Devotional

Know Your Season

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There are aspects of a job, of being a parent, of living that are a given that they should always be present. These aspects often actually go through a season where they are heightened to another level of intentionality or necessity. Solomon wrote about these examples in Ecclesiastes (see chapters 3&8). 

Here’s a directional question that could help you get more out of your seasons. Do you know your current season? If so, what intentionality are you getting out of it? If not, how could you determine the nature of your current season? Consider these possibilities:

Season of margin or rest or fun or renewal

  • God actually made this clear from the very beginning (Genesis 2; Exodus 20). He designed you with a seasonal need for rest. The more you intentionally seek it the better that need will be met.

Season of focus/little margin/doing

  • “…a time to plant and a time to uproot…a time to tear down and a time to build…” You probably spend most of your time in this season. A more directional question to ask yourself is what are you focused on right now and for how long-what is God’s intent for your current focus/doing.

Season of giving

  • You should live with a giving spirit. Some seasons call for more intentionality of giving, not just living in that spirit. For instance, giving care for an unhealthy loved one or providing shelter for needy family members.

Season of receiving

  • Last week someone reminded me that givers and doers are not good receivers. Givers and doers, how can you keep giving and doing if you never go through seasons of receiving? Here’s a key word: balance.

Know your season. Have intention to get the most out of your season. 

Know your season. Balance rest and doing, giving and receiving. 

3 Productive Denials

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Production begins with a set direction, a determined goal. Each morning the choices you make determine your direction, your production. So the production of each day is determined by the things you choose to do and the things you choose not to do – what you allow and what you deny. 

To be productive, here are three things that should be denied:

Deny any bend toward laziness

  • A productive day begins with exercise of mind, spirit or body – determination to get up and start moving, to stretch your mind, to engage your spirit (Proverbs 26:13-16)

Deny any bend toward holding on

  • A productive day begins by resisting temptations of anger, bitterness, negativity, unforgiveness (Philippians 3:12-16)

Deny any bend toward independence 

  • A productive day begins by admitting we are better together (Psalm 49:13-14)

Pray, “Lord, I desire to be productive today. Whatever bends I have away from you, I deny them in order to move toward you. Your will be done today as it is in heaven.”

Dr. Henry Cloud on Worry

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In this Q&A video, move forward (the whole video is good, btw) to 5:30 to listen to Dr. Cloud answer this question about worry: “How can you train your mind to not worry?”

His answer may help you apply Scriptures like Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:4-8

Recovering Demanders

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“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭100:1-5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

This Psalm came to mind when I read this sentence in Breakfast with Bonhoeffer: “Fellowship can be entered when participants enter not as demanders but as thankful recipients.”

Many churchgoing people are recovering demanders. Some know it; others are still figuring it out. Were they to write a Psalm about how to enter church, it may quip, “I’ll enter so long as it suits me.” They may not say it, but they enter the court with expectations, maybe even unspoken demands.

Psalm 100 gives it’s own demands that can help recovering demanders:

  • Make a joyful noise – unashamedly
  • Serve with gladness – service has a way of producing thankfulness and squelching demanding
  • Come with singing – indicates coming with a participatory spirit rather than a sit-and-watch posture
  • Know the Lord is God – the focus is not on any human leader or human preferences
  • Enter with thanksgiving...Give thanks to Him – indicates entering already in a thankful spirit
  • Bless His name – this mindset puts the follower/the created/the child in the right position under their Leader/their Creator/their Father

Psalm 100 establishes a case plan for recovering demanders.

Bonhoeffer on Obedience & Submission

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Reading through Breakfast with Bonhoeffer thinking I’m not getting much. Then here come these quotes from chapters 7 & 8:

Bonhoeffer says Jesus calls us to a concrete faith. We can’t just have faith in general; we must take specific steps of faith – visible, concrete steps. And the steps can’t just be anything; they must be the steps Jesus tells us to take. We can take great risks, thinking they will please Jesus, but unless Jesus initiates them, they are faithless steps…Obedience doesn’t merely reflect faith; obedience leads to faith.

Bonhoeffer has convinced me that the number one reason so many of us are stuck in spiritual immaturity is that we commit to Christ rather than submit to Christ…Commitment still leaves us in control, deciding, according to our own agendas, when or where we’ll serve Jesus. Submission means we yield to the will of Christ and do what he tells us to do day in and day out, altering our lives in obedience to him and his word (Galatians 2:20).

I’m awake now.

Questions to meditate on: 

  1. Am I committed or submitted?
  2. What area in my life needs altering in obedience?
  3. What concrete steps of faith in my past can I look back on and see where my obedience led to faith?

Please leave any comments or stories that might encourage others with their obedience and submission.

You Might Be Proud

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If you get aggravated that there are too many handicapped parking spots at WalMart, you might be proud.

If you turn your nose up at the mom with the buggy-caged, screaming child at Publix, you might be proud.

If you believe, out loud or silently, that your education level determines your worth, you might be proud.

If you smile and nod while hearing advice but are only listening to the advice in your own head, you might be proud.

If you insist the TV channel is always determined by your mood or preference only, you might be proud.

If you ignore your aging parents because they only talk about things in their world, you might be proud.

If you are disgusted by humans who look/worship/talk/dress/pray/eat/do life differently than you, you might be proud.

If you write a blog pointing out other’s pride issues, you might be proud.

Souls in the Washing Machine

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Unintentionally, I managed to declutter a tiny portion of my life. My wallet.

