Day 119 And....

Get your party on. ;) Happy New Year!

Love you, Mom

Day 118 Celebrate!

So, says Jesus, it's time to celebrate!

It's happening! Not perhaps in the way you thought it would, but it's happening all right.... Resurrection, the ultimate hope of new life, is happening under your noses, and you can't see it.

But for those of us who can -- well, we're having a party, the same party that the angels are having in heaven, and you're not going to stop us.

This, it seems, is part at least of what it means that God's kingdom is coming "on earth as in heaven." The heavenly celebrations at the signs of renewal, the first flickers of a dawn that will soon flood the whole sky, are to be matched by the motley mob around Jesus here and there, in Matthew's house and Zacchaeus' house, in this tavern and that, with Mary Magdalene and her friends and anyone else who cares to join in.

This is what it looks like when God's in charge. This is how the campaign gets under way--and YOU are part of it, so celebrate--it's time!

-- NT Wright, Simply Jesus.

Day 117 Conflict as Adventure

Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. 1 Peter 3:10-11

You know that I hate conflict. The word even sounds painful. It breaks down to the prefix con- and the suffix –flict. Con- is from the same source from which we developed the word constipation.  (Of course it does.) And –flict is the origin of afflicted, as in, What a drag! I’m afflicted with constipation. (Okay, I haven’t really checked that, but that’s the image—constipated affliction.)

I can’t stand the feeling I get when I experience tension with others. Conflict causes me more bodily stress than just about anything else I do. But conflict can be part of God’s strategy to transform us into the people He wants us to be.... God can use the conflict in our lives for His glory, and conflict can be part of God’s adventure for us. (Crap!)

How? We writing people know that the one factor present in all adventures is conflict. In order to have an adventure, you need some sort of obstacle to overcome.

Whenever we’re involved in conflict, we’re forced to overcome an obstacle. That’s when the adventure begins: in the middle of the conflict, we encounter a situation that is unclear, difficult, and tension filled, and we need a good Guide to navigate the path.

This is where Jesus comes in. Smack-dab in the middle of our battle, He joins us and offers us light to the other side. Light that honors us ourselves, the other person, and the relationship we share.

That’s our invitation in the middle of relational conflict: to see any such struggle as an invitation to Christ’s adventure in transformation. Christ extends His hand to us and invites us to walk with Him through the storm. As we seek Him, He transforms us into deeper, richer, and more meaningful people. Conflict is the catalyst that God uses to show Himself to us and to cause new growth to happen in our lives.

God, help Sarah to walk with you through the storm of conflict and use them as opportunities to trust you in shaping and transforming her life. Help her to maintain the respect she deserves in relationships--and give her joy! Amen. 

Day 104 Peace is Hidden

 It's the third Sunday of Advent when we focus on God's peace.

The Prince of Peace doesn't cling to his divine power. He is the one who refuses to turn stones into bread, jump from great and rule with great power; the one who says, Blessed are the poor, the gentle, those who mourn, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; blessed are the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers and those who are persecuted in the cause of uprightness. He is the one who touches the lame, the crippled, and the blind; the one who speaks words of forgiveness and encouragement; the one who dies alone, rejected and despised. Keep your eyes on him who becomes poor with the poor, weak with the weak, and who is rejected with the rejected. 

He is the source of all peace.

Where can this peace to be found? The answer is clear. In weakness. First of all, in our own weakness, in those places of our hearts where we feel most broken, most insecure, most in agony, most afraid. Why there? Because there our familiar ways of controlling our world are being stripped away; there we are called to let go from doing much, thinking much, and relying on our self-sufficiency. Right there where we are weakest the peace which is not of this world is hidden.

God, help us to claim the peace that remains unknown to so many and make it our own. Help us to claim that peace in our hearts so that we have new eyes to see and new ears to hear--and gradually recognize the same peace in places we would least expect it. Amen.

Day 104 Dream Big, Baby!

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. Isaiah 11:6

This verse explains an Advent approach to justice. CS Lewis wrote, "I think the best results are obtained by people who work quietly away at limited objectives, such as the abolition of the slave trade, or prison reform, or factory acts, or tuberculosis, not by those who think they can achieve universal justice, or health, or peace. I think the art of life consists in tackling each immediate evil as well as we can... just as the dentist who can stop one toothache has deserved better of humanity than all the men who think they have some scheme for producing a perfectly healthy race.”

One could argue that Lewis’ definition of “limited objectives” was still quite lofty, but his point is good. Our Christian calling begins with small and tangible contexts as a means to a larger end.

The Bible tells the story of God and his redemptive “dream” for the world and for his people. But inside that story, the crux of salvation began not with a grand overture but with a baby born in a stable. The first recipients of the news of God’s grace were not those living in the palace of Jerusalem but the local farmers (shepherds) of Bethlehem. Likewise, our calling today begins on the street we live on, our places of employment, and among the people we meet every day. With God, may we during this Advent season dream big, but begin small.

Lord Jesus, may we embrace the humility you embodied as we live into your redemptive “dream” for the world. Help Sarah, while starting small, to be encouraged to keep dreaming big! Amen.

Day 102 Wake up! Fix this!

For a child has been born for us,
 a son given to us;
 authority rests upon his shoulders;
 and he is named
 Wonderful Counselor...  Isaiah 9:6

 A counselor in biblical times sat on the king’s counsel to give advice and plan the course ahead. But "wonderful" in Hebrew doesn’t mean “super great” like we use the word today. Instead, wonderful meant “beyond our understanding” or “difficult to comprehend.”

