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!

Day 62 Sneak Attack

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Early Native Americans were some of the best hunters in history. They had a combination of patience, wisdom, knowledge of the natural world, and respect for their place.

One of their hunting tactics illustrates this: When hunting buffalo on the Great Plains, they covered themselves in buffalo hides and carefully approached the herd, unnoticed. The hunters could kill dozens of buffalo before the rest of the herd was aware that they were there. When they finally realized they were under attack, the buffalo would stampede, but the hunters were already gone. Once the herd cleared, the hunters returned to retrieve their kill.

The Native American sneak attack on the buffalo was desensitization: when we're in a unique situation we're are keenly aware of what is happening around us physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. But when we're desensitized, we get dulled to what once drew our attention. In the spiritual realm, desensitization is landmine.  The Message says 1 Peter 5:8 this way:“Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up.”

Could I be caught napping, not paying attention to the bells and whistles going off around me? We live in a society where we are surrounded by pride, envy, deceit, division, selfishness, and a lot of other crap that probably doesn't even raise a red flag with us anymore.  As a people of God, we are called to be set apart.  Make today a wake-up call!