Stop, Look, and Listen

Matthew 6:29 (NIV)  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.

Shimmering ocean blue

Cloudless sky

Haze on the horizon

Gulls gliding

Leaves rustling in the breeze

Mountains in the distance

Sound of wind

Pine branches shining in the sun

Leaves turning gold

Barren, dead pine branches

Spruce needles turning yellow

White birch bark

Brown pine needles on the ground

Lichen-covered rocks

Dead ferns

Lots of dryness

Ground plants turning red

Thick balsam fir branches

Dry leaves on the ground

Acorns plopping to the ground

Fallen spruce and pine cones

Tough, gray, rough bark

Bright red, orange, and mixed maple leaves

Brown, shiny oak leaves

Pond water glittering in the sun

Very low pond water

Dead trees filling a swamp

Red and blue damselflies

Bird song in the trees

Beaver house

Insects illuminated in the sunlight

Lily pads floating

Mud and muck

Shriveled goldenrod

Red squirrel scurrying

Red bushes reflecting on the water

Thin white clouds

Stridulating crickets

Sunlight and shadows filtering through the woods

Gray squirrel foraging

Smell of vegetation dying

Wind moving over the surface of the water

No poetry here - just a list. I took twenty minutes or so one day just observing the obvious. Many of these things are missed by too quick a ride – or even a walk in the Park. But set aside a few meager minutes to pay a little closer attention… and the glory of God comes into sharper focus. Yet even still so many details go unnoticed. For those you must look closer… and closer… and closer still. And in the end what you behold is just the mere reflection of God’s glory. But it’s good. Real good… at least until we get to see Jesus Himself someday. To experience this goodness of what God has made I must choose to simply stop… look… listen... to make the effort to do nothing (there’s a paradox). Then God can show me. Then I can see. Then I can hear. Then I can experience His wonders… all around me. Then worship is inevitable.

Isaiah 35:1-2 (NIV) ¹  The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; ²  it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God.

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (NIV)  As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the body is formed in a mother's womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things.

Job 38:4 (NIV)  "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

Genesis 1:2 (NIV)  Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:11-12 (NIV) ¹¹  Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. ¹²  The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:20-21 (NIV) ²⁰  And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." ²¹  So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:24-25 (NIV) ²⁴  And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. ²⁵  God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

PRAYER:  Wow, Lord. Give me grace to see, hear, smell, and touch your wonders… all around me… and then to worship you aright. Let me take nothing for granted, for it all points to your majesty and glory. In the name of Jesus, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Grow

Luke 2:52 (NIV)  And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Spiritual growth (being formed into the likeness of Jesus) is not automatic. Nor is it “simple”. Jeffrey Zacks, professor of psychology and radiology at Washington University in St Louis, laments what he calls a "global trend" of looking for short cuts to solve our problems.

“Is it just me, or is everybody out there looking for a quick fix? There is something highly compelling about the idea that there is a secret switch we can flip to become suddenly smarter, to reveal cognitive abilities hidden inside each of us. It is a notion that certainly has commercial appeal. Over just seven years, the games-maker Lumosity rocketed from zero to 50 million users, promising rapid improvements in general intelligence by playing brain-training video games for just a few weeks. (Lumosity recently settled with the United States Federal Trade Commission for making unsupported claims that its product was scientifically validated.) "Memory health" nutritional supplements have sales of more than $1.5 billion, and "smart drugs"—pills to enhance cognitive performance—have become prevalent on college campuses. Purveyors of products based on subliminal messages promise to teach us foreign languages and cure our addictions while we sleep. And makers of headgear that attaches electrodes to our scalps promise to rev up our brains to improve gaming performance and other cognitive activities.”

            Sanctification, the goal of the Christian, is a process. There are no shortcuts. The Holy Spirit is given to us at conversion and one of the things He does for us is continually point us to Jesus, that we might glorify Him in thought, word, attitude, and action… that all of life would come under His lordship and oversight. Disciples of Jesus are simply apprentices in what it means to be completely and continually surrendered to Jesus in all things. There are no shortcuts in this process of becoming holy. Our enemy, the devil, seeks to get and keep us off track. He is behind the temptation we experience, and together with our own desires and proneness to self-oriented living, we experience an ongoing struggle/battle with sin and self. Our flesh (our sinful human nature) wars against the development of spiritual maturity. But we have received the resources we need for this struggle. We have the Word of God. We have the Spirit of God. We have the Body of Christ (the Church). We have close brothers and sisters in Christ. We have received much. And we need much in this battle. We also have the example of Christians who have gone on before us in the practice of spiritual disciplines, or “soul-training exercises” as author James Bryan Smith describes them. These practices impact and provide a framework for growth in Christ. His list includes things like sleep, silence in the presence of God, (intentionally and carefully) counting your blessings, praying Scripture, reading Scripture in listening mode, creating margin, solitude (intentional time alone with God), slowing down, writing to God, practicing hospitality, keeping the Sabbath, fasting from media, learning to pray for things we don’t want, serving in secret, practicing de-accumulation, stretching our time without gossip (and other specific sins), sharing our faith, focusing on treasuring the right things, loving those we disagree with, experiencing reconciliation, practicing accountability, learning to be stewards, and worship.