I like the idea behind putting these words together in Isaiah. It means that this child is the one who has a trusted plan. And as we know from experience, this plan is decidedly difficult to understand.

Isaiah, in the midst of dark, foreboding words to the king earlier in this passage – warnings of coming occupation, oppression, war, and separation from God – changes course in chapter nine. Suddenly he is saying to the people, “Look, I know it’s bad. But wait for it! You’ll see it soon! It’s hard to understand, it’s a mysterious plan, but it’s wonderful and hopeful and it’s coming."

Writer Anne Lamott says the best two prayers are, “Thank you thank you thank you,” and “Help me help me help me.” As people who seek justice, who find ourselves burdened by the oppression in the world, I bet we tend to go heavier on the “help me” prayers – the begging, hope-against-hope prayers in the midst of Isaiah-grade darkness. Against all hope, we beg God to intervene in Egypt and Syria. Come Lord Jesus, we beg. Wake up! Fix this!

But Advent is the time when we have to remind ourselves, in the midst of these fervent, begging prayers, that God is not our personal assistant. We know that the Gospel does not solve every problem or answer every question. To claim that the one we follow is a “wonderful counselor” does not mean that we miraculously get the right steps, that we get in on the plans, that we get to see how things will turn out in the end. It does not mean that all our prayers get answered right away, in the way we want, in the way we can see.

Instead, God offers us a way to live in the midst of problems that don't disappear. God offers us a way to live without answers. Advent reminds us that we often must wait, and that God acts in God’s own time, in God’s own ways, and for God’s own reasons.

At the time of Jesus’ birth, God’s faithful were again begging for a king who would prove stronger than the oppressive Roman rule. God did answer their begging prayers, just not in the way they wanted. The king God sent was a baby, born in a barn. He is our wonderful counselor – the one with the plan we can’t always understand.

Day 101 Sweeping Changes

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. Col. 1: 19-20

What is the kingdom of God like...a mustard seed, yeast? If he wanted to, God could bring in the fullness of his kingdom with a snap of His fingers....

The earth would be filled of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. Every knee would bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Justice would roll on like a mighty river, righteousness like a never-failing stream. 

 But He chooses not to do this. For some beautiful, inexplicable reason, God chooses to partner with...us... to usher in the reality of His kingdom. God doesn't need our help but -- He desires it. 

Perhaps it's because God’s Kingdom is marked by values beyond efficiency — values like freedom, trust, and patient sanctification. As Christians, we're called to be a people who live now in anticipation of the kingdom, and as we do it, we are formed into the people of God. 

Just when we delude ourselves into thinking that it is all up to us, we totally mess something up,  and God patiently helps us out.

We can't do everything, and instead of being discouraged by this, we can find great freedom! This allows us to do something, and to do it to the best of our abilities. 

We know that what we can do is small and incomplete, but it is a start: an opportunity for God’s grace to enter and to do the rest. So as you continue to work for justice in the midst of the present darkness of this world, remember that messiness comes with the territory. But every time we make a mess of the work of redemption, God is never far behind, sanctifying our efforts, steadily bringing His Kingdom, and thoroughly enjoying the process.

..... May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships so that you may live deep within your heart.
.... May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may wish for justice, freedom, and peace.
.... May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

....Amen.

Day 100! Something Hardly Noticeable

A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom. The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him. Isaiah 11:1-2
 
Our salvation comes from something small, tender, and vulnerable, something hardly noticeable. God, who is the Creator of the Universe, comes to us in smallness, weakness, and hiddenness.

I find this a hopeful message. Somehow, I keep expecting loud and impressive events to convince me and others of God's saving power; but over and over again I am reminded that spectacles, power plays, and big events are the ways of the world. Our temptation is to be distracted by them and made blind to the "shoot that shall sprout from the stump."

When I have no eyes for the small signs of God's presence - the smile of a baby, the carefree play of children, the words of encouragement and gestures of love offered by friends - I will always remain tempted to despair.

The small child of Bethlehem, the unknown young man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher, the naked man on the cross, he asks for my full attention. The work of our salvation takes place in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream, and overwhelm us with its claims and promises. But the promise is hidden in the shoot that sprouts from the stump, a shoot that hardly anyone notices. 

Henri Nouwen, Gracias

Day 99 Come Any Other Way

Oh God,
come any other way,
but not as a child.

Come in a space ship
so we can call you alien,
and just a figment.

Wash up on shore
as a castaway, an unknown,
scraggly and salt soaked.

Walk into town as a vagabond
so we can look and call authorities
to distance us.

Stand by the side of the road
with a cardboard sign
so we can hand you a twenty and drive on.

But please don’t come as a baby.
Don’t come and coo and cry
and take our breath away.

Don’t come as we did,
dependant and humble
and wrapped up tight.

Just don’t, don’t be so vulnerable
as a wonder from a womb
bathed in the liquid of humanity.

Don’t come as a child, please.
For then we would need to
hold you in our arms.

Don’t come as an infant
so innocent and small
for we might get emotional.

Don’t come as we once were
to become as we
should be.

Don’t come in this mysterious way
for then we might come
and adore You.

Day 98 A "Short" Story

“...for “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”  How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? Romans 10:13-14

 I like this story because it reminds me of your (short) self. ;p

Some years ago, my (then) teenage daughter was on her way to go sledding with friends on a Sunday afternoon. Before she left, I heard her in the garage rummaging around. Silence. Then a call, “Mom, I need help!” There she was on the stepladder, reaching as high as she could into the rafters trying to get her sled down…but to no avail.

“I’m trying to get the sled down, but I can’t reach it. Will you help me?” Hallelujah... In those years, it was not often that I got that kind of request from my daughter!

