I think my weekend goals must include emulating this dude in the picture. I need to find a hammock or some other comfortable spot to lounge in for the majority of the remainder of the weekend. Because I am just so . . . wait for it . . . dead tired.

“Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way” (Colossians 3:15-17, The Message).

As you’ve probably heard before, Christianity is not a Lone Ranger religion. And besides, even the Lone Ranger had Tonto. No one is meant to live this life of faith alone. In fact, the best way to fail and to fall into all sorts of temptations is to go solo. You need others surrounding you in community, both to encourage and challenge you, to speak life over you and to hold you accountable.

It has to be more than a 1 hour out of 168 proposition. You can’t grow and refresh and learn on just one day a week. You need to be in a community/life/Sunday School group. You need to have interaction with believers throughout the week to keep you on track and keep you going.

“‘I must keep praying’ ‘I feel like just giving up!’ How often has this thought passed through our minds (both yours and mine) in recent months? If I am honest, then I must admit it’s been quite often. I find myself so often in hopeless situations where I know full well that only God can deliver me but God doesn’t seem to have the same urgency as I do. Impatience and unbelief are at least a root o…(tharr be more)f all my problems, and pride isn’t far behind, along with frustration (the fruit of my sin). Deep down I know that the Lord is working in my life and that I would be better off if I waited patiently for His time and His way of deliverance, but there seems to be a constant conflict between wanting to honour my God by doing His will and at the same time worrying myself sick over things which may never happen” (From Apples of Gold).

How much time do we spend worrying ourselves sick over things which may never happen? In some cases, we make ourselves literally ill over outcomes which never come to pass. But still the default is set to anxiety the moment our expectations are thwarted or delayed.

And then there’s trust. So many times, it feels unnatural to leave outcomes outside of ourselves and in the hands of a Being we can’t see or touch or (most of the time) hear. Surrender is the ultimate form of faith played out in real life. It’s the letting go of the notion that I can somehow help God out and expedite His will in some way. It’s trusting the process that shows no visible results day after day but also trusting the Promise Giver who has a track record of coming through at the perfect time.

“O Lord,

Life passes by swiftly. Events that a few years ago kept me totally preoccupied have now become vague memories; conflicts that a few months ago seemed so crucial in my life now seem futile and hardly worth the energy; inner turmoil that robbed me of my sleep only a few weeks ago has now become a strange emotion of the past; books that filled me with amazement a few days ago now do not seem as important; thoughts that kept my mind captive only a few hours ago have now lost their power and have been replaced by others. . . . Why am I continuously trapped in this sense of urgency and emergency? Why do I not see that you are eternal, that your kingdom lasts forever, and that for you a thousand years are like one day? O Lord, let me enter into your presence and there taste the eternal, timeless, everlasting love with which you invite me to let go of my time-bound anxieties, fears, preoccupations, and worries. . . . Lord, teach me your ways and give me the courage to follow them.

Amen” (Henri Nouwen).

Lord, help me to realize that only what is eternal is what truly matters. Help me to let everything else go and hold on only to You and Your promises. Help me to hold on to everything else in my life — possessions, titles, relationships — with open hands, knowing that they came from You and can just as easily go back to You. To have everything in the world and not have You is to have nothing but to have You and nothing else is to possess everything.

Amen.

“People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated” (D. A. Carson).

That one smarts a bit. It’s truth but it doesn’t necessarily make us feel good. But sometimes we need to feel bad before we can feel good. In other words, we need a godly sorrow that leads to repentance, conviction that leads to change, and dying to self that leads to rebirth and growth.

You really don’t just drift into holiness. You can’t obtain godly wisdom through osmosis by sleeping with your Bible under your pillow. Your level of holiness depends on how desperate you are to be holy. Of course, God is the one who transforms, but apathy never led to any kind of spiritual revival, whether corporate or personal. You have to want it.

I’m the first to say “Amen . . . and ouch.” I recognize that I have been guilty of trying to drift into godly character. I’ve been known to think things like “Well, since I’ve been saved for so long, surely I’m bound to just become more godly.”

I believe that it starts with God putting the desire in you. But then you are the one who develops the disciplines of Bible study, prayer, fasting, and discipleship. Again, you don’t drift into discipline. You have to give up your own things — sometimes good things — to make room for godly things. You have to put in the time to see the fruit.

I’m preaching to myself again. Lord, help me to want holiness as much as you want me to be holy.

“Blessed be thy mercy that laid help on one that is mighty and willing, one that is able to save to that uttermost. Make us deeply sensible of our need of his saving grace, of the blood that cleanses, of the rest he has promised, And impute to us that righteousness which justifies the guilty, gives them a title to enternal life, and posession of the Spirit.”

I’m still one of those who believes in things like sin and hell and forgiveness and grace and salvation and eternal life. I don’t have to be convinced of sin other than to look at my own life and at how many times it’s been way easier to be selfish and lazy than to be disciplined and sacrificial. I don’t have to be argued into my need of a Savior when every day I find myself doing what I don’t want to do and not doing what I know I ought to do (as did that old apostle of yore by the name of Paul).

It’s politically and societally incorrect to say that we’re all sinners in need of a Savior, but even a cursory glance bears this out. You don’t have to look far to find the fallenness in us. You don’t have to use your imagination to see that we’re bent toward evil rather than good. Left to our own devices, we’re all screwed.