            We can practice any and all of these, and out of that practice comes a deepening experience of the likeness of Jesus and of His abiding presence. Sanctification is a process. There are no shortcuts. Anything that grows (into anything good) takes time, and the bringing together of right circumstances and the resources necessary for health and wholeness. Whether it is fruit, vegetable, animal, or human, growth requires nurturing and care. Believers in Jesus are born (again), not made. Spiritually mature believers are not born that way. We grow… over time… through good times and bad… with the steady application of practices and relationships that train our souls.

            Please pray for our deacons as they undergo a long-term study of these things, in anticipation of sharing them with others in our church. Pray for their growth in Christlikeness and holiness.

Psalm 92:12-14 (NIV) ¹²  The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; ¹³  planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. ¹⁴  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green,

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 (NIV) ⁵  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷  So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸  The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹  For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

Ephesians 4:14-16 (NIV) ¹⁴  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

2 Peter 3:18 (NIV)  But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

PRAYER:  Lord, please provide everything I need to grow in holiness, including my desire and my willingness to engage in practices that create in me a place for growth. Fill me with Your Spirit, and may my likeness to Jesus be ever increasing… by your grace and for your glory. Thank you. In the name of Jesus, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Broken In

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV) ¹⁶  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷  so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I started wearing a new pair of shoes this week. Actually, I bought them a couple of years ago because of a great sale price. But I haven’t needed them until now. They are identical to a pair of shoes I bought seven years ago in preparation for the travels Joanne and I were going to do as part of my sabbatical. I came to love those shoes. For seven years they have been the most comfortable footwear I own, and they have lasted all this time. A good pair of shoes is like a good friend. The fit is great and they’re always there for you. But with shoes, sooner or later they wear out. I’ve known people who would get certain sneakers/athletic shoes in their life re-soled so that they could keep and use them longer. That’s how much they loved them. Instead of buying new ones, they could or would not part with the old ones. Do you have any shabby looking sneakers or shoes somewhere in a closet that you have been unwilling to part with – because you’re so used to them and they’re just too comfortable to give or throw away?

My new shoes, as I said, are identical (size, model, etc.) to the old ones. But guess what? They’re not very comfortable. At least, not yet. They feel stiff, tight, and inflexible on my feet. I want them to “feel one” with my feet. But they are not there yet. They need to be broken in. They need to be worn regularly and steadily – through the stiffness until the leather stretches and loosens up and becomes more conforming with my foot. In the past I have foolishly hiked with boots that were not broken in. My feet paid the price. When I played baseball in college I couldn’t just buy a new glove and start using it immediately and have it work well and feel comfortable. It had to be broken in.

This all makes for a great illustration of how Christian discipleship works in our lives. Christ is formed in us through a number of disciplines that can be learned and practiced by a Christian. Guess what? Many of those practices (the “disciplines”) feel like a pair of new shoes. We are not “used to them” at first. They feel stiff and even uncomfortable. But, like shoes, if we hang in there - if we break them in – we become comfortable with practices that Jesus’ close followers do. They become a very natural part of our lives. They become things that we incorporate into our experience. What are some examples of things in life that we did not do, then learned to do, then just became “normal”?... brushing teeth, taking showers, getting dressed, driving a car safely, using a computer, playing an instrument, reading… the list is huge. The point is that without the determination to work through unfamiliarity, unwillingness, and even discomfort, we would never have experienced the benefits and joys of those things. The spiritual disciplines – the things we can do to strengthen our walk with God – are no different. For an apprentice everything is new at one point. For the practices of our walk with God to become “common” or “comfortable”, we need the same determination, openness, and willingness to do what a learner (an apprentice, a newcomer, a disciple) must do to become like Jesus.

Your deacons have begun a small group study designed to engage in a process of spiritual formation that includes specific activities aimed at emulating Jesus Himself. A discipleship study like this involves learning and trying new things… in some cases things they have not done before or paid as much attention to before. The goal is to grow in the knowledge of God and in the experience of His goodness and in their closeness to Him. After they have done these studies, their goal is to “pass it on” to others in the church and invite others into the same apprenticeship process. So pray for them… that anything that feels like “new shoes” won’t discourage them… that they will persevere through the “breaking in” period and find the joys of this deeper walk. And pray that when opportunities come your way for something new in the Lord or for the Lord,… or some aspect of discipleship you have never tried, comes your way,… that your heart, mind and spirit will be open and ready, and seeking for what God wants to do in you. And, like a person with a comfortable pair of shoes, you will be happy you did.

1 Timothy 4:8 (NIV)  For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (NIV) ²⁴  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.

Hebrews 12:11 (NIV)  No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

PRAYER:  Lord, may your blessing be on our deacons as they pursue a deeper walk with you. Grow their faith and love. Fan into flame their passion for your will and purposes in their lives. And may that extend onward into the lives of all who fellowship in our church. Thank you. In the name of Jesus, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott