July 1 - Embracing my longing

Scripture focus: Jesus went to a party hosted by Matthew; the religious leaders thought this was shameful behavior...here's what happened next: The religious leaders asked Jesus' followers: "Why does he eat with tax collectors and 'sinners?'" Jesus said to them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

I have heard the authors of the book TrueFaced make this comment: "So many believers say the right thing but live the wrong life." I love that statement. I love it because it so often applies to me. I love it because it so often applies to my friends, family and even a foe or two.

Clearly, I would prefer to both say the right thing AND live the right life.

I suspect my friends, family and foes would as well.

But we don't. We mess up.

That's why it is such good news to know that Jesus didn't come to save the sinless. He didn't come to hand out award pins and "most improved Christian" certificates. He came for us sinners.

It's important to remember why he came. He didn't come to shame us or whip us into shape. Jesus also wants us to say the right things and live the right life. (Remember what he said to the woman caught in adultery? "Go...and sin no more.")

But here's the thing that Jesus knows, and we need to learn -- we won't know what to say or what to do or how to do it -- unless we learn to listen to the Father's voice. And we won't strain with all our might to listen, speak about and do the will of the Father if we fear his wrath.

Oh how fortunate are we that we have a God who loves with great compassion. He came to help those in desperate need of a Savior.

People who think they're saying and doing the right thing most of the time aren't out looking for a Savior, they're standing around waiting for the awards ceremony!

I don't know where you are in your journey, but I straight up confess: I often say the right things and live a wrong life. I often say what I think is a right thing only to discover it was wrong! I sometimes try to say and do the right thing -- and usually mess that up. This is true of me. Oh how fortunate I am -- because in all this needing -- there is a Savior who has come for me.

How are you doing? Waiting for a good conduct pin? Or are you, like me, longing for a Savior?

Recommended reading: 2 Corinthians 6-9

© Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 30 - Resting

Scripture focus: For as long, then, as that promise of resting in him pulls us on to God's goal for us, we need to be careful that we're not disqualified. We received the same promises as those people in the wilderness, but the promises didn't do them a bit of good because they didn't receive the promises with faith. If we believe, though, we'll experience that state of resting. But not if we don't have faith. Remember that God said, exasperated, I vowed, "They'll never get where they're going, never be able to sit down and rest." Hebrews 4:1-3 (The Message)

Sit down and rest.

Try it.

It's easier than running for an hour per day!

Take ten or twenty minutes per day, and simply rest into the loving arms of God.

At first this might seem uncomfortable. But just try it.

Let me know what you discover.

Recommended reading: 2 Corinthians 4-6

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 29 - The easier, gentler path

Scripture focus: For who were the people who turned a deaf ear? Weren't they the very ones Moses led out of Egypt? And who was God provoked with for forty years? Wasn't it those who turned a deaf ear and ended up corpses in the wilderness? And when he swore that they'd never get where they were going, wasn't he talking to the ones who turned a deaf ear? They never got there because they never listened, never believed. Hebrews 3:15-19 (The Message)

How hard is it to try to be good, comply, do the right thing all the time?

It's pretty darn hard if you take it seriously. It means you need to exercise every day, eat right, get your fiber, save for retirement, build up the college fund for your kids, give generously to your community, serve the unfortunate, achieve at work, pursue higher education, give both quality and quantity time to your children, maintain an exciting, intimate relationship with your spouse, get on Facebook, vote, do home improvements, work on your golf game and improve your serve in tennis. The list is endless.

If you're sick and tired of being sick and tired, what harm would there be in making the decision to trust God, and then listen for his voice?

How in the world could that be harder than all these efforts to be good?

Recommended reading: 2 Corinthians 1-3

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 28 - Imperfect bliss

Scripture focus: We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it-and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good. Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan. Galatians 2:16-18, (The Message)

Do you have a system that you're trusting in to keep you on track?

It feels so good when it seems to be working, doesn't it?

But what happens when what worked for us in the past fails us?

We have a few choices.

We can decide that the system failed us, and we need a new system. We can conclude that we're failures and no system can compensate for what we lack. We can listen to God, who reminds us in countless ways and through many people that a relationship is not built on principles and guidelines, but is established by trust and love.

I've never been able to sustain "trying to be good." But I understand the desire to try that strategy out. If you're one of the folks, like me, who've about given up on self-effort, it's my prayer that you not fall into the shame inflamed trap of believing that failure to be good means that you're a loser. Instead, I pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened, and you'll realize that failure is part of the human condition, not a reason to give up.

Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 14-16

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 27 - Self-examine

Scripture focus: The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash-along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant-dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ-God's righteousness. Philippians 3:7-9 (The Message)

I chuckled to myself this week when someone described one of their "old" using behaviors as if it had been eradicated by their sobriety. I wasn't feeling malicious or critical. In fact, I was bursting with empathy. As my friend reported her "new improved" ways, I had plenty of firsthand experience that her "old" behavior was still present, albeit done while perfectly sober, and she simply was unconscious of herself.

I chuckle because I can relate.

So if you, like my friend and I, are tempted to believe that you're actually keeping a list of rules that somehow qualify you for feeling righteous, you might want to pause and reconsider.

There is no way you and I can actually perform our way out of needing to trust God.

Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 11-13

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 26 - Just do it

Scripture focus: My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you've been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You're deeply rooted in him. You're well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you've been taught. School's out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 (The Message)

What would it look like to live what we've learned?

Would we begin each day with an acknowledgement of the loving arms of God around us? While we are thanking him for his presence, might we glance over with concern at all the piles of potential for sin and shame, and invite God to do whatever he wants with it?

I've been doing this lately, and I've never been so aware of my sin-potential but, and this is the really great part - without the dreaded shame that so eagerly could overwhelm me.

Just this morning I lay in bed and previewed the day with God. I talked about all the things that could go wrong; all the ways that I could "be" wrong; all the possible heart aches and disappointments. Then I stopped and listened. I imagined his arm over my shoulder, staring with me into that pile of possible despair. I recalled all the things that I could remember God telling me over the years, primarily through his word, but also through others who were good representatives of his love, mercy and grace.

I then slid out of bed and got on with my day.

I'm trusting God with the big pile of stuff, but in the meantime, I'm going to live and love those around me. I don't expect it to be easy or necessarily feel rewarding. In fact, I've eliminated expectations from my list of things to consider.

Instead, I'm believing God when he says that I know my way around faith because he is with me. He has promised me the presence of the Holy Spirit and the mind of Christ. If perchance there's a new twist in the day that requires a knowledge of faith that I don't currently possess, I'm assuming God is capable of either informing me or saving me from my own ignorance.

I find that as a by-product of this way of living that I am pretty thankful. I'm not always happy. But my goodness, who can separate me from the loving arms of my Father? And with that in mind, what else matters? I know that I will love others inadequately, and I assume that they will return the favor. But I also know that God is moving in and among us, and that seems far more reassuring than depending on mere mortals to get it right all the time.

Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 7-10

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 25 - Those crazy Galatians!

Scripture focus: You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough. Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! Galatians 3:1-4 (The Message)

You crazy Galatians – nice catchy phrase, isn't it?

Paul makes a point that is as applicable today as it was all those years ago when Paul felt compelled to call out the Galatians for their crazy ways.

It seems like the Galatians knew that only by God's grace could they be saved, but then they turned around and figured out that it would be only through their best efforts that they would be transformed into their true, God-created identity.

Only crazy people would think that they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God.

Don't be one of those guys.

Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 4-6

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 24 - The impossible made probable

Scripture focus: It's impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (The Message)

I have a friend who loves to perform for God. He loves to use today's verse to tell me why I'm probably not pleasing God with all this talk of our need to love and trust God. According to him, if we get too carried away with this idea that the work God has set before us is to trust him, then we're going to create a community of religious slackers. And who knows what will happen? We might not have anyone willing to keep the nursery, or give to the building fund, or paint the inside of the church!! My friend is seriously NOT going to like today's devotional. In studying this verse, I've discovered that the word for faith in this section is "pistis," and in noun form it means "trust." As I read this verse, it says that God is pleased when we trust him.
How do we trust him?

We believe that he exists. We know that he is real.

We believe that he cares enough to respond to us when we seek him. His motivation is love and caring. He's not distant or angry. He's responsive in his love for us.

Last week my son's class acted up when supervised by a substitute teacher. His teacher returned, got the report, and asked each class member to write a note of apology. My son wrote a note that said something like, "I didn't act up and it would be codependent of me to apologize for someone else." This resulted in some healthy discussion with his teacher and a revised note that neither took responsibility for others nor had a smart-alecky tone.

So I need to follow my son's lead on this, and I don't want you to take this word as smart-alecky, but I've got to tell you – what you do with the truth that God is pleased with you when you trust him is all up to you. If that results in you getting carried away with this idea of grace and you becoming a religious slacker, that's your decision. That won't change God's love for you or me! But it's my firmly held conviction that people who invite God to embrace them, please God. And when we know how pleasing we are to God, our hearts grow so exponentially that we can't help ourselves – we are compelled to trust and love others. We keep the nursery not because we have to, but because we want to love the babies and their families. We give to building funds because we love the people that this building will shelter and serve. We paint the inside of the church, and our friend's houses, and even shelters because we love the people who will use rooms that are freshly painted. I'm going to take my chances. I'm believing what God says. I can't wait to see what happens as a result of choosing to trust him. Now I'm off to watch a soap opera or two and eat bon-bons!