But God in His mercy . . . one of my favorite phrases in all of the Bible. He’s the one who died for us while we were yet sinners. He’s the one who loved us first when we were yet unlovable. He’s the one who laid down His life for us His enemies when hardly any of us would lay down our lives for even our friends. God didn’t just say how much He loved us but demonstrated it in Jesus taking up that cross and following it to death.

I’d rather have this Jesus than anything else, even if it means that I’m unpopular. Even if it means losing Facebook friends. Even if it means losing real friends. Because what do I gain if I have all the followers and fame and treasures and accolades in all the world but not Jesus? Not a blessed thing.

How did I miss that yesterday, September 30, was October Eve? Had I known, I would have made a big deal. All of you reading this can be my witnesses that starting in 2023 I will make gratuitous use of the phrase October Eve on every following September 30.

But here it is October. While I am a big fan of all the months ending in ‘ber, my heart truly lies with October, November, and December. Those are my big three favorite months. All my most beloved holidays fall within these months. See what I did there? They “fall” within these months. I pun even when I don’t mean to.

But I digress.

I hope October brings the chilly temperatures with the crisp autumn breezes. I hope there will be a riot of colored leaves in the trees this year. I’m looking forward to all the bonfires and hayrides and s’mores and flannel and everything else fall-esque.

And yes, my favorite color is October.

“It’s not always your business to pay attention to every controversy or news story. We’re not called to always be in this state of anxiety and to be all worked up. If I’m constantly reading my phone or watching YouTube or whatever I’m missing the real world, I’m missing what is actually out there, and I am being that distracted, I’m not focusing on what the actual call of my life is. If you’re all in a frenzy, you can’t shoot straight. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled,” and I take that seriously. If the news is troubling you in this unproductive way, turn it off!” (Bryce Lungren).

Back in the day, you had the news at certain set hours of the day. You got your local and national news in 30 minute doses. People got the information they needed, no more and no less.

These days, there are a gazillion dedicated news channels that blast news information literally non-stop for 24 hours. There are a gazillion more social media news outlets where the headlines practically scream at you, demanding your attention all the time.

Are we any better for the information overload? Has it made us more civil toward one another? Have we grown to become more mature, more advanced human beings? Or is it that we have more division and anxiety and negativity because of the deluge of news?

John Prine wrote a song where he told us to blow up our TVs, throw away our papers, move to the country, build homes, and plant peaches. That sounds like a better alternative to news channels.

Jesus said to not let your hearts be troubled. In other words, don’t keep feeding your fears. Don’t keep going back to the source of your anxiety. Turn off the TV, put away your social media devices, silence the talk radio, and just be silent and still. Or maybe play some classical music. Or jazz. Or read poetry. Whatever takes you to a place of tranquility.

Perhaps you could pick up God’s Word and ask Him to speak to you in the margins you create by skipping the news. You could use the time to reach out to friends and family to have actual face to face conversations — not about any of the wars or famines or protests, but about life and kids and dreams and faith. Take back your life by turning off the noise.

“I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught” (John 14:25-27, The Message).

That’s one of my favorite things about Jesus. He never leaves us in the middle of our mess. He never looks at us in all our turmoil and travail and says something like, “Well, I wish you the best. Good luck with that!”

He physically left us, but He sent the Holy Spirit that can remind us of everything He said and did. Plus, the Holy Spirit is as much God as Jesus was and is. That whole trinity doctrine really messes with my mind and while I believe it, I still can’t really say that I fully grasp it. But that’s for another post.

Jesus never leaves us how He found us. He may have loved us as we were when He found us at our worst, but He didn’t let us keep wallowing in our mire and mud. He made us better. No, He made us brand new and a little more like Him each day. And His presence is still with us now as when He was here in the flesh.

He gave us peace. Not peace that means the absence of problems or freedom from storms or trials, but a calm assurance even in the midst of the worst raging winds and the trials that are too much for us to handle on our own. It’s peace that calms the child in the midst of the storm rather than calming the storm at the moment.

It’s not the kind of peace that the world gives — more of a numbing of the pain and a denial of the problem — but it’s the peace that surpasses understanding and comes from the Prince of Peace.

Ocassionally, I like to share posts written by other people. I hope this will speak to you as it did to me and bring you peace. Psalm 55:22 (NLT®) Give your burdens to the LORD, and he will take care of you. Airport security is intense in Israel, far different than in the United States. “Who packed your bags?” they ask. “Have your bags been with you since you packed them? Has anyone else had access to your luggage? Has anyone given you something to take to someone at home?” If you begin to become anxious under the scrutiny, they’ll say, “I’m not asking these things to embarrass you. I just want to help you because sometimes a person will ask you to carry something that will not be for your good.” As a fellow traveler through life, I’d like to ask if you might be carrying something that is not for your good. Are you carrying anything that might be limiting, debilitating, or even explosive? Are you carrying a heavy load of anger or resentment? Envy or disappointment? Worry or fear? I urge you to check your luggage and remove everything that will weigh you down and limit your potential in the coming season. Give all of that unhelpful baggage to the Lord and allow Him to carry your burdens. THINK ABOUT IT Jesus gives us an amazing invitation: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. … for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30, NIV®). How can we refuse? PRAYER Heavenly Father, help me identify anything I am carrying that is destructive and is limiting Your purposes in my life. Then, help me to permanently offload what You reveal and, in replacement, fill me with Your goodness. In Jesus’ name, amen.Blessings, Pastor Allen Jackson