I left a load of clothes in the washer overnight; dried them the following morning. The first item to fall out of the dryer when I opened the door, to my surprise, was my wallet. Never did that before.

So, I removed all the plastic cards and then paper items like car insurance information, put what I needed for the day in my shirt pocket and took off, leaving the rest to dry on the kitchen counter.

The leather wallet took more than 24 hours to fully air out, so I had a new norm for 2 days. Well, now it’s turn into a new norm period.

What I’ve discovered is I was carrying cards in my wallet that I simply don’t need on a daily basis-some, not really at all. After the washing and drying of the wallet and removing of cards I don’t really need, it’s as if I don’t even feel my wallet in my pocket anymore. I’m lighter, you might say.

When I pulled it out this morning at the gas pump, an analogy struck me. This is very similar to what happens in other areas of our lives. Things pile up, clutter, burden, weigh us down, and we don’t even realize it. We pick the load up every day as if we don’t have a choice, clueless we are desperately in need of decluttering, finding rest in our soul, space in our heart, margin in our spirit.

Recently I heard someone quote these verses from Matthew 11 where Jesus said,

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, 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.

We are in need of putting our souls intentionally in the washing machine. We need to surrender to the cleansing that only comes through God’s work. He gives rest. He offers freedom. He makes you lighter.

Practice, Practice, Practice

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Tonight I was reminded of the importance of repeating fundamentals in any discipline to maintain the opportunity to be great, or at least to improve.

Most great accomplishments are the result of doing little things faithfully over a long time.

  • For a pianist, the little things include scales and arpeggios.
  • For a runner, the little things include hydrating and stretching.
  • For a journalist, the little things include listening and questioning.

You have disciplines, whether you see them as that or not. You may have the discipline of being a student, or being a mother, or being an employee, or being a dancer. When we stop to think about all areas of our lives, we maintain many disciplines. Sounds tiring. Hard to maintain.

So what keeps us honed, sharp, improving, growing? Not ignoring the fundamentals. Practice, practice, practice.

You want to be a faithful employee? Show up on time. Meet the deadline. Say thank you.

You want to be a faithful husband? Take your wife out on a date. Ask her what needs to be done around the house. Give her a kiss right now.

You want to be a faithful follower of Christ? Talk with God about other things besides your plate of food. Read His letter to you as often as you can. Talk with others about your faith in God.

We all desire to be great or at least moving in a forward direction. Remember the fundamentals of your discipline. Practice, practice, practice.

13 years of wrong

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it ain't over

I’m reading “It Ain’t Over till It’s Over” by R.T. Kendall. In chapter 1, he references the story of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar.

At Sarah’s suggestion, Abraham slept with her handmaid, Hagar, in an effort to make things happen-to make good God’s promise to him. All that was needed, they reasoned, was that the baby be male.

This wording made me think about something for the first time. What was the nine months before Hagar gave birth like for all three of these people? And then, when it was a boy, what was their reaction toward God?

  • During the nine months, “Did we do the right thing?” After the birth, “I guess so. Thank you, God!”
  • During the nine months, “What if it’s a girl?” After the birth, “God, I shouldn’t have doubted you.”
  • During the nine months, “Was this God’s direction or our manipulation?” After the birth, “I guess it doesn’t really matter.”

It wasn’t until 13 years later that they knew they had been wrong. How could this have been avoided? How can we avoid the same path, years of wrong? Suggestions:

  1. Major decisions must be rooted in peace from time spent with God.
  2. Be honest with yourself and God. If you’ve come up with the decision out of weariness or impatience, confess that to God before moving in that direction.
  3. Admit often to God that you trust in His ways and His thoughts, even though you don’t always see or understand them.
  4. “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” – check this decision in where it ranks in God’s priorities for your life.
  5. Be ready and “quick to the draw” to own any wrong steps you take. Get back on the path ASAP.

Redeeming Suffering

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For those in my circles, they are probably about tired of my latest references to podcasts. It’s much like hearing from someone who’s back from a conference or a vacation. It’s better for you if you experience it yourself.

Sorry for those people, but here’s yet another reference. I heard this quote from Donald Miller talking about what makes a good hero and villain in a story plot. “A hero redeems his suffering while a villain becomes bitter about suffering and seeks vengeance.” The word that grabbed me was “redeemed.” The concept of redeeming suffering is a new one to me.

But think about it. That’s pretty much what heroes do. They make their suffering useful. Batman redeemed his suffering of losing his parents. From other movies, William Wallace (Braveheart) and Maximus Meridius (Gladiator) both redeemed their suffering of losing their wives. One of the most familiar biblical and historical heroes is David. What did he redeem? He redeemed his people from their longtime enemies, the Philistines. These four men made a choice. They chose to redeem their suffering.

Redeem means to make something that is bad or unpleasant better or more acceptable, to buy back something. Suffering is often the result of something bad or unpleasant. Suffering certainly is attached to loss. 

We suffer in our workplace when business slows. We suffer in our families when our parents age. We suffer in our sense of security when bombs explode. We suffer because we live in a broken world. And in our suffering we have a choice. Make the unpleasant better or become bitter, making ourselves unpleasant. Redeem what was lost or cause more loss through our lack of redemption. Be a hero or be a villain.

Truth is, we all know what the right choice is. Truth is, being a villain is easier. Being heroic is hard. Ask Jesus. By the way, when you ask Him, stop to thank Him for your redemption that He gave you through His suffering.