Prayer for the Open Door

"Jesus answered, 'If a person really loves Me, he will keep My word, obey My teaching; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home—abode, special dwelling place—with him.'"—John 14:23 Amplified

Lord, this has got to be one of Your best, most jaw-dropping promises ever.
I mean, conditional promises.
Not really sure what this would all look like,
All I know is something burns inside when I read this
And I want in.
For starters, help me to begin each day by wanting what You want
To be honest, it's not usually the first thing that comes to mind
Oh, You knew that?  
And then help me remember that though I may have a lot on my plate
And wind up accomplishing much of it (thanks to You),
The only stuff that really needs to get done on any given day
Is living out what You say.
So maybe the heart-burn is this:
Realizing that there's no better, more joy-filled, more satisfying sound in this life
Than the sound of Your heart-knock...
And then to be able to say
"Come on in, the door is open."

'Ites', Yikes!

“After this, the Moabites and Ammonites with some of the Meunites came to wage war against Jehoshaphat. Some people came and told Jehoshaphat, “A vast army is coming against you from Edom, from the other side of the Dead Sea. It is already in Hazezon Tamar” (that is, En Gedi). Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord…”—2 Chronicles 20:1-3

With Jehoshaphat as our standard bearer, it’s good to know that the worry cookie on either side of the stuffing that is “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:31-34) is not about whether a Christ-one should get alarmed or stressed out over whatever “ites” are in our life at the moment. Because, being human, we probably will to some extent. Rather, it's about not staying there when they do invade, to be resolved to look Up first before plotting and scheming....and then to remember that for our own good, “today” is God’s favorite day of the week to work.

This is straight out of the Book of Der: a no-brainer that’s so no-brainery, it’s mind-boggling that we keep forgetting it.  Such is the lifelong journey of ever-increasing Trust. Even so, no matter how many more times in the future we have to hit that reset button when the "ites" invade, we know we can stand with Jehoshaphat in awe of the One whose love endures forever: “We don’t know what to do, but our eyes are on You.”

And be at rest that it's exactly where He wants us.

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him,
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er,
Jesus, Jesus, Precious Jesus!
 O for grace to trust Him more.

Even Today

 PHOTO: MATTHEW PAULSON

The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. — Psalm 93:1

The Lord reigns! The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity." — Psalm 96:10

The Lord reigns! Let the earth be glad, let the distant shores rejoice. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne. — Psalm 97:1-2

The Lord reigns! Let the nations tremble...let them praise Your great and awesome Name, for You are holy. — Psalm 99:1, 3

Whether in their joy, in their moments of questioning and frustration, or in their weariness and sorrow, we can be both relieved and thrilled that the totally-relevant psalmists all reached the same resounding declaration to the timeless question: "Who's in charge here, anyway?!"

"The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance." — C.S. Lewis

Net Gains

“As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow Me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed Him.”—Mark 1:16-18

It’s true that Simon and Andrew, and then James and John, as well as countless others down through the corridors of time, have boldly "left their nets" and thrown themselves into following Christ in some type of life-long, singularly-focused ministry or mission. This is a fantastic pursuit, something many dream about, and a high calling indeed. But maybe it's just as high a calling when you can't just drop everything and 'go for God'. And maybe that's the point, after all. Because if all God's children suddenly dropped their nets, so to speak—our means for family provision that come from our places of influence at work and community—then the seasoning and light of the Gospel wouldn’t go very far, and certainly wouldn’t have sustained its lively flavor for more than 2,000 years.

Perhaps, then, what’s behind Jesus' call to “Come, follow Me” is primarily about first-place affection in all things, with the net result being hearts that "at once" and altogether beat for what matters eternally, even while living within and among all that is temporal and in need of Redemption.

And if so, it's good to know that no matter where we are in life's journey, no matter what our passion and calling or job, and no matter how distracted we may become by our day-to-day responsibilities, God has already declared He has supreme confidence in being glorified through all of it...as we follow:

"Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)

Vision for Life

“Pattern yourselves after me—follow my example, as I imitate and follow Christ the Messiah.”—1 Corinthians 11:1, Amplified

It's quite possible that the most important tool in Heaven's arsenal for becoming a daily Christ-imitator is probably not the first thing that comes to mind. It's not the one that helps produce the most eloquent prayers, the loudest shout of praise, or even the best schedule of reading and ingesting Bible verses. But this tool does have a unique way of quietly overpowering the gnawing inbound "me-myself-and-I" voices to the point that we start thinking and living more Upbound and outbound.

As it should be.

Soft? It's not even close to being wimpy. But it is a tool that's meant to be worn, and in fact, its strength has been known to be a life-changer wherever it has been lived out.

Just as it was, and is, the foundational trait of the Chief Cornerstone (Philippians 2:4-11), O Lord, help us each day to make it a priority to put on the cloak of servant humility : increasingly resident in our hearts toward You and Your ways...and resolute in our attitude toward those You have put in our path and in our hearts.

Be THOU my Vision, O Lord of my heart...
 

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

A 21st Century Proverb

Wonderful WORDS OF LIFE 

that are ingested from here:

OR, ieven ihere: 

are good for MARINATING here:

                    

              But BETTER still...


that they CONNECT here: 

so that they will FLOW to here:

 and REACH here... 

...and, especially, BE REAL here: 

          (for as long as we are still here)

                                                        SELAH....

"I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from Satan’s power. They are not part of this world any more than I am. Make them pure and holy through teaching them Your words of truth. As You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world, and I consecrate Myself to meet their need for growth in truth and holiness." - John 17:15-19, Living Bible

Wanna Get Away?

 davidkanigan.com

“In the morning before the sun was up, Jesus went to a place where He could be alone. He prayed there. “ —Mark 1:35

There’s certainly something to be said about those wee hours of the day, when as Elizabeth Yates once wrote, “The silence is so intense that the striking of a distant clock comes into it like sounds from another world.” But if “morning” is the key word in this passage about daily communion, then a whole bunch of people are out of luck—people with young children, those who work third shift, and just about anyone who’s built in such a way that they don’t fire on all cylinders until at least after lunch.

Fortunately, there’s the rest of the story: Jesus also “went to a place where He could be alone” in the middle of the day (Matthew 14:23) and late at night (Luke 6:12). So, perhaps the more significant matter is not when we get away, but rather the vital importance of pursuing our daily nourishment of heavenly fellowship when there’s minimal distraction….

When the noise of life is turned down a few decibels. (Is it ever fully “off”?)

When people are few and far between

When there’s no tugging on garments for attention

When no interoffice messages are mandating you attend yet another meeting

When to-do lists aren’t screaming quite so loudly in our brains.

How good to know that the throne of grace is open 24/7, and that no matter which minimal-distraction hour works best, the same promise holds true: “He is a Rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him.”