“Here, hop off; I’ll do it for you.” I grinned as I easily did for her what she couldn’t do for herself and sending her on her way with sled in tow!

What a precious picture of the salvation process.... My daughter could have stood all day on that stepladder believing that I was tall enough to help her. But it was only when she acted on what she knew to be true, calling out for help, that she received what she needed, what she couldn’t do on her own.

Real life begins with a personal dependence on Jesus, with calling out to Him to give us what we can never attain ourselves: a right relationship with the God of the Universe through faith in what He did for us on the Cross.

Day 97 Northern Lights

Heather Kooiman is a nurse who has been working for six summers on the Attawapiskat Fires Nation Reserve in Canada. She says she has learned that she is not only a bearer of Christ’s light there — she is also a recipient. 

"One night, while working at a kids camp in Mishkeegogamang, a small group of staff spent the evening with a family in the community. I’ve spent six summers on this reserve, and I know many of the children and their families. The people are so beautiful, but they have been so hurt by Christians who have told them that they can’t be both Native and Christian, so they chose to be Native. 

"As we sat laughing with our friends, one of the older children told us that we had to go outside because the northern lights were out. I had always wanted to see the northern lights and hurried outside with all the children. 

"We all stared at the sky in awe as the lights moved above us until the whole sky was dancing. I was giving a piggy-back ride to a 7-year-old boy and as he stared at the sky he said, “God created all this, and it’s awesome because God loves us.” Then his 5-year-old sister raised her hands to the sky and repeated, “Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me so much.”

"I am learning to change my outlook. I am learning that it is not only about me sharing my light, but recognizing the light in others. I am learning that, instead of getting lost in issues seen only at a glance, I am called to see people as Jesus created them — beautiful. I am learning that it’s in those moments that light can be seen and the darkness is overcome."

God, give us the ability to recognize the light when things are difficult. Please keep shining the light in places where we see none and help us to see it, especially those we think are unlikely to have it, and to learn from them. Amen. 

Day 95 Learning to Receive

We have in Mary’s story what some call the second creation story in the Bible. Again it is a creation that is ex nihilo, or out of nothing. Mary is the one quite willing to be the nothing.

God does not need worthiness ahead of time; God creates worthiness by the choice itself. And as I have said many other times, “God does not love you because you are good; you are good because God loves you.” It seems God will not come into the world unreceived or uninvited. God is gentle and does not come into your world unless you actually want God.

Presence is a reciprocal or mutual encounter. One can give it, but it has to be received or there is no presence. For many Catholics, Mary is indeed the model of how “real presence” effectively happens. It is not just through a priest’s transubstantiation of bread, but by the transformation of the persons who eat that bread.

 Lord, teach me to be receptive. Amen.

From Things Hidden: Scripture as Spirituality, pp. 178-179

Day 94 When Worlds Collide

A prison cell in which one waits, hopes ... and is completely dependent on the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Day 93 Gravity...it's the Law

So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 2 Peter 1:12

Some of the basic habits in life cannot be overlooked without consequences. They're like gravity--they don't change and they're always true. Living as a Christ-follower is no different. While the Bible challenges us to move towards maturity in our faith, the call to remember the basics is also there.

There are some very foundational components of the Christian life that we need to remind ourselves of repeatedly in order to make sure that we don’t forget and move away from important areas like simple, loving devotion to Christ.

Take a minute today to think about how your life might be different if every day when you wake up you remind yourself of the basic truth that you are dead to sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus. You ARE already a new creation today and every single day of your future!

Day 92 St Nick

So who is the man behind the legend of Santa Claus? Nicholas lived in the third century in Asia Minor, in what is now the country of Turkey. His parents died from an illness while Nicholas was a teenager and left him a large inheritance of money. Nicholas’ parents taught him about Jesus. As he grew older, he followed the teachings of Jesus and sold all his possessions, secretly giving money to those in need.

One of the most widely shared stories is how he helped a poor family with three daughters. The family had no money and could not provide a dowry for the girls to be married, so they were going to be sold into slavery. Nicholas learned about this. One night after the family was asleep, he rode by the house on his horse and tossed a bag of gold through the window. It is said to have landed in the girls’ stockings that were hung by the fire to dry. He did this three nights in a row to provide for each of the three daughters.

Nicholas became well-loved by the people and later became the Bishop of Myra. He died on December 6th in 343 A.D. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration in his honor, called St. Nicholas Day. On this day, children would give and receive small gifts of candy, chocolate initial letters, or riddles hidden in baked goods or in elaborate packaging. Children also hung stockings by the fire or placed shoes filled with carrots and hay for the horse, eagerly awaiting gifts from St. Nicholas. Gold balls or oranges were given to represent the gifts of gold once given by St. Nicholas.

Throughout the years, St. Nicholas gained popularity in Europe including Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain. This tradition came to America with the waves of European immigrants and over the centuries developed into our modern day legend of Santa Claus.

This is the story of the real St. Nick and he still remains a model of the compassionate and selfless life.

Day 91 First Sunday of Advent

Our waiting is always shaped by alertness to God's Word. It is waiting in the knowledge that someone wants to address us. 

The question is, are we home? Are we at our address, ready to respond to the doorbell? 

We need to wait together, to keep each other at home spiritually, so that when the Word comes it can become flesh in us. 

That is why the Book of God is always in the midst of those who gather. We read the Word so that the Word can become flesh and have a whole new life in us.

