All quiet on the western front

In times of stress, we yearn for things to settle down--to become "normal" again.

But what do we do when things are normal? Is it a state of life a kin to tumbleweed blowing through a dusty western town? Do we just wait for the next big stressor? Do we live it up while we have the chance? Do we worry about what's around the corner? Do we get ancy when we can't even see the corner yet?

As I read I Kings 4 today, these thoughts came to mind because everything seemed "normal" for King Solomon. He had everything he wanted from a material standpoint, he was the world's wisest man, he had 1,000 special someones (seems like a dumb idea for the world's wisest man, but I won't judge...), he was king of a united kingdom, and there was peace in all the land around him. Given the usual OT stories of bloodshed and dissension, things seemed unnormally "normal."

In some ways, my life feels pretty "normal" now. Sure, I have 1,000 less special someones in my life than Solomon, but on the whole, things are calm and all seems to be well. Now what do I do? God laid it on my heart this morning to take advantage of this downtime to get things in order. I felt convicted not to just rest easy and "check-out" since life seems to be on auto-pilot.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating a burning-the-candle-at-both-ends kind of lifestyle...that's exactly what I'm trying to discipline myself against! However, I do not want to be lulled to sleep during this period of my life. I don't know what's around the corner, but I want to be prepared for what God has for me. I want to be actively involved in seeking Him, edifying others, and preparing myself for whatever lies ahead. That way, when it's go-time, I'm all systems go!

Silence and Incense

My quiet time today was from Rev 8. This is when the Lamb breaks the 7th seal and the 7 angels w/ trumpets are about to blow their horns and all the tribulations are about to go down! It's interesting what happens first: vs 1 says "When he opened the seventh seal,there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." Kinda like the silence before the storm, preparation for the trials and tribulations to come. Then in vs.3-4 a great picture of how our prayers reach God: Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before God from the angel's hand. This is a beautiful picture of how our prayers are literally an offering to God! Our prayers reach God, they don't fall on deaf ears. They much like incense are a fragrant offering to him!

Who knew boating could change your life?

I got a little reading in today for Luke 5&6 for small group. In reading the beginning of Chap.5, I was impressed with Simon's reverence and faith.

-In vs. 5, see how Simon fought through his tiredness to obey: Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets."

-In vs. 8, Simon Peter shows immediate reverence to who Jesus is: When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!"

-Finally in vs 11, Simon and his brother show complete faith and "pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Great encouragement here, if Simon had let his will get in the way he would have missed out on this life changing experience! Lord, help us to die to our selfish nature, and live selflessly, please continue to grow us in reverence and faithful obedience. Help us to pull our boats up and leave everything and follow you everyday! In Jesus name, AMEN!

There W [Spoiler warning!]

2 Corinthians 10:5b "take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ"

As I walked away from one of the oddest, darkest, most complex movies I've ever seen, the scene that chilled me the most was a man renouncing his "faith". All of the other physical and emotional violence that was part of the movie paled in comparison. Moments after the minister repeatedly shouted "God is a superstition" for the sake of financial gain, he expresses a bitterness that reminded me of Peter after his three-fold denial of Christ.

I can't begin to decipher the layers of meanings in that film--perhaps the minister was a sham the whole time and the bitter outburst was a last-ditch effort to scrape up a few bucks from his nemesis. Nonetheless, the thought that I took captive tonight was the sheer horror of denying my God. To me, this is the most tragic thing I could ever do in my life. By God's grace, I trust that my relationship with Him is strong enough that I would never verbally turn my back on my Lord--no matter what is at stake. But what about my actions? What volumes do they speak about my relationship to God?

Presentation is Everything!

Jude 24-25:
'To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.'

So no secret here, I often mentally beat myself up. I constantly (ie daily, ie moment by moment) need to be reminded that I'm not ever going to be 'fixed' and that I need to rest in Jesus MERCY. His mercy is beautifully described here in Jude. NOT ONLY is Jesus able to 'keep me from falling' into sin, BUT he also 'presents' me before God as a perfect piece of himself, AND not only does he present me, but he does so with 'great joy'! Imagine yourself w/ all your shortcomings and issues, being presented to God as a trophy of Jesus, and Jesus doing so proudly with great joy! THAT MY FRIENDS is the amazing mercy and grace we have tapped into when we accepted Jesus, and may we continually be reminded of the 'joyful trophy' we are as believers in Christ.