The Goodness of Unforced Rhythm

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."—Matthew 11:28-30, Message

And the reason the questions in this modern translation hit it out of the park is because, so often, the answer is:

Yes. Yes. And maybe—at least strangely restless with a sense that there’s got to be more than just being a good church-goer.

We are slow to get this, but how good to know that all through our journey, the perfect answer is always right in front of us, beside us, behind us, over us, and under us. Try as we might, perfect "rest" is not found in searching for another good idea out there that will make everything right, or a bigger or better this or that, or the ideal political leader, or even in one more lap around the track of world system insanity, but in trusting the One who personifies the word “rest,” and Who created it...and everything else.

  

This is no escape from reality, or sitting back and doing nothing. It's not something weird or mindless, either. Rather, it’s like the sweet spot—that unforced rhythm—a runner or walker or hiker feels when he is in step with his partner: the heart is pounding, the hills are steep at times, but there is someone there who is either talking with you or ready to listen every step of the way, and cheering you on when you’d rather call it a day. But more than a partner on the journey, this is the only One who leads the way perfectly every time, and whose trustworthy anthem is: "I Am the way, and the truth, and the life..."

Best of all, though a get-away would be nice, to get to a “Come to Me” kind of rest, we don’t have to go any further than the heart cry from our mouths, no matter where we happen to be:

“O Lord!”

“Here I Am”

"So teach my song to rise to You

    When temptations come my way

        And when I cannot stand I'll fall on You

           Jesus, You're my hope and stay."—Matt Maher

Stirred, Not Shaken

“And the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD…and the people feared [trusted in] the LORD…So, the LORD stirred up…the spirit of the whole remnant of the people.”—Haggai 1:12-14

It is one of the easiest things in life to do: putting off something that seems too overwhelming to accomplish by spending our time and energy doing a bunch of stuff to make our own little worlds comfortable and secure—and then staying in that own little world. We forget that, before the beginning of time, God created every single one of us for something beyond ourselves, something of eternal significance that would bust us out of our comfort zones.

This is what is happening here in this tiny Old Testament book filled with a blockbuster life lesson and life inspiration. The people of God have been called to rebuild the ruins of the temple—they’ve heard the assignment, they see the huge task ahead of them, they think about it a lot, they talk about it even more…and then busy themselves with building their own little houses, which is all well and good up to a point, but neglecting God's larger call on their lives.

This is every one of us. Some are more resolved and determined and industrious than others, but to some extent, we’ve all been in the Haggai story: shaken by the prospects of lack of confidence and ability for the brick-laying task ahead, and forgetting this vital nugget of Truth:

…we are HIS workmanship, HIS own master work, a work of art, created in Christ Jesus (reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used) for good works, which GOD prepared for us beforehand, taking paths which HE set, so that we would walk in them...living the good life which HE prearranged and made ready for us.—Ephesians 2:10, Amplified

Sometimes, we get stuck waiting for perfect timing, perfect life circumstances, no bills to pay, or "maybe after I take some more Bible courses, then..." when all the while, our temple-building assignment of eternal significance is often the one right in front of us: spiritually nurturing a child, caring for a parent, serving week after week in a tiny Sunday School room, relating humbly and graciously with co-workers, being available to listen, to lift a heavy box or a mood of despair.

It has nothing to do with our season in life, our size and stature, or talents, or looks, or smarts, and everything with, day by day, simply choosing to give God glory and worshiping Him with the very life He has given us and choosing not to be distracted by doing lots of things that don’t always matter much in the end. Sounds good enough..but never easy. Which is why the Word is always spot on, and that God puts examples in our lives, like the folks in Haggai, to help push us forward.

It's also good to know that when God calls us to do something, to build something, to re-build something—even a very difficult thing—when we, like this small band of God's children, swallow hard and, against every ounce of our screaming selfness choose to obey and trust Him, He will shake off our shakinness and “stir up” within us the strength, the will, the know-how, the determination,  the perseverance, and even the teammates, to complete the task...

...Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people saying, “ ‘I am with you,’ declares the Lord.”

 

"God is not looking for people to work for Him, but people who let Him work mightily in and through them."—John Piper

'Putting Up' 365

"For the mouth simply shapes the heart's impulses into words. And so the good man (who is filled with goodness), speaks good words, while the evil man (who is filled with evil) speaks evil words.  I tell you this: on the day of judgment, people will be called to account for every careless word they have ever said.”