Day 90 Turn up the Volume

How long, LORD? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire? Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? Psalm 89:46, 49

There have been plenty of times that I've asked God why in my life, usually in the most painful, crucial circumstances.Unbelievably, some people believe that to question God is the ultimate form of disobedience and weak faith. I couldn't disagree more.

The Bible is full of people who cried out to God, David being foremost. He cried out to God because he knew that He had been faithful in the past, and that he needed Him to be faithful again in the present. “God, where are you? I thought you were a loving God. Where’s this loving God that I thought you were?”

It's pretty clear that when we ask hard questions of God, we are standing in the stream of this ancient tradition, one that is captured time and again in the Bible.

Rather than being disobedient or faithless, it's in asking honest, gut-wrenching questions, the ones filled with anger and frustration, that we express a deep sense of faith in God. We cry out in frustration and in anger because we know that He is the only one who can do something about it.

In places in your life where you are struggling and hurt, you can come to God honestly with your questions, doubts, and frustrations. It's one of most faith-filled thing you can do.

Day 87 Give us Peace

I  thank you, Master and Lover of mankind, King of the ages and giver of all good things, for destroying the dividing wall of enmity and granting peace to those who seek your mercy. I appeal to you to awaken the longing for a peaceful life in all those who are filled with hatred for their neighbors, thinking especially of those at war or preparing for war. 

Grant peace to your servants. Implant in us the fear of you and confirm in us love one for another. Extinguish every dispute and banish all temptations to disagreement. For you are our peace and to you we ascribe glory: to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto ages of ages.

I pray, Lord our God, for all those who suffer from acts of war. I pray for your peace and your mercy in the midst of the great suffering that people are now inflicting on each other. Accept the prayers of your Church, so that by your goodness peace may return to all peoples. Hear us and have mercy on us.Amen.

Day 86 Flu Season

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephesians 6:10-12

Well, I've got Daniel's cold and I'm considering rolling out the Vitamin C and Echinacea with everyone else, but I'm not doing the flu shot yet, not until I have to. Might as well rely on my own immune system as long as I can. (You know I'm stubborn. ;) To fight the flu, doctors recommend that you make sure your immune system has a boost with extra vitamins, get a flu shot, avoid people who are sick, wash your hands, and get enough rest.

So what is your strategy to combat a spiritual virus? What is your plan to be spiritually healthy and not weakened by a spiritual flu? In Ephesians, Paul urges believers to build up their spiritual immune system so they are prepared to step into spiritual battle.

The same way you work to stay physically healthy, take steps to stay spiritually healthy, too. Equip yourself with truth, righteousness, peace, faith, salvation, the Word of God, and prayer. You don’t only need one or two of these protections to keep yourself spiritually healthy. You need them all!

The spiritual disciplines can help you get and stay spiritually strong: Put on the full armor of God with solitude, prayer, obedience, Bible study, confession, generosity, serving, and worship. What are you doing now to live a spiritually healthy lifestyle? How can you make sure you are staying healthy during this year of your life?

Don’t be surprised when spiritual battles come; be ready. For the important battle is not against the worldly forces, but the spiritual ones. Take a minute to make a list of spiritual disciplines that are part of your life. Is there anything missing in your armor? Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” Take some time today to be still with the Lord. Love you, hon.

Day 85 How God Sees You

It’s important to accept what God says about who you are rather than just live with feelings of deep inadequacy. You may regret the past or fear the future. It’s easy to forget to schedule in time with  God and then ask yourself, “Am I growing or eroding in who I am becoming?”

A wise woman grows in understanding who she is:
 
When you know how God sees you, you can be confident in your identity. Ask him to show you. God made you just the way you are and for specific tasks. Don't compare the inside of yourself with the outside of another woman.

Make the effort to grow in knowledge of the truth of what God says about you. In God's sight, you are:

* Accepted (Ephesians 1:5)
* Secure (Philippians 1:6)
* Significant (John 15:16)
 
Your identity is not bound up in what you have or how you look or dress. Your identity is secured in who you are as a beloved child of God.

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
 
Reread Psalm 139 and ask God to fill your heart with the knowledge of just how treasured you are to Him. Ask Him to help you grow in your understanding of who you really are!
 
God, sometimes it’s hard for me to think of myself as a piece of Your artwork, created to be just who I am. Help me to embrace the knowledge of who You say I am! I know all too well the weaknesses in me. I invite You to use these very things that I dislike about myself to be the entry point of Your strength and power in my life. I know You have things for me to do that go beyond this “to do” list of mine. Help me to live as an accepted, secure, and significant child of the Almighty God today by the power of Your Holy Spirit. 

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Day 84 Faith

"...for He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name." Mary, Mother of Jesus

Day 83 The God who Feels

Have you ever wondered what God feels, and what that's like for Him? To some people that's a ridiculous question with an obvious answer. But for me it hasn’t always been so clear.... I know the correct theological answer because I have spent years in formal and informal study of the Bible. But understanding the answer to these questions is another thing.

I was leaving downtown to head back to the safety of my home one night when God showed up...in the form of a drunk. He was in the alley where my car was parked, stumbling up the street in no particular direction.

The old man was very dirty, very drunk, and very lost. I stared at him as I fumbled with my keys trying to find the lock on my car door. What happened next took me completely by surprise… I started to cry.

As I stared at this miserable drunken man, I was overwhelmed with God’s heart of love and grief for this poor lost soul. In one instant I felt the weight of God’s love for this man and His compassion towards his plight. And I wept…uncontrollably…sobbing. I could not stop crying as I felt the heart of God shattered for a wasted life…. A man, made in the image of God, barely recognizable as God’s creation, yet loved with a perfect love by the One who formed him as a baby in his mother’s womb.

