February 28
Scripture focus: The soldiers rose up: "Jonathan—die? Never! He's just carried out this stunning salvation victory for Israel. As surely as GOD lives, not a hair on his head is going to be harmed. Why, he's been working hand-in-hand with God all day!" The soldiers rescued Jonathan and he didn't die.
Saul pulled back from chasing the Philistines, and the Philistines went home.
Saul extended his rule, capturing neighboring kingdoms. He fought enemies on every front—Moab, Ammon, Edom, the king of Zobah, the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he came up with a victory. He became invincible! He smashed Amalek, freeing Israel from the savagery and looting.
Saul's sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua. His daughters were Merab, the firstborn, and Michal, the younger. Saul's wife was Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz. Abner son of Ner was commander of Saul's army (Ner was Saul's uncle). Kish, Saul's father, and Ner, Abner's father, were the sons of Abiel.
All through Saul's life there was war, bitter and relentless, with the Philistines. Saul conscripted every strong and brave man he laid eyes on. 1 Samuel 14:45-52 MSG
Because Jonathan showed a commitment to doing the next right thing – even if it was contrary to the voice of his earthly father – others soon followed his lead. This, unfortunately, did not deter Saul from his foolish ways.
Maturity teaches us that we are not responsible for how others respond to us. But we are completely responsible for how we love and care for others.
May we walk wisely today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 27
Scripture focus: Saul said, "Let's go after the Philistines tonight! We can spend the night looting and plundering. We won't leave a single live Philistine!"
"Sounds good to us," said the troops. "Let's do it!"
But the priest slowed them down: "Let's find out what God thinks about this."
So Saul prayed to God, "Shall I go after the Philistines? Will you put them in Israel's hand?" God didn't answer him on that occasion.
Saul then said, "All army officers, step forward. Some sin has been committed this day. We're going to find out what it is and who did it! As GOD lives, Israel's Savior God, whoever sinned will die, even if it should turn out to be Jonathan, my son!"
Nobody said a word.
Saul said to the Israelites, "You line up over on that side, and I and Jonathan my son will stand on this side."
The army agreed, "Fine. Whatever you say."
Then Saul prayed to GOD, "O God of Israel, why haven't you answered me today? Show me the truth. If the sin is in me or Jonathan, then, O GOD, give the sign Urim. But if the sin is in the army of Israel, give the sign Thummim."
The Urim sign turned up and pointed to Saul and Jonathan. That cleared the army. Next Saul said, "Cast the lots between me and Jonathan—and death to the one GOD points to!"
The soldiers protested, "No—this is not right. Stop this!" But Saul pushed on anyway. They cast the lots, Urim and Thummim, and the lot fell to Jonathan.
Saul confronted Jonathan. "What did you do? Tell me!"
Jonathan said, "I licked a bit of honey off the tip of the staff I was carrying. That's it—and for that I'm to die?"
Saul said, "Yes. Jonathan most certainly will die. It's out of my hands— I can't go against God, can I?" 1 Samuel 14:34-44 MSG
Notice how Saul believes that he is listening to God. Pay attention to how clearly his community recognized Saul’s independent ways. One mark of maturity is a willingness to listen to others around us. A second maturity indicator is the wisdom to know when to accept and when to reject the input of others. Jonathan was wise on both fronts. May we follow his lead.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Saul said, "Let's go after the Philistines tonight! We can spend the night looting and plundering. We won't leave a single live Philistine!"
"Sounds good to us," said the troops. "Let's do it!"
But the priest slowed them down: "Let's find out what God thinks about this."
So Saul prayed to God, "Shall I go after the Philistines? Will you put them in Israel's hand?" God didn't answer him on that occasion.
Saul then said, "All army officers, step forward. Some sin has been committed this day. We're going to find out what it is and who did it! As GOD lives, Israel's Savior God, whoever sinned will die, even if it should turn out to be Jonathan, my son!"
Nobody said a word.
Saul said to the Israelites, "You line up over on that side, and I and Jonathan my son will stand on this side."
The army agreed, "Fine. Whatever you say."
Then Saul prayed to GOD, "O God of Israel, why haven't you answered me today? Show me the truth. If the sin is in me or Jonathan, then, O GOD, give the sign Urim. But if the sin is in the army of Israel, give the sign Thummim."
The Urim sign turned up and pointed to Saul and Jonathan. That cleared the army. Next Saul said, "Cast the lots between me and Jonathan—and death to the one GOD points to!"
The soldiers protested, "No—this is not right. Stop this!" But Saul pushed on anyway. They cast the lots, Urim and Thummim, and the lot fell to Jonathan.