Recommended reading: 1 Corinthians 1-3

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 23 - A little bit of encouragement

Scripture focus: In the course of listening to Paul, a great many Corinthians believed and were baptized. One night the Master spoke to Paul in a dream: "Keep it up, and don't let anyone intimidate or silence you. No matter what happens, I'm with you and no one is going to be able to hurt you. You have no idea how many people I have on my side in this city." That was all he needed to stick it out. He stayed another year and a half, faithfully teaching the Word of God to the Corinthians. Acts 18:8-11 (The Message)

I am amazed at how little encouragement it takes to bolster a person whose heart has made the decision to trust God. I'm not suggesting that we become parsimonious in our dishing out of encouragement! What I mean to convey is that most of us would be surprised by how one small act on our part can fill another person for months with the strength they need to carry on.

A few weeks ago, I was physically sick, mentally drained and shamefully vulnerable. Even after my morning cup of coffee, I dragged myself to my computer without much enthusiasm. I opened up my email and saw an unusually large number appear in the "new" column. I groaned inwardly, thinking about how long it would take to sort through the spam and respond to the serious.

I deleted the obviously impersonal no matter how much lottery winnings were promised, new friendships offered, and body part enlargements the subject title promised. Starting at the top of the remaining unopened emails, I read and responded as I thought appropriate. Normally I love this ritual – the anonymous questions, cries for assistance, stories shared, and occasional critique – they all seem like valuable community connectors, even if the writer lives in a far away land. But today it was just plain hard work.

Until an anonymous blogger sent a simple message in response to the daily devotional, "Thanks."

That was all I needed. I was physically sick and mentally drained – but not longer shamefully vulnerable. Someone took a moment and figured out how to blog (something that I am woefully ill-equipped to do) and send a word of encouragement. I particularly appreciated this word because it carried no hint of agreement with the message or sign that the devotional material was actually helpful. It simply said, "Thanks." I love that. Maybe the writer did like the message and found it helpful, but maybe not. Maybe he or she simply wanted to say, "Keep it up."

A little encouragement goes a long way. I want to leave you with an extrovert's 'word' of affirmation: "Keep it up. Even if you know that your best efforts are paltry offerings, they're offerings and precious in God's sight. Keep going. God's protective love is not dependent upon your good performing. So for today, make the decision to trust him, even if that faith is the size of a mustard seed. Because God is eager to give and give and give to you because of who he is, not based on what you have or have not done."

Recommended reading: Joshua 22-24

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 22 - Relax

Scripture focus: Don't be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, "I'll never let you down, never walk off and leave you," we can boldly quote, God is there, ready to help; I'm fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me? Hebrews 13:5-6 (The Message)

In the scriptures, God gently guides us and shows us ways to think, feel and do when we trust and love him. I don't know about you, but I need a lot of coaching. When we trust and love God, there are some attitudes that fit with that commitment, and some that do not. Here are a few that are always winners:

• No person, place or thing is worth obsessing over because no person, place or thing can ever substitute for the satisfaction found in trusting and loving God.


• When we accept the truth that no person, place of thing is worth obsessing over because no person, place or thing can ever satisfy our deepest longings, then we can relax.


• Stress may be a clue that we're obsessing over something or someone that we shouldn't be obsessing over.


• There's a difference between loving and obsessing. Loving is something we give and receive, without expectation.


• Obsessions are always tied to expectations.


• When we learn how to live in a trusting relationship with God, our fears decrease and our confidence soars.

For the sake of clarity, I want to emphasize that a commitment to not obsessing, relaxing, loving, eliminating expectations, decreasing fear and increasing confidence is an ineffective way to renovate a heart. Obsessing, stressing, etc. are symptoms. They are clues that lead us to consider: do I trust myself with God?

Decisions do need to be made. But the starting point is this - commit ourselves to entering into a trust relationship with God.

Recommended reading: Joshua 19-21

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 21 - Day after day

Scripture focus: I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age. Mathew 28:20(b) (The Message)

Not only did God send Jesus into the neighborhood as a part of his plan to protectively love us, this wasn't a short term mission project.

God says that day after day after day, right up to the end of the age he continues to stay with us. I don't know why we've bought the lie that our sin separates us from the love of God. Maybe it's because that's how our shame makes us feel.

But the truth is this – nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Day after day after day, right up to the end of the age, God stands with us, ready to protect us against the ravages of our vulnerability to sin and shame.

He continues to call us to be holy.

So go be holy.

Recommended reading: Joshua 16-18

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 20 - Eavesdropping

Scripture focus: Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn't, and doesn't, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn't been so weak, we wouldn't have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him. Romans 5:6-8 (The Message)

I was sitting in the stands at a recent high school sporting event. It was cold and we were losing by a lot. After traveling for hours to watch this debacle, I was relieved when a distraction presented itself. A small group of parents from the opposing team were in the middle of a heated discussion about one of their children's recent diagnosis of "low self-esteem." A variety of opinions were expressed about this "condition" and a majority agreed that this child needed some encouragement and positive feedback.

It dawned on me that the child they were discussing was actually playing on the field. He spent most of his time in the penalty box. Every time he wacked or pushed or slashed one of our players, these folks cheered him on, "It's okay son, you've got heart! Shake it off, those refs don't know what they're doing! We know you didn't mean to kick that kid laying on the ground, he just got in your way."

I admit that it is hard to keep our senses about us when we're cheering for our kids in a sports event. But as I sat there shivering in my long johns and swathed in a blanket, I couldn't help thinking about Romans 5 – what a far better cry of encouragement than simply yelling, "Whack'em!"

Low self-esteem your problem? Is it brought on by a long history of misbehaving, under-achieving, and lack of positive reinforcement? Will that problem be resolved by making allowances for all that you lack, and lowering the standards for living large to the point that no matter what you say, no matter what you do – everyone cheers you on toward victory? If that would work, great. But I don't think it works because we were created for a life of greater fulfillment than our community deciding they'll love us even if we act like a real loser.

In Romans, Paul gives us the ultimate word of affirmation when he says – at your lowest, God put his love on the line for us. He did it when our potential seemed pitiful and our rebellious spirit could have earned us a front row seat in the chamber of justice. God loved us when we were so low we'd have had to look up to have a conversation with that old serpent in the Garden of Eden. We suffer from low self-esteem? What better way to cure that crisis of self-worth than to realize that the incomparably great riches and love of God have been poured out upon us? God seems to think we were worth sending his son to protect us from our sin and shame.

The fact that God loves us like that seems to me to be a truth worth cheering about.

Recommended reading: Joshua 13-15

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 19 - Get in gear

Scripture focus: So roll up your sleeves, put your mind in gear, be totally ready to receive the gift that's coming when Jesus arrives. Don't lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn't know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God's life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, "I am holy; you be holy." 1 Peter 1:14-16 (The Message)

Put our minds in gear.

The gear we put our mind in matters.

I have noticed that when my mind is racing, it's more likely that I'm under stress than in communion with God. For me, a racing mind is a stressed out mind. A stressed out mind means I'm feeling attacked or at risk, afraid of the future or filled with regret about the past. My body under stress goes into survival mode. In survival mode, the person I'm most concerned about is me. Frankly, this adrenalin-fueled state feels pretty energizing. I've learned that adrenaline sharpens my senses and quickens my step. I feel like I am definitely geared up and ready to rumble.

But stress and adrenalin don't pull me into a way of life shaped by God's life. Adrenalin is energizing, but it's a kinetic, unfocused frenzy.

An energetic life, blazing with holiness doesn't run on adrenalin and caffeine. It springs forth as a by-product of staying connected to the vine.

God's word reminds us that we can have the mind of Christ. He's not stressed about what the future holds, because he knows who holds the future.

Let's roll up our sleeves. Let God love us and gently pull us into a way of life shaped by God.

Recommended reading: Joshua 10-12

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 18 - Put on our listening ears

Scripture focus: Be completely loyal to God, your God. These nations that you're about to run out of the country consort with sorcerers and witches. But not you. God, your God, forbids it. Deuteronomy 18:13 (The Message)

If we're going to trust God, then we need to learn how to listen to his instructions for loving living.

God instructs us to be completely loyal to him.

I'm reminded of Eve in the Garden of Eden. What would have happened if she had been loyal to her love relationship with God?

When the serpent approached her with his question about God's instructions for living in the garden, she could have chosen to pause to prepare. As she paused, she could have asked herself a few questions, like:

• How do I have this conversation within the context of my love relationship with God?


• The serpent is calling into question an instruction God has given me. I need to go back and have a further conversation with God about this instruction. I bet there is something going on here that I need to clarify.


• Loyalty to God means following his instructions even on days when other options seem more appealing. But I'm not alone in my temptations, doubts and questions. I can ask God about this, tell him how I'm feeling, and take the time it takes to come to a decision that stays within the pegs of loving God and loving others.

Eve didn't wake up one morning and decide to abandon her love relationship with God.

Faced with a circumstance that triggered an independent streak within her heart, Eve consorted with the serpent and brought Adam along for the ride.

Trusting God requires conscious living. We need to slow down. Let's take the time it takes to consciously choose to be loyal to our God.

Recommended reading: Joshua 7-9

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 17 - Developmentally appropriate

Scripture focus: God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the congregation of Israel. Tell them, Be holy because I, God, your God, am holy. Leviticus 19:2 (The Message)

I'm an average mom - making tons of mistakes as I seek to love my children with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. Unlike God, I know that my shame and sin sometimes cause me to stumble in my parenting potential. I assume that my children's shame and sin has on occasion hindered them from receiving even my successful days of loving them well. So loving is a messy business, fraught with all sorts of ways to muck up our relationships.

When I read that God instructs me to be holy, I have to pause to prepare over that instruction. Could it be that God has finally over-reached our potential?

Plenty of pausing later, I realize that even my feeble attempts at parenting would never place my children in a position of having to over-reach. Even an average, often-gets-it-not-quite-right-kind-of-mom doesn't ask her children to do something that is completely unachievable.
I didn't ask my children to accomplish anything that was developmentally inappropriate. I didn't require them as first graders to read college textbooks. I won't ask them as adults to go to bed at 8:30 p.m. when they are home for a visit. I didn't let them drive the car before the law allowed. If I tried to appropriately parent according to my child's developmental level, their temperament type, and their God-created identity - how much more is God able to do the same?

If God says be holy, we can be holy.

We may not know what that means or how it will happen. This command may trigger our shame and send us running for cover. But if we trust God, we must resist our urge to jump to conclusions. For today, we can say this, "If God set before us a dream of holy living, then holy living is possible for me if I stay connected to the vine."

May you have a holy day.

Recommended reading: Joshua 4-6

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 16 - Grow up

Scripture focus: "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." Matthew 5:48 (The Message)

Growing up is not about learning how to behave.

Growing up requires that we decide to believe.

What must we commit to believing?

We believe that God lives generously toward us.

We believe that God is gracious.

We believe that our identity is God-created, and when he said that his creation of humanity was, "very good," he meant it!

Go believe. As we believe we'll mature.

Recommended reading: Joshua 1-3

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 15 - Identify the allergy source

Scripture focus: Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people. 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (The Message)

Looks are deceiving. As Jesus reminded us in his teaching in John, separated from God - we can do nothing. But wait - we were created in the image of God! It doesn't sit well with the piece of eternity that God so lovingly planted in our heart (Eccl. 3:8). We, created in his image, are born to run free, work productively, express creativity, and most of all - love large.

So when separation from God leaves us vulnerable to the ravages of sin and shame (two things that the human body absolutely is not equipped to manage), we begin acting in ways that are in direct contradiction to our true selves. In 2 Timothy, the author provides a small sampling of the symptoms associated with shame-filled living. Here's where the paradox gets really interesting.

Our bodies, minds and spirits are basically allergic to sin and shame. But when we get all turned around in our thinking - deceived and disoriented - we begin to experience sin and shame as if they are a natural part of our core identity. We begin to feel as if we are allergic to God. When we feel as if we are allergic to God, we find ourselves reacting to God like a rash - we avoid him. This separation increases our shame. Our inflamed shame increases our propensity to sin. It's a giant circle of shame - and we get nowhere on this merry-go-round of misery.

If we stubbornly resist jumping off this dead end ride, we soon discover that people begin to avoid us. Our shaming ways make us so prickly that people eventually decide they have to protect themselves from us. Isolation is both internal - resistant to receiving love, and external - our resistance teaches others that their gift of love will be rejected. Even the hardiest of souls are tempted to grow weary in loving those who continually reject their invitation to live in community.

Religion isn't a show.

It is a decision to trust God's love. May your decision to trust guide your day.

Recommended reading: Psalm 65-68

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 14 - Clinging to the vine

Scripture focus: "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is-when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples." John 15:5-8 (The Message)

Today's scripture focus provides us an opportunity to test our shame-o-meter. Let's consider how our shame level might influence how we experience Jesus' teaching...

High shame: Steeped in shame, the reader might choose to focus on the "deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire." He or she might listen and moan quietly, certain that Jesus is right, just as they suspected – they will never be productive, they are terminally unique and perpetually separated, isolated and alone. They assume that their sin - shameful and worse than most people's sin - stands between them and the vine. They lose hope of an intimate, organic relationship. Maybe they're tempted to go for a fast food, processed, fake relationship. So the shamed person redoubles their effort to earn their way back to the vine. Inevitably, all this striving leaves the striver sick and tired.

Low shame: Living with the belief that God's grace and protective love are intended not just for salvation, but also for transformation, the reader with a low shame level hears this teaching with joy and delight. They marvel and appreciate the intentions of Jesus – God wants to be intimately and organically connected with them! True enough, separation would render any man, woman or child unproductive and ineffective, without purpose, drifting in the waves of a chaotic life. But that's not overly concerning, it's more like a gentle warning or a clear explanation of what happens when we grow forgetful of God and his ways. Quickly Jesus tells the reader that if they're feeling separated, a solution is present. All that's needed is to make one's self at home with Jesus and his words. All of us who draw near to God can be completely confident that we can approach the throne of grace and God will listen to us – and even act on our words. Maturity isn't dependent on our performance, it's a by-product of trusting and loving God. How cool is that?