I sat in my car sobbing inconsolably as he stumbled into the darkness of a hot July evening. I don’t know how long I sat there weeping but I am sure that that drunken man wasn’t the only one who needed help that night as God showed me some things about Himself that I needed to know.

Having walked out of my own share of pain and brokenness in my life, I needed to know about the God who feels…deeply…completely…with a heart of love…and compassion.

“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…” Hebrews 1:3

This verse says that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father in human form…God in the flesh. And I see in Him the God who feels deeply…completely…with a heart of love…and compassion.

How does God show compassion today? Here are examples from Jesus' life:

•  The Grieving – Luke 7:13
• The Helpless – Matthew 9:36
• The Sick – Matthew 14:14
• The Hungry – Matthew 15:32
• The Spiritually Blind – Matthew 23:37-39

An experience like this one, in a car in an alley, is an introduction to the heart of God. In a small and profound way, God shared his heart to feel the compassion He was feeling for one of His lost children.

The best way to find the heart of God is to find someone who is experiencing pain and suffering--and to be Jesus to them.

Day 82 "Black Friday" Perspective

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

It's really easy to focus on the negatives in life and take for granted some of the most basic blessings God has given. We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with a big meal, friends or family, and reflections on all the good things God has provided, even if you're living on food stamps in Section 8 housing and working in a prison. ;) Here’s a reminder about how God has blessed us:

• If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million people who will not survive this week.
• If you have never experienced war, imprisonment, torture, or starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.
• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the world's population.
• If you have money in the bank, money in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among 8% of the world’s most wealthy people.
• If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but do not.
• If you prayed yesterday and today, you are blessed because you believe God does hear and answer prayer, and most people in the world do not.
• If you can read these words, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

There is no doubt that God is good and that we are blessed! King David asked, “How can I repay the Lord for all of his goodness to me?” (Psalm 116:12) We repay God for his goodness, but we can demonstrate our gratitude through our praise and by serving others. Live your life as one who has been blessed. Begin by whispering a simple “thank you” to God today and then show your gratitude by serving someone else out of the abundance God has graciously given to you!

Day 81 Happy Thanksgiving!

Here is your Thanksgiving placemat to print and color. It is, of course, a hedgehog...NOT carrying a turkey (because hedgehogs are also vegetarian!) Love and miss you today especially, Sarah. Love, Mom

Day 80 Top Ten List

 

Ten Things I am Thankful For

1. A heavenly Father who never looks at me with a condemning look, even when I blow it or don’t grow fast enough.

2. A Father who loves me with a total and unconditional love…even while I am still learning to receive His love.

3. A wonderful family. You were God’s gift to me when our lives were very dark. You are God’s gift to me today as we are each learning to enjoy the light!

4. I am grateful for hard times that lead to my brokenness.

5. I am grateful for the Lord’s healing work in my heart that is enabling me to truly give and receive love.    

6. I am grateful for wonderful children who love the Lord and bring me such joy.

7. I am grateful and humbled by a great job and a daily life that allows me to fulfill my callings.

8. I am grateful that the Lord speaks to me.

9. That my identity is not found in what others think of me any more. How freeing!

10. I am grateful that I do not need to strive, worry, and struggle to meet my needs and make my life work. I can trust Christ who lives in me to live His Life through me. That is Good News indeed!  Galatians 2:20

Bonus:  I am thankful for you, my beautiful daughter, and your wonderful brother!

Day 79 Promise

All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Psalm 119:160

When I think of things that I'm thankful for, one of the things I think of are God's promises. (See yesterday's post called Counting the Omer.) These aren't just word from people, these are never-changing, hope-infused truths from God. Here are some of them.

The Lord will give His people strength. Psalm 29:11
The Lord hears our cries. Psalm 34:17
The Lord will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4-5
The Lord will answer when you call to Him. Jeremiah 33:3
Don't be afraid. God is with you. Isaiah 41:13
The Lord will give rest to your burdened soul. Matthew 11:28-29
The Lord will comfort you. John 14:27
The Lord has given us His Spirit to guide you. Acts 1:8
You will have everlasting life when you believe. John 3:16

There are so many more of these promises--for mercy, protection, strength, eternity, love, and forgiveness. The Bible says that God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18), and His word is truth (John 17:1). They're not just words from people who have good intentions and then don't follow through.

God's words are binding and true. They last. They will happen. We can bring the offering of the Omer as we wait for his promises with expectation and strength.

Day 78 Counting the Omer

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the Offering of the Omer, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the Lord. From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of the finest flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the Lord. Leviticus 23:15-17

In the Old Testament, God commanded Israel to count the Omer (the barley harvest)--the fifty days until Pentecost that began with the day after the sabbath during Passover. (Got that?) Not a big deal until you realize that the Jews didn't have a homeland for nearly 2000 years and therefore had no harvest to count.

But they continued to count the Omer--counting a harvest that did not exist.

So, here's the point. When the Jews in diaspora counted the days of a non-existent harvest in expectation of a blessing that they earnestly hoped for, they set an excellent example for us who trust in the Messiah.

Since faith is the conviction of things NOT seen, we also can begin to give thanks for blessings we're praying for--but have yet to receive. In the meantime, we might experience trials that test and mature our faith.

And that's how we can be thankful, even when we are in the middle of a mess: we give thanks in the expectation of victory, restoration, and a harvest of righteousness that we fully expect and earnestly hope for.

Thank God for the blessings you're about to receive — they're on the way!

