Last night I met with other writers for the monthly meeting of the Northwest Christian Writers Association. I highly recommend the organization for aspiring and published authors.
The opening devotional spotlighted grace:
G - everyone is gifted. (Those in the room are gifted with writing, among other things.)
R - we're redeemed. Rescued. Given a testimony to share.
A - we're anointed to minister (writers: through writing); God's authority goes with us.
C - we need commitment and courage. (Writers are criticized and scrutinized.)
E - we need endurance. (The path to publication or any other worthy goal is often long ... lined with rejection and failure before recognition.)
I was ready to go home at that point. Full of things to think about.
What do you hear?
Even before our word-crafting session, an exercise to stimulate writing creativity. We were asked to choose one scripture from several on a handout. Then we wrote for 5 minutes "without editing your writing."
I chose Isaiah 55:8-9, 11 for my writing meditation. God tells the prophet (also a writer):
So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
it shall not return to Me void
but it shall accomplish what I please.
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
This tells me God's Word is:
Purposeful. God is intentional in sending out His word.
Proper. It comes from His mouth with intentionality, force, and character.
Prosperous. It is effective and accomplishes what God sets out to do.
Pleasureful. God is pleased when His word does its work.
The Word spoke worlds into existence. His words fill all of creation with movement, breathing among us -- the power of God-with-us.
What does the Word speak to you?
Who's talking to you today?
Do you schedule time to listen to and hear the Word -- through scripture, prayers, the church, and other believers?
If so, what does He say to you?
If not, why not? You are missing out on the Grand Conversation, the mystery of a God who created us for relationship with Him.
At the turn of the year, I examine what's in my heart and my house. My home reflects who I am because we do most of our living here. We have people over. We sleep and eat here. And I move the furniture and chotchees around here.
Are you drowning in obligations? Cluttered by too much stuff? Stuck in place because you have too much life and too little time? I'm using three resources to examine my "ENOUGH" this year.
Here they are, offering those ready to consider what "ENOUGH" means three tools to act on that evaluation, materially and spiritually. Enjoy!
Enough: Finding More by Living with Less by Will Davis Jr. A pastor takes a look at what it means to have "enough" and "not too much." Very engaging and a fun read. It will make you look around your home and office with fresh eyes. I hope it will also help you to engage the world in a new way.
The January Cure by Apartment Therapy. A daily decluttering challenge that's fun to do.
Glittering Vices by Rebecca DeYoung. A look at the grooves habits have worn in our souls and how to retrain the heart for the life God designed us for. Cool. Startling. Confrontational - in a nice and inviting way.
Hope your New Year kicked off with great gusto and anticipation, as though "God with us" invites abundant life.
Share your personal resources or goals in the comments below.
Read more:
*When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! . . . Restore our fortunes, LORD, as streams renew the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest." Psalm 126 1, 4–6 [The farmers wept, parceling out seeds from what their family ate, not knowing if there would be drought that killed the seeds or rain to make it grow. They were literally "taking the food from their children" to plant next year's harvest. Ever feel that way when you invest in the future?]
*The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Proverbs 1:7 *Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV *Peter began to speak: “God shows no partiality, but in every nation
anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Acts
10:34-35 Moravian Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for creating us and loving us equally.
Teach us to love one another in the same manner. In your name we pray.
Amen.
Reading this, what can I add? Here are your instructions for the rest of the week.
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.2 Peter 1:2-10 NIV
"I want to get ahead and I'm trying to be noticed!" and "I am the BOSS around here and don't you forget it!" I've heard both at work. The speakers were anxious and controlling of their work and their authority. Not so much fun to be around.
Those ambitions reverberated as unpleasant memories when I read the morning's scriptural passage: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
I've never thought of humility and peace as twins. Yet, another verse came to mind: "Great peace have they that love your law, and nothing can make them stumble" (Psalm 119:165). The law of Jesus says that we must treat others the way we want to be treated, and our obligation is to love God first, then others the same way we love ourselves. Hate being bullied? Dislike the "I'm more important than you" in others? Don't do it yourself!
Who do you think of (maybe yourself) when you read this? How can God's care and peace envelop us, no matter what our -- or others' -- plans and goals...and prevent us from being eaten alive by human power struggles? (Read the verses below.)
Read more:
*Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1 Peter 5:6-11 NIV
We're "turning over a new leaf" in 2011, brushing aside the old foliage of the past year. Many of us make resolutions at this time of year. Some make elaborate plans to improve themselves. Others have simpler goals:
"Be happier."
"Lose the fat."
"Exercise faithfully."
"Read through the Bible."
"Find a spouse."
"Attend church regularly."
