At this point, we could all use a little levity in our day. If you don’t get the joke, it’s okay. You just probably need a nap.
Friday Eve Funnies
Wrong to Worry?
“It is not only wrong to worry, it is real infidelity because it means we do not believe God can look after the little practical details of our lives; it is never anything else that worries us” (Oswald Chambers, Studies in the Sermon on the Mount).
First of all, I plead guilty. I am a worry wart much of the time. If I don’t catch myself, I can see myself imagining all sorts of worst case scenarios that almost never come to pass. I can work myself up into a good state of anxiety.
But what does my worry accomplish? Does it actually make my problem go away? Does it improve my situation even a little bit? Or does it keep me from making sensible and rational decisions?
Note: it’s one thing to worry and quite another to have anxiety brought on by chemical imbalances. Everyone has anxious thoughts, but what matters is what you do with them, or where you take them.
I heard the analogy that thoughts are like birds. It’s one thing to let them fly over, but another entirely to let them land in your hair and built a nest. The best way is to take them to God. The Bible calls it taking every thought captive. Don’t let it rule in your head and in your heart. Determine to think about things that are good and lovely like it says in Philippians 4:8.
You don’t want to worry. You also don’t want a Pollyanna type theology where you pretend that your anxiety doesn’t exist and manipulate your emotions into a constant state of faux peace. It’s best to be honest, and take that honesty to God like King David did in the Psalms.
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life’ (Philippians 4:6-7, The Message).
This Resurrection Life
“This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike ‘What’s next, Papa?’ God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!” (Romans 8:15-17, The Message)
I think too many of us are guilty of thinking that eternal life starts after we die. We think that the resurrection life when the good stuff starts and that doesn’t start until we’ve been dispatched to our heavenly rest. But if I read my Bible right, it starts the moment we say YES to Jesus.
Too many of us go through our lives without ever tapping into that resurrection power. Too many of us are like that old lady back in the day who only turned on her electric lights so she could see to light her candles. We’ve settled for trying to do God-sized work with human-sized strength, and that never works.
Did you know that the same power that raised Christ from the dead now lives in you and me? It belongs to anyone who belongs to Jesus. Yet most of us live defeated because we either don’t know the victory has already been won or we’re too distracted to care. Our lives are small because our view of God is too small.
Lord, help us to remember how big You are. You’re bigger than all our problems put together. You’re bigger than anything we’ll ever face. You’re bigger than the whole world. Remind us that Your resurrection power is ours for the asking. Help us to live victoriously because the battle is already won. Be glorified in each and every one of us today. Amen.
Homesick for God
“How many people have you made homesick for God?” (Oswald Chambers, Disciples Indeed).
I don’t know if you’ve ever met people like that. They radiate God’s love. They are saturated with God because they spend so much time with Him and talk about Him all the time. They’re the ones that transform holiness from something dull into something vibrant and real. They’re the real deal.
My grandmother was like that. Her whole life was about serving and loving God. I also knew quite a few people from Union University who really inspired me to want to walk closer with the Lord. I can point to these people and say, “Because of you, I am who I am today.”
Are you someone who makes people homesick for God? Are you one that makes heaven real to people? Not in a far away, pie in the sky kind of way but in a new heaven and earth, new Jerusalem descending out of the sky kind. In a world where Christians are known more for what they’re against, it’s refreshing to meet a believer whose joy is contagious. To meet a saint who not only talks about holiness but lives it out is rare indeed.
Lord, make us holy but also make us likable. Make us people who love God so much that others want to love God because they know us and see our love for God lived out loud. Make us people who infect others with holy joy and sanctified passion, who make Christlikeness not a dull task but a joyous gift. Thank You for not giving up on Your people — ever. Amen.
A Prayer for When You’re Exhausted
I ran across this prayer and thought I’d share it. Sometimes, you can borrow the words of others when you don’t have words of your own to pray. Maybe some of you reading this can borrow these words to express your own deep exhaustion:
Dear Father,
On days like today when I feel exhausted
I feel like I can’t even pray.
And I don’t mean to complain.
Because there are so many who are less blessed than I am.
The time comes when a person easily recognizes
That running on empty is not a good thing.
When I have nothing left to give
And nothing left to offer,
Then I know that I’ve been using my own strength
Instead of relying on Yours.
Why do I do this when You are the God who never tires?
Help me, Jesus. I need You so much.
May I learn to lean on You consistently
So I can soar like the eagles without even a hint of weariness.
May this be the evidence of Your Almighty Power.
Amen” (Rachel Wojo).
As usual, I like to give credit where credit is due. I’m posting a link to the original post, so you can follow or read more:
Suddenly
If you’re familiar with the music industry, then you probably know the term overnight sensation. Only for most of those, it didn’t happen overnight. People like Stevie Ray Vaughan and Bonnie Raitt spent years toiling in virtual obscurity before they got their big break. People may have noticed them overnight, but they put in the hours to get where they are.
The same goes for waiting on God. Most people see the miracle, but few see the years of spending every night on your knees, begging and pleading. Most never see the long stretches of faithful obedience where no one notices in places no one knows about.
Most of them will tell you that the reward was not the miracle or the sudden intervention, but simply the faithfulness of of a God who was worth serving for the joy of serving and nothing else.