Day 76 This Post is Brought to you by Carnivores

Some troublemakers among them wanted better food, and soon all the Israelites began complaining. They said, "We want meat! We remember the fish we ate for free in Egypt. We also had cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic. But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this   manna!" Numbers 11:4-6

Okay, so I like this story for two reasons: It's so like me and it's so like God.

God frees the Israelites from 400 years of slavery and forced labor in Egypt, and he provides them with food, manna, and water through the desert for 40 years after that. No one goes hungry. No one's malnourished. Amazing. 

But, just a year into their four decades of wandering in the desert, the Israelites start complaining about the food.... This is the part that's so like my fallen self, who tends to life from a perspective of scarcity instead of abundance. And well, frankly, I crave meat. Daily.

The Israelites want meat. They remember the free fish and veggies they had in Egypt and long for them. While wandering around in the desert is probably a lot of work everyday, you'd think that slavery was worse: In Egypt the people cried out to God for deliverance--and then in the desert they quickly forget the generations of misery they experienced as slaves.

That's pretty much the definition of ungratefulness. The thing that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck is that God calls it immediately--and is about to give them a full-body attitude check along the lines of, "Be careful what you wish for, you might get it."

Even though they didn't like eating the divine equivalent of Plumpynut every day for a year, God was providing for them. We so easily forget how God has taken care of us in the past, glossing over how much our circumstances sucked  and blaming God for what we think we need today but aren't getting.

And they got what they asked for: The Israelites said, "We want meat," so God gave them meat. He sent so much quail into their camp every day for a month that by the end, they were begging him to stop. The abundance of rancid dead birds lying on the ground caused an epidemic and people got sick and died. God heard their prayer, understood the state of their ungrateful hearts, and sent the quail as a judgement, not a blessing.

How many times have I blocked out the abundance of God's provision in my life because of my ungrateful attitude. One of the things that my surgery taught me in the last month is that I need to be humble and let people help me. If I don't, I wind up resentful and stingy in my friendships, wondering, "What have you done for me lately?" It's not good for my friends, me, or our relationships. 

Am I ignoring God's daily blessings in my life? Am I grumbling and ungrateful about the situation I'm in today? The fact that God lets us take breath every day is a miracle, and he calls us to be thankful about that as people who remember his goodness and trust him to provide for our needs.

God, sometimes I get frustrated because I want things I don't get. Help me to look long and hard at my desires and what's behind them. Help me to recognize your daily, generous blessings and your faithfulness yesterday, today, and in the future. And be grateful. Finally, please help me to do that before you body-check me! Amen.


 

Day 74 A Lively Gratitude

Well, it's almost Thanksgiving, so I thought I'd do a few things on thankfulness. Since everyone else seems to be skipping it for Christmas even more than usual lately. 

It seems that Thanksgiving, at least the meaning of it all, is being lost somewhere. In many respects we've traded it wholesale for football, turkey, an insane variety of foodstuffs and an excuse for a four day weekend. In a lot of ways it's become more the starting gun to Christmas; a brief celebration with a built-in justification to gorge ourselves the day before we run helter-skelter to the malls, throw up the tree and string lights for another holiday whose purpose has likewise grown dim.

It's amazing how much negative stuff a thankful orientation can override. Let's be frank, being thankful doesn't change the reality of what we're facing, it simply places the emphasis on what we have verses what we don't have. It focuses us on the possibilities, not the liabilities. It's not about making anything different. It's about seeing things different. When we see things differently, we engage those things differently. And that kind of change can be utterly life-changing.

It seems that our view of life is often tainted by some of the attitudes that we carry around with us. As the Thanksgiving holiday draws near we might want to readjust some of these basic attitudes in order to more fully embrace a profound and potentially life-altering sense of thanksgiving:

A Sense of Entitlement

Being thankful is entirely contrary to a sense of entitlement. The two don't do well together. In some ways we've been groomed and grown to believe that life owes us. That's typically not some blatantly outward belief that we carry around, but it's down there inside of us somewhere. If I'm entitled, there is no need to be thankful . . . why would I be? If I'm owed something and it's legitimately mine, why should I have to be thankful for it? Much less, if it's mine to begin with why would the thought of thankfulness even cross my mind in the first place?

When we live with a degree of comfort and wealth, a sense of entitlement kind of grows. Comfort and wealth is no longer viewed as the result or by-product of exhaustingly hard work, or undeserved blessing, or costly sacrifice, or unrelenting commitment to a goal or dream. It's often not seen as something delivered to us by the work of our own hands or the gift of something or someone. It just is. It becomes not the product of anything that produced it. It is a product of our entitlement. This being the case, it should simply be; and if it should be, and in the being it should be ours, why the need for thankfulness?

Our Lost Sense of Privilege

In abundance, we tend to assume abundance. "Life is just this way," we think. It's natural. It just is. What is in actuality profound blessing is seen as the norm; even the mundane. Food should always be in abundance on the shelves in the

grocery. An endless array of products should adorn the aisles of every store we enter. Water and electricity should be there at our beck and call; never failing to respond to a turn of the tap or a flip of the switch regardless of the time of day. Whatever our needs (as complex and multiple as they are) the resources for those needs should be within easy reach or at least easily attainable.

This is all the stuff of privilege. Two-thirds of the world has no idea what it is to live with these privileges. Every day the blow dryer turns on, the toaster toasts, the television provide us an endless variety of blurring images; lights brighten our path, computers connect us to friends next door as well as half a world away and the refrigerator provides us numerous options for every appetite. These things and a million more are things of privilege; rich often undeserved privilege. In regaining our sense of privilege, we regain our sense of thankfulness.

Our Sense of Speed

It's always about the next thing . . . whether it's our relentless attempts to achieve the next thing or our dread fear that the "next thing" will never happen. Whatever the case might be, we live in a culture that's programmed for extreme fast-forward. We move so insanely fast that we often forget where we've been and we have trouble keeping track of how far we are from where we want to go. There is no time for reflection or to put down roots. Most of our lives move in a wild fury of crazed momentum, flinging and flailing forward, or in some direction.

We don't have time to be thankful. In the blur of it all, we most often can't even remember the things or the people or the events that flew by us that we should be thankful for. Worse yet, we move in such a whirling fury that we can't even see the things around us that are always there in order to be thankful for them. Slow down, for the riches in life are not seen and cannot be savored at light speed. If we can't see these riches, we're not likely to be thankful for them.

Our Lost Sense of Wonder

We have opted to see life as that which we control and manage, rather than that which moves in mysterious and unexpected ways. We no longer marvel, rather we manipulate. As children, we looked wide-eyed at a world brimming with wonders. Now we analyze, dissect and create action-plans to control it all; sterilizing life into a wondrous oblivion. In the end we control just enough to give us an illusion that we control it all, or most of it anyway. In reality, we don't.

So we lose the miraculous because we only pay attention to it to the degree that we can control it. The truly astounding flows right by us because it's not something that we made or can control so it doesn't hit our radar. The world is brimming with phenomenal wonders that leave plenty of room for a sense of thankfulness if we simply allow the miraculous to be the miraculous.

The Adjustments

We need to adjust. Relinquish a sense of entitlement. Regain a sense of privilege. Recalibrate the speed at which you're living your life. Recapture a sense of wonder and awe. Blend these together vigorously and a sense of genuine thankfulness will begin to permeate every season of the year.

Day 73 Rolling Jubilee

The Occupy movement is kicking off a new campaign this month they're calling Rolling Jubilee taken from the practice of Jubilee in Leviticus. The basic idea is that they raise money and use it to buy up “distressed debt” at pennies on the dollar--and then forgive it. (I LOVE this idea--I'm so envious that I didn't think of it first, or at least the name "Rolling Jubilee." Argh!) They estimate that for their goal amount of $50,000, they can forgive $1 million in debts.

The idea reflects God’s economy: The name is drawn from the debt forgiveness mandated by God himself in the OT, and Jesus used the cancellation of debt as a parable for forgiveness of sins.

Not only that, but the way these debts are bundled, the forgiveness is indiscriminate and random. One commentator from Slate Magazine says, “Given two struggling families, one of which is indebted and one of which isn't, it's not clear why you'd think that the family that's borrowed heavily in the past is more worthy of assistance.” But, this randomness is another way the idea reflects the awesome unfairness of God’s grace: God offers it to all of us, no matter how bad our track record, no matter how likely we are to do bad things again, no matter how “worthy” we’ve been.


Then there's this aspect: some of these debts probably resulted from irresponsible choices--buying a house that was way too big, running up creditcard debt on unsavory activities, or buying too many toys. Or maybe someone was deceived into taking a high interest loan for education, medical debt, unemployment. The way the system Rolling Jubilee works is that you can’t just buy sympathetic debt, or even one person’s particular debt--you have to buy a whole bundle, good or bad.

Rolling Jubilee, like Jesus’ parables, reveals the amazing, unfair truth about grace: it’s offered freely to everyone, and it’s not deserved by anyone.

Grace always unfair, in your favor.

Isn't that profound and marvelous?

I LOVE this! Rolling Jubilee is also a satisfying, poetic way to redeem the shadowy debt resale market that contributed to the economic crash in 2007. By taking the very system that made some of this mess possible, we can release people from the weight of debt it got them into.

Rolling Jubilee isn't the penultimate solution to the financial problems of the 99%, but it's one beautiful step! Amen. (I'll get off my soapbox now! ;)

Day 72 Head East

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my portion forever. Psalm 73:26

When we experience loss, any kind of loss--even loss of community and home--God wants to be your strength, comfort, and hope. Ask and seek. In our darkest hours, in our most anguished times, the Lord is your fortress, shield, protector, comforter. Head to him, to the "east." He will bring the light to your darkest places.

Day 71 I got Spurs that Jingle, Jangle, Jingle...

Let us consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

Do you know the story of the Man of La Mancha? The loony Spanish gentleman who thinks he is a knight meets a lowly woman named Aldonza that he thinks she is a Spanish queen.

Don Quixote slowly changes the entire self-concept of this woman by constantly and unconditionally affirming her. What is amazing about the story is that when she begins to see herself differently, she begins to act differently. He gives her a new name, Dulcinea, so that she will always be reminded of her new identity and her potential. She becomes a brand-new person.

In Christ, we are brand new people. He constantly affirms us and helps us grow.

So my question is, how can I give you positive encouragement as my daughter? How can I let you know that I believe in even when you don’t believe in yourself? I always want to be your biggest fan, always affirm your progress, and let you know that I see you with eyes of faith and love.

Love, Mom

Day 70 Living Life Leaning into the Wind

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8

Jesus is talking to Nicodemus here about being born again, something our church presents as a black and white issue...which it is. But like most things about God, that's much too simple.

What Jesus says about the wind here is brilliant and mysterious...wouldn't it make you want to know more...motivate you to investigate what this whole conversation means for you? It does me.

The word for “wind” and the word for “spirit” are the same word in Hebrew – pneuma. What Jesus is saying to Nicodemus is this: The ways of God are mysterious, as mysterious as the wind. You can’t fully explain it; you can’t fully grasp it. Trying to fully comprehend the spirit (pneuma) is like trying to fully comprehend the wind (pneuma).

