“Offering intercessory prayer means nothing other than Christians bringing one another into the presence of God, seeing each other under the cross of Jesus as poor human beings and sinners in need of grace. Then, everything about other people that repels me falls away. Then I see them in all their need, hardship, and distress. Their need and their sin become so heavy and oppressive to me that I feel as if they were my own, and I can do nothing else but bid: Lord, you yourself, you alone, deal with them according to your firmness and your goodness” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

What a beautiful picture of what it means to intercede in prayer on another’s behalf.

I confess I’m not really good at praying for people. I’m really good at telling people I’ll pray for them but sucky when it comes to the actual praying.

It’s not that I don’t have good intentions. It’s more like I have spiritual ADHD. I get distracted. I forget. My mind wanders and I chase shiny objects.

But there’s nothing more powerful in my mind than when a believer intercedes in faith for another. Nothing moves the heart of God more than that.

Who has God laid on your heart to intercede on their behalf?

Maybe it’s time that you and I stop telling people we’re praying for them and actually pray for them.

What is God doing in your life in an area where it feels like you are completely falling apart and coming undone?

It may seem hopeless beyond repair, but God knows that if a seed remains intact, it remains a single solitary seed. If that same seed falls apart and dies, it reproduces into many many seeds of new life.

The process is painful and seemingly never-ending, but the end result is always growth. All that you need is patience and trust.

I’ve been making my way through Streams in the Desert, a daily devotional that is probably in my top five favorites of all time.

It’s definitely not a “your best life now” kind of book. It’s not about how if you have enough faith, God will grant your every whim and desire and take away every hint of sadness and suffering in your life.

It’s about how God uses suffering in your life to increase your dependence on Him, to make you strong enough to fulfill His purposes for you, and to grow you into maturity and Christlikeness.

This devotional makes most of the current Christian writing look like Christianity Lite, heavy on the feel-good but light on actual theology and truth. This one does have its moments of comfort, but also there are plenty of convicting passages as well. It’s not for the faint of heart.

I think in 2020 I will revisit The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan Prayers. Those people definitely knew how to pray. I haven’t been through that gem of a book in a while. I think I need a little more old school in my life

This is rapidly becoming my new favorite worship song. There’s so much theological truth here that’s lacking in most of the modern worship music I hear these days. Here it is:

VERSE 1
In the darkness we were waiting
Without hope without light
Till from heaven You came running
There was mercy in Your eyes
To fulfil the law and prophets

To a virgin came the Word
From a throne of endless glory
To a cradle in the dirt

CHORUS
Praise the Father
Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory
Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

VERSE 2
To reveal the kingdom coming
And to reconcile the lost
To redeem the whole creation
You did not despise the cross

For even in Your suffering
You saw to the other side
Knowing this was our salvation
Jesus for our sake You died

VERSE 3
And the morning that You rose
All of heaven held its breath
Till that stone was moved for good
For the Lamb had conquered death

And the dead rose from their tombs
And the angels stood in awe
For the souls of all who’d come
To the Father are restored

VERSE 4
And the Church of Christ was born
Then the Spirit lit the flame
Now this gospel truth of old
Shall not kneel shall not faint

By His blood and in His Name
In His freedom I am free
For the love of Jesus Christ
Who has resurrected me

CHORUS
Praise the Father
Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory
Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings

CHORUS
Praise the Father
Praise the Son
Praise the Spirit three in one
God of glory
Majesty
Praise forever to the King of Kings (Geoff Bullock)

If one person reading this is inspired to not give up or try again or try for the first time, then this little post has not been in vain.

I do hope you realize that as long as you’re breathing, it’s never too late for a do-over and to start again. You might not be able to make a new start, but as C. S. Lewis is quoted as saying, you can make a brand new ending.

You don’t have to be held captive by your past and by your bad choices. You can choose differently. And I hope you do.

Most of all, you are not defined by your mistakes or your past or all those thoughts that beat you up in the middle of the night. You are who God says you are– His beloved in whom He is well pleased.