—Matthew 12:33-37, Voice translation

Welcome to the home stretch. It may still feel like summer (thank You, Lord) on the first weekend of September, but psychologically, the mind has already made the shift to things like keeping warm against the coming harsh winds of winter, comfort foods, and “putting up” everything from veggies from the garden to stacks of seasoned firewood. It’s another way of saying, according to one dictionary, "to prepare so as to preserve for later use or to put in storage."

There’s another theme that seems to be in season: The words we speak. Seriously, again? Just when you think it’s a passing biblical topic you’ve heard a million times, and you head on to something more important, God has a way of saying through random verses, devotionals, and sermon nuggets:

“Not so fast, my friend. Especially in this season of history, when mean-spirited words are spreading like the plague, I want you—no, I need you—to get this and let it sink in. Words, as that opening scripture indicates, are vital to Me and My kingdom.”

David and the psalmists seem to come face-to-face with this reality over and over again—either humbly aware of the power of their own words to speak life or death, or as an unjust, non-stop assault from others against them or that simply fill the atmosphere with poison. Little wonder that David often used the word “enemy” in relation to these attacks, because indeed, poisonous words are essentials of the Accuser’s toolbox. Always have been, always will be.  In one instance, David says, “They…aim cruel words like deadly arrows.” But even when an actual arrow can be removed, the wound is deep and the scar can last a lifetime.

So, there is no maybe about it: Our words stick and leave a lasting mark—be they words of life or careless, unintentionally blurted out. And we know this, right?; but, well, it’s something “you’ve heard a million times, and so you head on to something more important.” Instead, as we begin another season of putting up fruit, veggies, and firewood, it’s good to also think of putting up for ourselves good and edifying God-thoughts that just might be the ones that will preserve someone’s dignity, confidence, and smile...digging through the vibrant life that is the Gospels, and meditating more frequently on God's tireless, unfailing, wooing Love song to all creatures great and small. The call to do so is loud and resounding:

• “…Store up my commands within you.”—Proverbs 7:1
• “Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.”—Proverbs 10:4
• “The LORD…will be the sure foundation of your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge…”—Isaiah 33:5-6
• “But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy…for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”—Matthew 6:20-21

Lord, You know how good we are at putting our foot in our mouth. Help us to become bad at that, and let the overflow that comes from more time by Your side increasingly "put up" words that heal and not wound, bring a smile to a frown, and build up and not tear down. If not us, then who? At the same time, please protect us from the arrows of words aimed at us—intentionally or not—so that they have only a glancing blow and don't stop us in our tracks from what You have called us to do and be.

Church of the Open Door

"You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness in His wonderful light..."—1 Peter 2:9

[THIS WEEK'S "VITAMIN" WAS ADAPTED FROM AN ENTRY WRITTEN SEVERAL YEARS AGO. THE MESSAGE IS TIMELESS.] 

After steering onto the side street that leads to a nearby city's fellowship, I thought for a moment that I had taken a wrong turn. The familiar sandwich board at the church's storefront was nowhere in sight. That’s because it was obscured—by three cops, three cruisers, and one forlorn-looking young dude, handcuffed, and sitting on the curb near the church entrance. Apparently, there had been a high-speed chase out on the interstate. It could have ended on any of a gazillion similar side streets in the heart of the city, but it ended here. What are the odds?

Good morning, Church. God calling.

When the world shows up at your front door, He might very well be asking, “So, what will you do?” 

Some churches might have called the cops to tell these other cops to please leave the property ASAP because it is scaring people away. Other churches might have responded in fear or indifference, huddling inside and going about their comfortable business even while Kingdom opportunity was knocking at the door. On most days, that might have been my knee-jerk reaction, too.

That morning, however, I was blind-sided by my response. God, apparently, was indeed calling. I didn’t look for someplace safer, someplace comfortable. Instead, I pulled into a parking space right next to the action, and blurted out, "Good morning, guys" to the cops, and even to the kid in handcuffs. They all kind of smirked in response. But no sooner had I gotten inside the storefront church when this petite little firefly we'll simply call Debbie was singing a similar tune: "C'mon, let's offer them coffee. Let's invite them in—all of them. I tried to offer them coffee before, but they said no."

And so Debbie rounded up a handful of early arrivers and grabbed coffee and again headed out to the crime scene. "You guys want any coffee?," I found myself blurting out again, far removed from my natural personality. The three cops did more than smirk this time—they laughed out loud, "No thanks, we're good." The poor kid in the handcuffs, head hanging down, didn't say a thing. There was a part of me that really wanted to grab that kid, get him to his feet and bring him inside and let people Love on him. Where did that come from?