"Teach my children manners."
"Make friends at the office."
"Volunteer more."
Etc. We're shooting for big, general - and random - goals without planning details to reach them. Our resolutions are more sighs and wishes than strategic focus.
I usually land somewhere between well-articulated goals and sloppy evaluations. I take out my journal the last week of the year to reflect on what went right and what went askew. Then I think about what might be important in the new year.
Once again, I accomplished a few things I am happy about, but did a few things wrong. Being honest about what we did well is harder for some people than self-critique. Others only want to look back positively, reluctant to be honest enough to admit, "I was a flop at..." or, "I should have done better at..."
This year, I intend to compare journals of the past ten years, asking questions to expose three patterns:
Are there successes and giftings that could be developed further in 2011?
What do I resolve year after year that NEEDS a change in attitude or behavior? Can such a transformation be activated by spiritual growth or does it depend on other disciplines?
What dreams are unrealized or unfulfilled? Am I hanging on to worthless ideals when God has changed my life's direction? Or are those dreams still worth pursuing? If so, how can I move step-by-step toward them?
I don't know how honest we can be with ourselves. We see through a glass dimly, not only when looking at God and others, but also when examining ourselves. Some day, scripture promises we will know as we are known. On that day, we will be stunned by our blindness, surprised by God's grace, and terrified by the extent of His mercy.
In the meantime, I'm planning a few hours of solitude to meditation on scripture and reflect on my own journey. I want to move toward God's desires and opportunities in the coming days and months.
How will you bring 2010 to a close and walk into 2011?
Read more: *Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
*We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 1 John 2:3-6 NIV
One of the promises of Pentecost was that those full of the Spirit would dream dreams. Dreaming is part of the spiritual activity and creativity of the human mind and soul. While religious philosophers and fortune tellers attempt to work out methods for interpreting dreams, those who follow Christ are privileged to dream beyond human angst.
Some dreams are fulfilled easily. God gives a vision for what can be, and a match between gifting and circumstances brings the dream to vibrant life.
Other dreams slowly emerge. They are birthed in silence, in waiting, in watching what God is doing. When first dreamed, they may be confusing or obscure, a disconnect with reality, or an impossibility in human terms. They unfold slowly and secretly as God brings them alive.
Sometimes we are sidelined by God's wishes. While I worked on my piano performance degree, I sat out a year in the last row of a Sunday School department. My husband and I co-taught Grade 5 boys, more "where needed" than the best fit. Each Sunday during opening session, as the pianist hacked about in confusion on the simplest children's choruses, my whole being was begging, "Hit a G chord! Oh, please find it!" But God had put me aside that year - we were strangers to the area, and I did not play in public even once. I remember dreaming melodies and chords, my feet waking me as they conducted beat patterns during the night. Music pulsed through my whole body day and night without a ministry outlet. The internal compositions and music structures built that year were crucial when I played challenging venues years later.
Sometimes dreams are not welcomed or invited. We may be sitting in a dark place, waiting to be asked to participate with what we know God can do... while watching others muddle about on something that is a natural and easy fit for us. And they may never ask for help or input, so the dream goes away as the mediocre is accepted as the status quo.
People with limited imagination or control issues may block our dreams, constrict us in their boxes, and limit our capacity to carry out a larger vision. When that happens repeatedly, we may shrink into their smallness temporarily to survive the season. The opportunities we envision and the dreams we dream may be out of reach in that setting. Then our duty is to wait patiently for God's open door into the freedom of the Spirit in full capacity. That may mean going elsewhere.
Sometimes constriction opens us to the new thing we would never have considered in comfort. It forces us into something still to come. The dream does not die. It merely rests until opportunity and time come together.
And some spiritual dreams may never be fulfilled. The combination of who and what and where never arrives: the vision of what could have been fades into nothing or into someone else's future. David dreamed a temple for God, and was told his son would build it. Paul wanted to go to parts of Asia and was diverted to Europe by the Spirit and a new dream.
We take comfort and nurture patience when we remember that dreams birthed by the Spirit belong to God. Dreams are spiritual tasks and worship, part of the flow of the Holy Spirit opening us to his activity in the world. We turn toward God in our dreams, affirming obedience to his work among us, leaving the fulfillment, transience, or mortality of our dreams in his hands.
Read more:
*Praise the LORD. Praise the name of the LORD; praise him, you servants of the LORD, you who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God. Praise the LORD for the LORD is good; sing praise to his name for that is pleasant.
I know that the LORD is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. Psalm 135:1-3, 5-7 NIV
*Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12 NEV
*I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now to our God and father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Philippians 4:13, 19-20 NIV