“If the first and lowest operation of pain shatters the illusion that all is well, the second shatters the illusion that what we have, whether good or bad in itself, is our own and enough for us. Everyone has noticed how hard it is to turn our thoughts to God when everything is going well with us. We ‘have all we want’ is a terrible saying when ‘all’ does not include God. We find God an interruption. As St Augustine says somewhere, ‘God wants to give us something, but cannot, because our hands are full—there’s nowhere for Him to put it.’ Or as a friend of mine said, ‘We regard God as an airman regards his parachute; it’s there for emergencies but he hopes he’ll never have to use it.’ Now God, who has made us, knows what we are and that our happiness lies in Him. Yet we will not seek it in Him as long as he leaves us any other resort where it can even plausibly be looked for. While what we call ‘our own life’ remains agreeable we will not surrender it to Him. What then can God do in our interests but make ‘our own life’ less agreeable to us, and take away the plausible source of false happiness?” (C.S.Lewis,  The Problem of Pain Compiled in A Year with C.S.Lewis)

God does not want us to be happy nearly as much as God wants us to be holy. God wants us to come to a place where He alone is the source of our joy. 

I’m back in Bellevue at my usual dog sitting gig. I love getting to take care of these three dogs because they’re so very docile and gentle. They are no trouble at all to look after.

One in particular lets me come up to her and pet her head. That may not seem like much, but I remember vividly when this dog wouldn’t let me anywhere near her. She was terrified of me, probably due to a past history of abuse before she was rescued.

It took time for me to earn her trust. It took patience to get her to let her guard down. Now she likes me.

Sometimes people are like that. You have to earn the right to speak into their lives by actively listening to their stories and not just waiting for your turn to talk. You have to make time to listen to show them that who they are and what they have to say matters.

We’re most like God when we love those who are the least worth loving because that’s how we were when God first loved us.

Tonight’s guest writer is Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Ok, I actually copied and posted a quote of his that still stirs something in me. It’s a good word for those of us who seek out what it means to live out faith in the context of both community and solitude. Here goes:

“Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community. Such people will only do harm to themselves and to the community. Alone you stood before God when God called you. Alone you had to obey God’s voice. Alone you had to take up your cross, struggle, and pray and alone you will die and give an account to God. . . . You cannot avoid yourself, for it is precisely God who has singled you out. If you do not want to be alone, you are rejecting Christ’s call to you, and you can have no part in the community of those who are called . . . . 

But the reverse is also true. Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone. You are called into the community of faith; the call was not meant for you alone. You carry your cross, you struggle, and you pray in the community of faith, the community of those who are called. You are not alone even when you die, and on the day of judgment you will be only one member of the great community of faith of Jesus Christ . . . .

Whoever cannot be alone should beware of community. Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

“God’s gift of repentance means you’re not defined by your trip to the far country but by your journey home to the Father.”

I have no idea who said this originally, but it resonated with me at some point when I posted it in social media, and it hit home again with me tonight.

I’m not defined by my sin but by my Savior. I’m not my past or my failures or my poor choices or my wandering heart. I am who God says I am. I am who God sees when He sees Jesus and His perfect work in me.

I’m not the beneficiary of what I deserve but of God’s stedfast love, His unmerited favor, of grace upon grace upon grace.

I don’t have to earn my way back to the Father’s heart. I don’t have to work my way back to good standing with God. I don’t have to atone for my own sin or offer penance for my past mistakes.

God in Jesus has already taken care of all that. Even before I saw home, the Father saw me and came running for me. He became undignified for me that I might know a Father’s love when I least deserved it.

Before I could offer my lame excuses and false apologies, He offered me sonship and a place at his table. Instead of throwing me out, He threw His arms around me and wrapped me in a loving embrace.

I’m not defined by the far country anymore. I am defined by my coming Home.

I very nearly didn’t go. I saw the drizzling rain and almost decided to forego Radnor Lake today.

I’m so thankful I went.

It was one of those rare sneak previews of fall that we in Tennessee get in the summer. For once, it was not 1000 degrees outside with 110% humidity.

I stepped out of my Jeep and immediately felt refreshed. Sure, I sweated and grunted and wheezed and panted, but I never gave up. I completed my Gainier Ridge/South Cove Trail combo.

Along the way, I saw 17 deer (a few who were almost close enough to touch), a few squirrels, and an owl.

It was magical.

I think the threat of rain scared away most of the people, so I had lots of peace and solitude on my hike. I tried my best to stay in the moment and see the beauty around me instead of getting wrapped up in my own thoughts.

That’s the secret to living– keep your eyes open, pay attention, expect God to do what only God can do, and prepare to be amazed. And Radnor Lake is a pretty good place to be amazed.

I’m glad I didn’t chicken out.