Are you sitting there thinking, yep, that's me, high shame? If so, here's what I want you to do. Tell God – I feel very shame-filled AND I am trusting you. I know my shame does not separate me from you – because nothing can separate me from your love. I'm trusting you to work with me on my shame. I don't know how that will look but I'm trusting you with the process. I believe you love me, listen to me, and act on my words. Amen. May your day be filled with the joy of the Lord!

Recommended reading: Psalm 62-64

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 13 - Gifts with no strings

Scripture focus: John pointed him out and called, "This is the One! The One I told you was coming after me but in fact was ahead of me. He has always been ahead of me, has always had the first word." We all live off his generous bounty, gift after gift after gift. We got the basics from Moses, and then this exuberant giving and receiving, this endless knowing and understanding- all this came through Jesus, the Messiah. No one has ever seen God, not so much as a glimpse. This one-of-a-kind God-Expression, who exists at the very heart of the Father, has made him plain as day. John 1:15-18 (The Message)

Here's another false belief that kept me up at night. I thought that God reacted to Adam and Eve's "incident" in the garden by first trying to provide us with principles to live by (the ten commandments) and when that didn't work out as he intended, he was forced to send Jesus to our rescue. I imagined how disappointed God must be with all his children, wayward creatures that we are, totally unappreciative of God's long suffering patience with us.

It never occurred to me that God isn't as freaked out by my sin and shame as I am. He's not pacing in the heavenlies wringing his hands over the mess his babies are making down on earth. In point of fact, God has always been and will forever continue to be ahead of us.
He's not reacting in frustration to our human ways but is instead offering a perpetual attitude of generosity and blessing to us – gift after gift after gift. God is exuberantly giving to us, and it is fully expected and even desired that we will exuberantly receive all that God desires to give us.

I can't imagine giving gifts to my children based on their performance or pleasing me. My husband and I give to our children because we love them; when they accept these gifts it is because they are choosing to receive our love. I suppose if we had used "things" to try to manipulate our children, maybe the giving and receiving would get complicated. Some people worry about spoiling their children with gifts. But I've observed that the only kind of gift that seems to rot on the vine of generosity is the gift given as a substitute for loving relationship. When we are in a love and trust relationship, it forms the foundation for healthy gift giving and receiving. But if we're not in loving, trusting relationship, gifts are more like bribes and payments.

God isn't trying to win our loyalty and affection, he's simply giving us his love. God's generous bounty won't be yanked away from us at the first sign of trouble, so there's no need to try to please God in order to keep the pipeline open. Our trust of God pleases him. If you're trying to earn God's pleasure, I bet you feel pretty tired. I pray that you will find a way to believe God when he tells us that the thing that pleases God is when we trust him.

Recommended reading: Psalm 59-61

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 12 - Neighbors

Scripture focus: The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes, the one-of-a-kind glory, like Father, like Son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. John 1:14 (The Message)

Why did Jesus move into the neighborhood? Was it a good time to buy property? Early in my introduction to Jesus, people told me he came to earth to save me from my sins. My child's mind heard this, "You are so bad, God had to send his son to live on planet earth to protect the world from you." This teaching was also paired with the song, "Jesus loves me this I know for the bible tells me so, little ones to him belong, they are weak but he is strong." So I figured I was bad and weak. I imagined that God had to fling Jesus from heaven against his will. Who would willingly leave heaven, especially if the purpose of the visit is to deal with all the bad people who are too weak to help themselves?

I lived with this God-is-reluctant-but-able-to-save you philosophy for many years. I tried to make it easier for Jesus to live in my neighborhood by being a good girl. On those days when I couldn't quite carry out my best intentions, I learned some coping strategies – blaming, defending, manipulating, and self-deceiving. I even learned how to starve myself so that I could be needless and wantless – totally self-sufficient.

All these efforts to hide my weakness in a vain attempt to make life more bearable for a reluctant traveling God left me exhausted and disingenuous. So it came as quite a shock and a great relief to hear that I had ascribed wrong motives to Jesus' transfer from heaven to earth.

Jesus, who lives in complete harmony with God, came to earth and moved into the neighborhood to protect, not to spy or judge or condemn or punish. He moved into the neighborhood because he loved us and his father, not because we were a pain in his holy neck. God didn't send Jesus to earth to handle the sin problem – because sin can't be managed. He sent him in flesh and blood form to demonstrate his love for us.