The self-less Debbie, meanwhile, seemed momentarily disappointed but resolute: "It's OK. Maybe someday they will remember this when someone says ‘Jesus’."

Another seed planted. And in heaven at that moment, a great cheer went up for the cause of evangelism in the Church of New England.

Everything about that going-to-church day was so over the edge. But so right. It was a reminder that praying for revival begins from within, our actions and attitudes—not the cops, forlorn kid in handcuffs, or anyone else in our circle of friends and acquaintances who we might consider cool to the gospel. 

It was a reminder that being a Church of the open door is really quite simple, and more powerful and effective than handing out 10,000 tracts and walking away. It can also be costly—measured in time, convenience, pride, patience, and resources. Leave it to the all-over-the-map Apostle Peter to remind us that if we are to be Christ-ones indeed, being comfortable is not an option. Like Debbie and her friends that morning, we are a set apart people called not to coast along and play it safe but to declare, in some fashion, the praises of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light...

... even, and perhaps especially, when it seems to get greeted with a "No thanks, we're good."

("It's OK. Maybe someday they will remember this when someone says ‘Jesus’.")

"My fear is that the world knows more about what Christians are against than what we are for. We have forgotten to make the main thing the main thing."—Greg Laurie, pastor/author)

Roadside Assistance

"...I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And, I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow My decrees and be careful to keep My laws." — Ezekiel 36:26-27

With such strong waves of resistance, a chorus of accusing voices, and so many potholes, jagged rocks, and blinding sandstorms testing their faith, it's no wonder the psalmists often longed for the refuge of the sanctuary that is the manifest presence of God. It is somehow brighter and sweeter there, and there we find nourishment and correction and encouragement for the journey through Word, thanksgiving, and friendship of fellow travelers.

In the same way, it doesn't take long to figure out that the highway of holiness isn't just a straightaway of smooth asphalt. But without its potholes, jagged rocks, relentless temptations, fog, and forces of resistance that challenge all we believe, there would be no smoothing of our rough edges. Sometimes, though, we not only get knocked off balance by it all, but try as we might, we occasionally suffer a total blow-out that sends us into the breakdown lane wondering what hit us.

It may be caused by some level of unbelief, or simply by life...just...happening and how we responded to it, but inevitably it's during those dizzying blow-out occasions when the accusing voice in our head whispers, "See? Missed the mark again. Why don't you just give it up?" 

It's good to know that if that thought bothers us in the least, and stirs even faint resolve, it means our heart has not gone beyond the point of no return. On the contrary, in the words of Charles Spurgeon: "The hard heart is selfish and coldly demands, 'why should I weep for sin? Why should I love the Lord?' But the heart of flesh says, 'Lord, You know that I love You! Help me to love You more!'"

And maybe the best way to put that love into action is not to wallow in blow-out regret but lace up a new pair of running shoes and keep going. (Funny how God seems to have an endless supply.) Better still, it's good to remember that while we may love our solitude, none of us runs this highway alone. In fact, we can be sure there's a fellow traveler up ahead who might have also suffered a breakdown lane event similar to ours. So...

For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. (Hebrews 3:13-14, Message)

And in the process of doing all that, we become just what we've been called to be: mobile sanctuaries of the living God — just as with the psalmists, we find the atmosphere somehow becomes brighter and sweeter as together we find nourishment and correction and encouragement for the journey through Word, thanksgiving, and friendship as fellow travelers...

"Come, let's win this!"

"God's ultimate concern is not to get you or me from point A to point B along the quickest, easiest, smoothest, clearest route possible. Instead, His ultimate concern is that you and I would know Him deeply as we trust Him more completely." — David Platt

God's ultimate concern is not to get you or me from point A to point B along the quickest, easiest, smoothest, clearest route possible. Instead, his ultimate concern is that you and I would know him deeply as we trust him more completely.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/875723

God's ultimate concern is not to get you or me from point A to point B along the quickest, easiest, smoothest, clearest route possible. Instead, his ultimate concern is that you and I would know him deeply as we trust him more completely.
Read more at: http://www.azquotes.com/quote/875723

The Forbidden Clap

Clap your hands, all of you; raise your voices joyfully and loudly. Give honor for the True God of the universe; Here’s why: The Eternal, the Most High, is awesome and deserves our great respect. He is the great King over everything in this world.—Psalm 47:1-2

It is one of the mysteries of this walk that while we are called to meditate on and quietly marinate in what God says, when we actually speak or sing or do aloud what God has said, is saying, and will always say, something life-giving and life-renewing and life-changing happens. To us, to those around us, to the atmosphere of despair.  Sometimes significant, sometimes a gentle nudge, but almost always, strangely, faith-buildingly noticeable.  

