVID, political upheaval here and around the world. Or, the friends I know who seem to be stuck in sorrow. My heart like yours I would guess is heavy hurting for those who hurt and for my own ongoing challenges of living in this present season of life. One thing that has been my continual help is steadily leaning into the Lord’s love that lifts us up through joyful trust. Christ’s love and comfort moves us from sadness to gladness when we lean into Him.

The apostle Paul knew sad circumstances first hand: chronic physical limitations (his thorn in the flesh), rejection from political and religious authorities, and time in prison. Yet, drawing on his own experiences, he reminds other followers of Jesus who are sad in spirit: focus your hope in the Lord, He is coming soon. Paul continues, release your worries, and instead pray about everything. How? Tell God what you need and thank Him for what He has done. The Lord God has a track record of faithfulness that is 100% trustworthy. His love converts sadness to gladness.

When we humble ourselves and confess our desperate need for Christ’s love and the love of His followers we move from staying sad, stewing in our self-pity to a revival of joy in our Lord Jesus. He saved us and gave us His abundant life full of hope and joy overflowing. A humble heart accesses heaven’s resources. In his book, "The Problem of Pain," C.S. Lewis clarifies the relationship of humility to being cheerful: "Humility, after the first shock, is a cheerful virtue: it is the high-minded unbeliever desperately trying in the teeth of repeated disillusions to retain his “faith in human nature” who is really sad. Sadness loses its grip when we go to God in humble dependence. His love gladdens our heart!"

How do you move from staying sad to being glad? Recognize the reality of grief. God made you to grieve. Without a healthy process of mourning loss, we will miss the comfort of Christ and His followers, sadly, ever stuck in a cycle of pain, anger and discomfort. Humble yourself before the Lord and use words to describe your broken heart: Lord I am mad, I miss her/him, I am ashamed, I hurt, I feel alone, help me to have hope in You. Restore the joy of my salvation. And, once you have been generously loved by the Lord's perfect love, make sure to be empathetic toward those struggling to smile. Love them as God loves you. Mourn together, so you can rejoice together.

“Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights” (Habakkuk 3:17-19, 

Moral failure

 Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. Galatians 6:1

 

With the recent events with Kirk Franklin, I got to thinking on the following: What happens when someone we really respect fails morally in our eyes? They fall hard because they were perceived as super spiritual, having walked with the Lord for a long time. We may feel betrayed, angry, saddened and surely we grieve. Private sins exposed by the confession of a public figure jolts our faith. However, it's the Lord’s reminder that we look to Him, not man, as our standard of behavior. 

By God’s grace we pray healing and restoration for our fallen brother or sister in the faith. We who are spiritual are to repent of any latent sin, lest it bring us down in public shame. We pick them up, hold them up, and build them up. Restoration is a long process that requires patience, forgiveness and accountability. Yes, the friend who has failed morally must want help for healing to happen. A humble and contrite heart is what the Holy Spirit uses to bring about spiritual and emotional wholeness. Like the place of protection provided by the city of refuge in the Old Testament (Numbers 35:25), those in moral recovery need a safe environment. Bad habits created over the years by secret sins take time to change. Let the Spirit rebuild their soul.

“Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7).

What if we are the one who has been caught in a sin or sins? Our texts, posts on social media, or being caught on camera are found out to be inappropriate. Our moral and financial compromises are discovered after months or years of business travel. The attention of our girlfriend or boyfriend gets the attention of our spouse. We are ensnared by the trap and illusion of pornography and our prayers don’t seem to help. No one is beyond the restoring grace of God. But, the Lord’s discipline may very well precede working through the pain, guilt and shame. Since He loves us so much, He keeps us honest and accountable.

If the Lord can restore and use the imperfect lives of Abraham, David,  Mary Magdalene, and the rest of imperfect people in the Bible for His glory, He can do the same work of grace in us. We are all a work in process and we will stumble, fall, make mistakes, and even fail along the way of life. It's the righteous response to failure that leads us to success. We learn to say I was wrong, I was foolish and I need loving accountability in my life. Humiliation that leads to healing is a trophy of God’s grace. Lift up the fallen, hold up the hurting, build up the broken.

“For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes” (Proverbs 24:16).

Make today a day of influence for the Kingdom

Self Love

 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31

We are reminded in the church regularly to Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself. With these two commands, Jesus offers a complete vision for the life of the believer. The whole of life oriented towards God in worship and praise, and sleeves that are daily rolled up and ready to serve a world in need. Daily as we breathe in the life of God, we then exhale His love towards others.

We have likely heard these words many times over the years, yet as I reflect upon them today, I’m struck by the small but significant qualifier Jesus gives when telling us to love our neighbor. How are we meant to love them? As we love ourselves.

What does it mean to love yourself? Increasingly, we live in a society that is drunk on celebration of self and on self-love. Virtually every decision we make, or are encouraged to make, is in some way directed towards the betterment of our own lives, whether that is our personal health, social standing, or financial position. We don’t have to be convinced of the merit of this way of life. No one has to sit you down and tell you self-love and self-preservation is worthy of your time or passion. No, it’s hardwired into your nature.  Simply we do it instinctively. Yet what if we took every ounce of that desire for affluence, adoration, comfort, and pleasure, and turned it outward in love for someone other than our self? I believe that would be nothing short of an act of God.

Jesus loves to make the impossible possible in our life, and I believe this begins with the ability to truly love your neighbor as yourself. Notice He does not simply say serve your neighbor, or volunteer an hour of your time and then go back to a self-consumed life. No, here’s the real kicker: Jesus expects us to be just as concerned with our neighbor’s well-being as our own. If our life were in disarray and falling apart, we would spend every waking moment trying to steady the ship and secure a future for our self. Yet how easily we dismiss a neighbor in this situation, offering a passing thought of sympathy while quickly moving on with our own concerns?

To love your neighbor is to be entangled in the messiness of their lives. It will cost us time, convenience, money, and emotional capacity. It is not easy, but it is essential to our obedience to Christ, and is the only path to freedom and true healing.

Fruitful

 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. John 15:4 

When Jesus speaks of abiding, He means dwelling with Him but also dwelling in the company of those you love. This is very much in line with this extended entry Webster’s dictionary once offered for the word abide: abide by signifies to adhere to, maintain, defend, or stand to, as to abide by a promise, or by a friend; or to suffer the consequences, as to abide by the event, that is, to be fixed or permanent in a particular condition. How well those definitions capture the many meanings of abiding. It means to stay close, to stay loyal, and to stay true.

In his book Abiding in Christ, Andrew Murray reminds his readers that the work of God’s grace places believers in a position of abiding in Christ and remaining in Christ. He writes:

“Oh, that you would come and begin simply to listen to His Word and to ask the one question: Does He really mean that I should abide in Him? The answer His Word gives is so simple and so sure: By His almighty grace you now are in Him; that same almighty grace will indeed enable you to abide in Him. By faith you became partakers of the initial grace; by that same faith you can enjoy the continuous grace of abiding in Him. To have a flourishing spiritual life is not to merely ascribe to a set of doctrines and beliefs but to experience the indwelling power of abiding in Christ. Just as fruit won’t grow if removed from the tree that gives it life, so we gain strength by remaining attached to Christ.”

In John 15:4, Jesus told His disciples, “Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

What does it mean to “remain” in Jesus? For starters, it means you should keep pace with Him, not run ahead of Him or lag behind. Unbridled zeal can send us sideways with what the Spirit wants to accomplish in our life. On the other hand, an unwillingness to make our relationship with Him a priority will cause us to be out of step with His plans for us. We need to abide with Him and remain in Him. God’s presence is pregnant with possibilities for the focused and unhurried heart.

To abide is to be present in His presence, or as the great spiritual writer Brother Lawrence spoke of, to “practice the presence of God.” Learning to practice the presence of God will make all the difference in our spiritual lives, giving us a source of strength, power, and wisdom for our spiritual journeys. In humility, we stand in awe of the One who gave us His all. When we remain at the feet of Jesus, we position ourselves to listen and learn from Him. And through abiding, through practicing His presence, we are changed. We become more like the One we’re inviting to be present in every moment of our lives. Abide in God and He will abide in you.

As 1 John 2:24 instructs us, “See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.”

Renewed thinking

He gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless. Even youths will faint and be weary, and the young will fall exhausted; but those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaiah 40:29

The Lord wants to strengthen our thinking. In the book of Isaiah, we find these beautiful and poetic lines that are known and loved by every generation. Yet rarely, if ever, do we think of them as applying to the life of our minds. We know our bodies need strength, and even understand the necessity of overcoming difficulty in life, however we all too easily miss the ways in which our minds must be fortified and strengthened by the life of the Spirit of God.

The renewal of our thinking is not the absence of thought, as is commonly believed by some, when we speak of meditation or similar disciplines. No, mindfulness needs a direction. We must have clarity on where we are headed, and then take on practices that bring our minds and thoughts into greater alignment with that goal. Joshua 1:8 says, “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night.”

The commands, laws, and instructions of God are and should be the object of our meditation. We turn our hearts and minds towards the Lord so we can learn to think His thoughts as our own. As we do, we are confronted with the inescapable reality that God wants to renew within us our love for Him, and our love for our neighbor (Greatest commandment). the Apostle Paul emphatically drives this home, saying, “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal 5:14).

If our mindfulness and meditation, even meditation on the Word of God, does not result in a greater love for our neighbor, we have failed to hear the Lord’s word spoken to us.

We may have heard a part or portion of His truth, but if we hear His love and mercy and grace simply in reference to ourselves and personal peace and fulfillment, instead of setting our minds on the Lord and His kingdom, we in a sense are asking the Lord to set His thoughts on the kingdoms of self that we are building.

Isaiah promises that those who wait on the Lord, those who pay attention to His ways and set their thoughts on His kingdom, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. This strength that He gives is not for ourselves, but is given so we can be His hands and feet in love to our neighbor. We run in self-giving love and service, and we do not grow weary in doing good. We walk with those who need us to slow down and come alongside them, and we will not faint, for the Lord gives power to the faint, and strengthens the powerless.

Simple life

 Yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 1 Corinthians 8:6

Gift is the word spoken over creation by the very breath of God. Life is given and sustained as a precious gift given by the Father, from whom and for whom all things exist. We are invited to receive this gift from God, and then through our words and deeds offer it back to God in heartfelt devotion, praise, worship, service and righteous living (doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord).

Every breath that we take is an invitation to live our lives in full alignment with the rhythms, steps, and path of the life of God. We have a daily choice to live on accord with the Lord and respect and cherish this gift, or to exploit it and distort its intended use. This my beloved friends is the reality of freedom. We are free to receive this gift and speak the same words of hope and peace into the world, or we can reject the gift and speak our own words into being as life and death is in the power of our tongue and choices.

The Lord speaks life, yet we often speak death. He speaks freedom, and we instead choose bondage. He speaks simplicity, and we live lives of excess. He calls us to generosity, and we instead speak scarcity or greed.

Today, we are invited to look at the small and often unnoticed parts of our life and reflect on the ways they honor the gift of life, or the ways they reject it through distorted habits of living, buying, consuming, and relating to others.

One of the most helpful ways to cultivate a lifestyle of gift-receiving and gift-giving is to intentionally choose a life of simplicity. We spend far too much time consumed by our consumption. The way we spend our time, money, and resources can either set us free or deepen our bondage. One simply cannot be overrun by our own passions and pursuits and retain the margin to care for those we love and are meant to serve. Let's simplify our relationship to our stuff, not as an end in and of itself, but so we can be free to love our neighbor and share the gift of life that we have been given by the Lord to enjoy and live to the full.

Isolation pain

 A man with leprosy came to Jesus, imploring Him and kneeling down, and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean. Moved with compassion, Jesus reached out with His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed. Mark 1:40-41

Jesus encounters the sad site of a precious man, inflicted with incurable leprosy, and quarantined for a lifetime of isolation. Saddled with the shameful task of daily declaring himself unclean to anyone and everyone who might venture too close, can you imagine the pain of not just his body, but his spirit? as if seeing his wretched condition was not warning enough. But his desperate situation caused his tortured soul to seek out the only One who could free his mind and body from this isolation prison of pain. A life of solitary confinement as a result of disease, not a crime against society. Hopeful, he implored his the Creator of heaven and earth to make right this wrong, and He did. Jesus, as He does so often, was moved with compassion to touch the untouchable, the vaccine of compassion cleansed Him. The inoculation to isolation’s pain is to first totally trust the loving touch of Jesus.

“Why are you in despair, my soul? And why are you restless within me? Wait for God, for I will again praise Him For the help of His presence, my God” (Psalm 42:5, NASB).

Are you weary? Exhausted from the emotional fatigue of hearing of another one whose life is being quietly swept away? Anonymous to most, isolated, maybe with loved ones around, grateful for the courageous medical staff to ease the pain during their last days. It seems like the Lord is absent, if not, why doesn’t He do something to make things better? When our global community writhes in pain, matters seem worse, more pronounced, no doubt a pandemic compounds the pain. This overwhelming plague shouts out for relief, a touch from the Divine’s healing love.

I have to remind myself daily of my need for a touch from Christ’s compassion to heal my heart and soul. Otherwise, I can read the negative newsfeeds and all they do is reinforce and create fear. Maybe, instead of venting my frustrations over social media, like tossing hot grease on a scolded dog, I’m better off to bear my soul with my Savior. Have a little talk with Jesus, and invite His love and mercy to mend my grieving heart. When I isolate my pain, I feed my judgmental self to incite angry reactions. But when I verbalize hurt, Lord I feel alone, insignificant and unsure. It’s here in my vulnerable confession of uncleanliness, that Jesus’ generous compassion cleanses me.

“Be gracious to me, God, according to Your faithfulness; According to the greatness of Your compassion, wipe out my wrongdoings. Wash me thoroughly from my guilt and cleanse me from my sin” (Psalm 51:1-2)

Thank you

 God loves to hear us say thanks.

 According to Psalm 107:2-3, the people who could testify of God’s goodness are those He had “redeemed from the hand of the adversary, and gathered from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.” They were to come together and tell of His redemption. That, my friends, is worship.

 

You’ve probably taught your children to say, “thank you.” But do you teach them to only say it once a week or once a year? Or do you want them to learn to say “thank you” as a way of life, so that it’s the exception when they don’t express thanks? Parents often say to their kids when they are young and receive something, “I didn’t hear you say thank you. What do you say?”

 

Far too often, God has to say to us, “What do you say? I can’t hear you. I don’t hear thanksgiving.” One day, a Puritan was sitting down to a meal of bread and water. Most of us would say, “God, I only have bread and water.” But this Puritan looked down at his plate and said, “Bread and water and Jesus Christ too! What more can a man ask?”

 

Praise is not complete until it has been expressed. The goodness of God gives us ample opportunities to be thankful.