God desires to protect us. Generous inside and out, true from start to finish, God's desire to renovate and restore is an act of protective love not a shame-driven desire to whip his children into shape. Jesus moves into the neighborhood because we delight him, not in response to disappointment with our human foibles and limitations.

What would life be like in each of our neighborhoods if we held tightly to the belief and firm conviction that God desires to protect us from the dangers that our vulnerabilities to sin and shame expose us to on a daily basis?

Recommended reading: Psalm 56-58

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 11 - Protection

Scripture focus: God said, "What have you done! The voice of your brother's blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you'll get nothing but curses from this ground; you'll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You'll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You'll be a homeless wanderer on Earth." Cain said to God, "My punishment is too much. I can't take it! You've thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I'm a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me." God told him, "No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over." God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him. Cain left the presence of God and lived in No-Man's-Land, east of Eden. Genesis 4:10-26 (The Message)

Cain distrusts God, disses God and ultimately betrays both God and his brother.
What is God's response? He protects Cain.

God's in the business of protecting his children. You're not excluded from his good intentions.

What difference would it make if we woke up every morning, completely trusting God with ourselves?

Recommended reading: Psalm 53-55

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 10 - Death by shame

Scripture focus: Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him. God said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "How should I know? Am I his babysitter?" Genesis 6-9 (The Message)

We have a grave responsibility and an awesome opportunity.

Future generations can benefit from our lessons learned.

Adam and Eve sinned, which inflamed shame, and then they hid. God had to give them consequences for their actions when they refused to accept responsibility. Consequences are one of God's primary ways of getting us to pay attention to our sin.

It would have been really neat if Adam and Eve could have taught Cain and Abel that sin can't be managed but it can be disclosed.

Cain could have disclosed his lack of trust in God and himself, "God, I'm feeling pretty insecure, wondering if you love me, wondering if I'm even worth loving." This kind of honest disclosure actually reduces the compulsion to sin. Cain didn't disclose. He distrusted God's love. Maybe he doubted his own ability to be "good enough" for God. And Cain was right to wonder. We can never be good enough. But God isn't trying to get us to a state of "good enough" – he gives us the gift of true, God-created identity and asks us to embrace it – a far better state than "good enough."

To be continued....

Recommended reading: Psalm 50-52

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 9 - Cain's shame

Scripture focus: Cain lost his temper and went into a sulk. God spoke to Cain: "Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won't you be accepted? And if you don't do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it's out to get you, you've got to master it." Genesis 4:5(b) – 7 (The Message)

How do we master sin? We don't – but God can. Cain demonstrated one of the primary signs of a shamed person. He lost his temper. Oddly enough, shame doesn't teach us to cower and apologize incessantly for our shameful ways.

In its convoluted, crafty style, shame convinces us of our need to attack and defend. This allows shame to stay in command and renders us incapable of giving and receiving love. Other emotions and behaviors often attached to a shame attack include:

• A compulsion to blame.
  
• A commitment to attacking with anger.
  
• A pervasive sense of fear and unease.
  
• A lack of self-awareness.
  
• A propensity to live unconsciously, completely unaware of how others perceive us.
  
• An intentional attempt to hide from others.
  

Cain lost his temper and Abel lost his life. Shame messes not only with us, but the lives of those that love us too. In fact, Frank Pittman says in Private Lives, that "Any effort to disorient your partner is a power play that will eventually hurt the relationship. People who are lied to become dependent, anxious, delicate, and over-reactive...."

When we allow shame to determine our steps, we will deliberately deceive and disorient those that love us. So maybe denial has his ugly fingers wrapped around your neck, choking the life out of you. Perhaps you don't know why we'd spend all this time talking about shame. If so, I wonder if you would consider studying the life of those who are close to you. Do they seem dependent, anxious, delicate and over-reactive? If so, could you be a contributing factor?

Recommended reading: Psalm 47-49

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 8 - Who loves you baby?

Scripture focus: Adam slept with Eve his wife. She conceived and had Cain. She said, "I've gotten a man, with God's help!" Then she had another baby, Abel. Abel was a herdsman and Cain a farmer. Time passed. Cain brought an offering to God from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. God liked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn't get his approval. Genesis 4:1-5(a) (The Message)

God does not constantly approve of us like a doting parent in denial.

I have a teacher friend who tells me that the worst part of her job is dealing with parents who think their children are perfect. She believes that these parents may have good intentions – they believe they are protecting their children. But what's really happening is that these poor kids are learning some lousy (and unanticipated) lessons.

I had a kid tell me once that his mother didn't think he could do anything wrong – and he hated how she always defended him, charged up to the school and blasted his teachers, and even once threatened to sue his piano teacher. I asked him why he hated this. Surely he liked it that his mom never fussed at him!