As finite people, we like to feel that we know the answers, and we fall in love with comforts of certainty.

Why do we think that in order to “know” something we need to have an ironclad understanding of it? We see questions that are left unanswered as quests to be conquered. The result is that we reduce divine (and human) mysteries to formulas....and then we get bored(Well, I do!) and start thinking that's all there is to know about life and God.

 What's interesting is that Nicodemus walks away from Jesus without a clear understanding of what he's talking about...and that’s okay with Jesus! Nicodemus doesn’t leave with a three-step formula for being “born again.” The story, and Jesus' point, is unresolved, a mystery that forces Nicodemus to wander off, thinking, pondering, wondering, searching.

Faith is a lifelong journey of discovery. Just when you recognize a new understanding of the depth of who God is, you discover there is something still beyond. In fact, we can't have it all figured out, find all the answers, or work life into a nice, easy package.

Jesus says that faith as an open-ended quest, so pay attention and follow the Spirit where he leads you.

If we could have all the answers on this side of heaven, it wouldn’t be called faith!

God thank you for being infinite and unknowable. I really like that about you! Teach me to seek the discomfort of not knowing everything and to embrace wrestling with your unknowableness. Amen.

Day 69 Aaaaannnnnnddddd....Go!

When Jesus rose again God’s whole new creation emerged from the tomb, introducing a world full of new potential and possibility.

Indeed, precisely because part of that new possibility is for human beings themselves to be revived and renewed, the resurrection of Jesus doesn’t leave us as passive, helpless spectators....

We find ourselves lifted up, set on our feet, given new breath in our lungs and commissioned to go and make new creation happen in the world.

                                                                                        - NT Wright, "Simply Christian"

Day 69 Freedom

I am surprised by the freedom I find in obedience to the whispers of God. When I focus on just obeying, it naturally takes away my fear and excuses. It forces me trust in God and not in what I see or fear. 

Lord, teach me to see with Your eyes Your work and Your way.

Day 68 Fresh Starts!

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6

It doesn’t matter what age you are or how long you’ve been a Christian, fresh starts are for everybody. You can start over! The bad news is that most people give up; they settle for second best; they don’t start over; they stay stuck. Please don’t allow that to be you. Don’t quit. Don’t panic. And don’t give up. Remember that God is committed to carrying on the work He has started in you! There is unlimited grace, mercy, forgiveness, healing, and newness of life for anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord. So, keep pressing on in the journey to which God has called you.

Day 67 Did You Vote?

For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:6-8

Well, it's election day. (Your brother was an election inspector, by the way!) The turnout seems like it's pretty good, which is usually also good for democrats, the wonks say.

I’m grateful that we live in a country where the voice of its citizens is included in the election process, but I’m even more thankful that God is on His throne. Through the work of Jesus, His kingdom has broken into our world and is moving through it.

Whether we are on the peak of the mountain or in the depths of the valley, God is present, and we can have the confidence that He will accomplish everything that is in His plan for our world, our country, and our lives.

God isn't bothered by election results. Term limits don’t apply to Him. He’s always on the job. He reigns in justice and righteousness. He never sleeps, never does wrong, and never disappoints – forever and ever. So no matter who gets elected in America, God still reigns.

Day 66 Extreme Home Makeover

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Day 65 You Deserve a Break Today

Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. Colossians 3:23-24

John Quincy Adams was the sixth President of the United States, a diplomat, senator, congressman, and legislator. But when he reflected on his life at the age of 70 he said, "My life has been a succession of disappointments. I can scarcely recollect a single instance of success in anything I ever undertook.”

Amazing! Adams was extremely successful by any standard, but he seems to have been haunted by a standard of perfection. 150 years later, American culture continues to foster the attitude that perfectionism is not only desirable, but possible! Our culture tells us that if we are not the best at what we do, someone else is just over our shoulder ready to take our place.

Our culture also promotes the idea that failure is unacceptable, so there's little freedom for experimentation.... The result is that usually that when something isn't up to par in our work, people aren't offered help but ridiculed, replaced, demoted, or fired instead.

Give yourself a break: perfection is unattainable. While we pursue excellence in all things as Christ-followers, our goal isn't perfection--it's to do everything for him. Excellence honors God, but an unhealthy pursuit of perfection—one that either disregards any success along the way or comes at the cost of integrity—leads to disappointment.

God doesn’t love us any more or any less when we are or aren’t perfect. That's encouraging! His love isn't based on performance, but on choosing to simply love us for who we are.

Day 64 In Hot Pursuit

If you seek the Lord your God, you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart. Deuteronomy 4:29

The word pursue communicates action. Without desire, pursuing God gets reduced to obligation rather than obedience.... And a life of religious obligation yields spiritual apathy, performance-based religion, and a compartmentalized faith.

But--when we have genuine desire, we want to be close to God. We’ll do anything to reach Him. Jesus responded to this type of desire—people interrupted Him, yelled out to Him, touched Him as He passed by, barged in on Him, and crashed through the ceiling to get to Him. In short, they pursued Him.

Our own desire for Him can cause us to act in the very same ways. People wanted Jesus, and He did not disappoint them. He won’t disappoint you either because He knows that your heart is filled with desire for Him. God cares much more about our desire to connect with Him than any sort of competence in connecting: God can see right through any incompetence to a heart that’s tangled and untidy but longing for Him. He loves a heart—any heart—that is filled with desire.

Keep pursuing God by talking to Him, listening to Him, reading the Bible, and reflecting on His greatness every day. You are valuable to Him, and He wants to be intimate with you. Pursue Him!