The reason is that the Word is letters and phrases, yes, but primarily, the Word is a Person—One who spoke the universe into existence, breathed life into the first man, and Who uniquely in all of history has the power to bring light into the darkest places of our week, our circumstances, our world. (John 1:1-5)

Sometimes, though, the Word itself or the lyrics to a hymn or song of praise set to the Word, can challenge the comfort zones. There are commands we'd rather make suggestions. Things like clapping. And shouting with a voice of triumph. All well and good if you’re an extrovert, or if it’s part of your culture and family tradition. Great for concerts and performing artists, and sporting events, and your child’s first artwork. But surely not for introverts or the spiritually reserved.

Psalm 47 blows all of that hemming and hawing out of the water. But one popular song of worship in recent years, which has stood the test of time because it is the Word of God set to melody, seems to give us an "out" by changing one significant word from the Truth of Psalm 47 with this opening line to its chorus:

Raise your hands, all you nations, shout to God all creation,

how awesome is the Lord Most High.

Someone else must have felt awkward about the whole clapping bit, so this happened. But instead of being bad theology, the editorial license of the lyric is a Biblically sound shock treatment to our penchant to go through the motions of worship. How often we willingly give men and their performances a hearty applause, shout, and bravo, and yet will give “the great King over everything in this world” what amounts to a close-to-the-vest, polite golf clap. Actually, or quietly in our minds. This lyric actually provides the complete picture of what applause to God should look like.

Football fans, after all, know exactly why they clap loudly with arms raised. Their heart and mind are responding with exuberance to what they see and feel and know—their team is winning. But then, the moment is gone and fades into a mere highlight reel. All the more reason for us to follow suit as we celebrate the everlasting Reason, Whose winning never quits: How awesome is the Lord most high...the great King over everything in this world!

Lord, wherever we happen to be worshiping you this week, help us get over ourselves. No golf claps allowed.

 

“We might be wise to follow the insight of the enraptured heart rather than the more cautious reasoning of the theological mind.” –AW Tozer

Upward Resolution

"Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!"--Psalm 43:3-4

There’s a lot of truth to the current wave of exhortations to Believers to bust out of the comfyness of our four church walls, get over our myself-ness, and get on with being the out-there, called-out Church wherever He has planted us.

There’s also a lot of truth to this: Me and myself-ness is where the Adversary goes first, often, and from every angle, because when I feel weak in me and myself-ness, he knows that I will have that tendency to stay holed up in my comfyness and stay home where it’s safe. And when that happens, so much for being the called-out Church.

In the middle is the reality, that no matter what it may feel like at any moment, God always wins, and His loving call to us is to persevere so we can become, increasingly more often than not, that called-out kind of person. But, as in many things with God, it is our choice. The psalmists, who were talking to their souls a lot about being “downcast” and “oppressed,” knew this well. They were not always bummed out, but their emotions (like ours) were often all over the map within a five-minute period. It took resolve, and they knew it.

The Adversary’s biggest weapon of deterrent, then as it is now, is to try take us out of the game by getting us doing what both of these words imply: looking downward, being faint of hope, and muttering “why me?”  No wonder the psalmists kept exhorting themselves and others to look up, where there is no despair and hopelessness but only Light and Truth. The writer of Hebrews exhorts the same: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

It’s good to remember that no matter what it may feel like, God has not left the building. But looking Up, remembering His unfailing love and faithfulness, and praising Him for it all, is a choice rooted not in what side of the bed I happened to get up on this morning, but in one thing and one thing only: a deep-seated trust in God’s proven faithfulness to His Name and His Word, always and forever.

Lord, when all else seems upside down, help us remember that only Your light and truth make any sense in this life. And as we choose to look Up and take that all in, let it fuel the unloading of burdens, lead to abandoned praise (or both), and inspire one more steadfast step out of our comfyness and into being the Church we were called out to be….

O my God, shine Your light and truth

To help me see clearly,

To lead me to Your holy mountain,

To Your home.

Then, I will go to God’s altar with nothing to hide.

I will go to God, my rapture;

I will sing praises to You and play my strings,

Unloading my cares,

Unleashing my joys to You,

God, my God.—Psalm 43:3-4, The Voice