No matter what, God is faithful. The Bible speaks of prophets of old who were faithful to declare what God had promised, though they never got to see the fulfillment during their lifetimes. So many others stayed true to their calling even though they saw little fruit for their efforts.
But God is faithful. If you stay obedient, He is more than able to raise you up in due season. He is more than able to keep His word concerning you. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t happen at all. No matter how long you’ve been waiting, God is still faithful.
Passing It On
“Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you” (Phil. 4:9, NLT).
That’s discipleship. It’s not learning new information so you can impress others with your knowledge. It’s watching godly people and how they live and speak and act, then doing what they do. It’s called practice because you won’t get it right the first time — or the thousandth time. But a lifetime of watching others and doing what they do will lead you to maturity.
The Apostle Paul got it directly from Jesus. He literally had a blinding encounter with the Messiah on the road to Damascus. Paul later says that he spent three years in the wilderness after his salvation and before he began his ministry in earnest. That’s where he learned about faith. Plus, I imagine he spent time with the other apostles and older believers who had spent time with Jesus.
It may seem arrogant for Paul to say in essence, “Do what I do,” but that’s how we learn. I never have been one to learn how to do something by reading instructions out of a book. I do best by watching someone else who knows what they’re doing. Then I basically imitate what I’ve seen.
That’s why it’s vital to be in a church community and also in a smaller group within that community. It’s best if we have people older and wiser than us to show us how to be Christians and how not only to believe but to live out what we believe in real time. Obviously, you start with the Bible, but sometimes you need help in knowing how to practice your faith in obedience.
Lord, help us to spur each other on to godliness and maturity. Keep us mindful that as we watch those we want to be like in the faith, others are watching us and seeing if what we confess is what we really believe. Keep us humble and teachable, but help us to set a good example for those who will follow after us. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.
God Speaking
“God is not silent. It is the nature of God to speak. The second person of the Holy Trinity is called ‘The Word.'”.(A.W. Tozer).
I think for most of us, the problem is not that God is silent, but that we don’t know how to listen. At least we never create margins in our day and set aside space on our calendar to sit still and listen. I know that my mind can have five songs and two movie quotes all playing at the same time, so I’m not always the best at making my brain be quiet. But that’s how you hear from God.
Primarily, God speaks through His word. That’s a bit Captain Obvious, but I think sometimes we’re looking for a mystical voice from God out of the ether when we have a closed Bible sitting in front of us. Often, God communicates the same thing multiple times over the course of a few days. I’ve found that to be the case when I’ll hear a verse or a song from two or more sources within the same day.
I also think that our capacity to hear is directly related to our capacity to obey. If I’m not living out what I already know to be God’s will, how can I expect to hear more? What good is it if I’m retaining information but it’s not affecting my daily life to make me more like Jesus?
My favorite prayer that I use all the time says, “Speak, Lord, for Your servant is listening.”
May that be the continual prayer of our hearts every day until He returns.
Autumn
“I love the fitfull gusts that shakes
The casement all the day
And from the mossy elm tree takes
The faded leaf away
Twirling it by the window-pane
With thousand others down the lane
I love to see the shaking twig
Dance till the shut of eve
The sparrow on the cottage rig
Whose chirp would make believe
That spring was just now flirting by
In summers lap with flowers to lie
I love to see the cottage smoke
Curl upwards through the naked trees
The pigeons nestled round the coat
On dull November days like these
The cock upon the dung-hill crowing
The mill sails on the heath a-going
The feather from the ravens breast
Falls on the stubble lea
The acorns near the old crows nest
Fall pattering down the tree
The grunting pigs that wait for all
Scramble and hurry where they fall” (John Clare)
So far, Autumn has come in snatches. A little fall here, a little fall there. But there is still a lot of warm weather. Right now, I live for the early mornings and late evenings when the crispness returns to the air instead of the middle of the day that still feels like summer.
I’m thankful for it all, but something in my soul awakens when the temps drop below 70. There’s a hint of sweet decay in the air from all the leaves dying and falling off the trees. I breathe in the perfumes of fall and breathe out thanksgiving.
I’m ready to break out the flannel and drink all the hot apple cider. I’m ready for pumpkins and colorful foliage and bonfires. I’m ready for all of it.
Why We Go to Church
I think Rich Mullins said it best:
“I remember, you know, you go to these parties on Saturday night and people would say, about 8:00 on Sunday morning ‘Whoa, I have to go – I gotta get to church!’
People would say, ‘Why do you want to go to church, all those hypocrites?’
And I say, ‘Look, why do I want to stay here with all you hypocrites?’
I never knew why going to church made you a hypocrite. They’d say because you go to church and you’re all ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’ for two or three hours, and then you go home and sin. I’d say ‘exactly!’ For two or three hours you’re doing pretty good!
Maybe the problem isn’t that you go to church, maybe the problem is that you go home!
I never understood why going to church made you a hypocrite either, because nobody goes to church because they’re perfect. If you’ve got it all together, you don’t need to go. You can go jogging with all the other perfect people on Sunday morning
Every time you go to church, you’re confessing again to yourself, to your family, to the people you pass on the way there, to the people who will greet you there, that you don’t have it all together. And that you need their support. You need their direction. You need some accountability, you need some help.”