"Oh, but she does. She just doesn't do it in front of others." This kid's mom was so worried about how her child's behavior reflected on her, she could not accept any acknowledgement of a mistake in public. And if he did what comes naturally to children and adults alike – make a mistake – she had to blame someone else for it. I know this well-intentioned mom believes that she's supporting her son's efforts and making sure that others don't inflict harm. But what's she done is teach her kid that she doesn't trust him to manage his own life. She's taught him that the world is out to get him, and he needs to defend himself with offensive actions. She's taught him that making mistakes is such a big deal, that we must go to all sorts of crazy lengths to make sure that we never ever admit we made a mistake. She's teaching her kid to hide. She's teaching him that she loves him conditionally.

On the other hand, God demonstrates his love for us like this – while we were still running around in fig leaves, before we ever came clean and acknowledged our sin and shame – he went out and made us some cool leather clothes to protect us.

I ask you – who loves more? The one who sees the sin and loves any way, or the one who is so sensitized to sin that they cannot acknowledge its presence? God loves us even when we act out.

Recommended reading: Hosea 11-14

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 7 - Godly intentions

Scripture focus: God made leather clothing for Adam and his wife and dressed them. God said, "The Man has become like one of us, capable of knowing everything, ranging from good to evil. What if he now should reach out and take fruit from the Tree-of-Life and eat, and live forever? Never-this cannot happen!" So God expelled them from the Garden of Eden and sent them to work the ground, the same dirt out of which they'd been made. He threw them out of the garden and stationed angel-cherubim and a revolving sword of fire east of it, guarding the path to the Tree-of-Life. Genesis 3:21-24 (The Message)

Previous verses give us a picture of a parent handing out consequences. Depending on your trust level, you might see this as discipline or punishment. But it's hard for even the most distrusting reader to not have their heart grow a size or two with today's scripture focus.

It is as we imagine God taking the time to make leather clothing for Adam and his wife that we see how much God loves us. Those fig leaves were completely ineffectual at managing, covering, and hiding their sin and shame. God could have left them scratching their loins, wondering if they did or did not choose a poisonous leaf, exposed in spite of their best fig leaf picking. God could have thought, "Well, a fine mess they've made of things! Serves them right to have to walk around worrying about what is and what is not showing. Let's just see how they like fig leaf apparel! Then God could have walked off in a huff, thinking, "I'll show them. They didn't love and trust me, so I'll give them a taste of their own medicine. I'll leave them to their own devices. Let them figure out how to manage their shame."

But God didn't. Instead, and even though Adam and his wife had a need for clothing as a direct result of growing forgetful of their loving relationship with God, God still provided for them in their time of need.

God protects us - most often from ourselves.

This is his driving motivation - to love and protect his children.

We can trust God with who we really are - even our secret sins and shameful thoughts.

Recommended reading: Hosea 7-10

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community

June 6 - Shame triggers fear of consequences

Scripture focus: He told the Woman: "I'll multiply your pains in childbirth; you'll give birth to your babies in pain. You'll want to please your husband, but he'll lord it over you." He told the Man: "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from, 'Don't eat from this tree,' the very ground is cursed because of you; getting food from the ground will be as painful as having babies is for your wife; you'll be working in pain all your life long. The ground will sprout thorns and weeds, you'll get your food the hard way, planting and tilling and harvesting, sweating in the fields from dawn to dusk, until you return to that ground yourself, dead and buried; you started out as dirt, you'll end up dirt." The Man, known as Adam, named his wife Eve because she was the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:16-20 (The Message)

Adam and Eve experienced serious consequences for their poor decision-making. Most of us can relate! Clearly they receive consequences for their behavior. But what is the motivation behind God's parental discipline? Is it to punish, or protect? Is it to disgrace, or discipline? The motives we ascribe to God and others will seriously affect our own sense of shame.

At a recent TrueFaced Conference, one of the presenters said something that I particularly appreciated: "If we believe and fear that disclosure of a sin will cost us as much as discovery of that sin, then we will wait to be discovered. We will wait for someone to discover it." If we believe that God (and others) are driven to punish and disgrace us, we will always hide our sin (a very unhealthy response that actually increases our sin vulnerability). When we believe that God (and others) trust and love us, even when they discipline us, we understand that this discipline is for our protection. Does this help make sense of why we tend to hide at the very time when we are in greatest need of support?

It will take a powerful motivational source to convince us to become honest, open, self-disclosing people. Fortunately, God has made just such a provision for times like these. Why do we even care whether we disclose or wait to get caught in the act of sin? More on that later.

For today, prayerfully try to wrap your brain around the idea that disclosure is a gift that will actually reduce our sinful ways; discovery increases our shame and causes those we love to doubt our willingness to change.

Recommended reading: Hosea 4-6

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Copyright 2009 NorthStar Community