Saul confronted Jonathan. "What did you do? Tell me!"
Jonathan said, "I licked a bit of honey off the tip of the staff I was carrying. That's it—and for that I'm to die?"
Saul said, "Yes. Jonathan most certainly will die. It's out of my hands— I can't go against God, can I?" 1 Samuel 14:34-44 MSG
Notice how Saul believes that he is listening to God. Pay attention to how clearly his community recognized Saul’s independent ways. One mark of maturity is a willingness to listen to others around us. A second maturity indicator is the wisdom to know when to accept and when to reject the input of others. Jonathan was wise on both fronts. May we follow his lead.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 26
Scripture focus: There were honeycombs here and there in the fields. But no one so much as put his finger in the honey to taste it, for the soldiers to a man feared the curse. But Jonathan hadn't heard his father put the army under oath. He stuck the tip of his staff into some honey and ate it. Refreshed, his eyes lit up with renewed vigor.
A soldier spoke up, "Your father has put the army under solemn oath, saying, 'A curse on the man who eats anything before evening!' No wonder the soldiers are drooping!"
Jonathan said, "My father has imperiled the country. Just look how quickly my energy has returned since I ate a little of this honey! It would have been a lot better, believe me, if the soldiers had eaten their fill of whatever they took from the enemy. Who knows how much worse we could have whipped them!"
They killed Philistines that day all the way from Micmash to Aijalon, but the soldiers ended up totally exhausted. Then they started plundering. They grabbed anything in sight—sheep, cattle, calves—and butchered it where they found it. Then they glutted themselves—meat, blood, the works.
Saul was told, "Do something! The soldiers are sinning against GOD. They're eating meat with the blood still in it!"
Saul said, "You're biting the hand that feeds you! Roll a big rock over here—now!" He continued, "Disperse among the troops and tell them, 'Bring your oxen and sheep to me and butcher them properly here. Then you can feast to your heart's content. Please don't sin against GOD by eating meat with the blood still in it.'"
And so they did. That night each soldier, one after another, led his animal there to be butchered.
That's the story behind Saul's building an altar to GOD. It's the first altar to GOD that he built. 1 Samuel 14:25-34 MSG
Jonathan obviously had more maturity build up in his internal storehouse than his dad. He did not allow his father’s own foolishness to deter him from doing the next right thing. But the sins of the father almost cost Jonathan his life.
Our willingness to trust God and mature as he guides us has an impact on our family and community. But another’s immaturity is no excuse for our own. We have the opportunity to man up and learn how to live maturely. It helps if there are other key people in our life to guide us. If you have spent a lot of wasted time lamenting the lack of mature influences in your own life, may I offer you a word of encouragement? Stop fretting about what you lack, and instead, commit yourself to becoming the kind of person who can help others with the same help you wish you had along the way.
This will decrease the foolishness factor in our own lives, and perhaps increase the opportunity for others to grow as well.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: There were honeycombs here and there in the fields. But no one so much as put his finger in the honey to taste it, for the soldiers to a man feared the curse. But Jonathan hadn't heard his father put the army under oath. He stuck the tip of his staff into some honey and ate it. Refreshed, his eyes lit up with renewed vigor.
A soldier spoke up, "Your father has put the army under solemn oath, saying, 'A curse on the man who eats anything before evening!' No wonder the soldiers are drooping!"
Jonathan said, "My father has imperiled the country. Just look how quickly my energy has returned since I ate a little of this honey! It would have been a lot better, believe me, if the soldiers had eaten their fill of whatever they took from the enemy. Who knows how much worse we could have whipped them!"
They killed Philistines that day all the way from Micmash to Aijalon, but the soldiers ended up totally exhausted. Then they started plundering. They grabbed anything in sight—sheep, cattle, calves—and butchered it where they found it. Then they glutted themselves—meat, blood, the works.
Saul was told, "Do something! The soldiers are sinning against GOD. They're eating meat with the blood still in it!"
Saul said, "You're biting the hand that feeds you! Roll a big rock over here—now!" He continued, "Disperse among the troops and tell them, 'Bring your oxen and sheep to me and butcher them properly here. Then you can feast to your heart's content. Please don't sin against GOD by eating meat with the blood still in it.'"
And so they did. That night each soldier, one after another, led his animal there to be butchered.
That's the story behind Saul's building an altar to GOD. It's the first altar to GOD that he built. 1 Samuel 14:25-34 MSG
Jonathan obviously had more maturity build up in his internal storehouse than his dad. He did not allow his father’s own foolishness to deter him from doing the next right thing. But the sins of the father almost cost Jonathan his life.
Our willingness to trust God and mature as he guides us has an impact on our family and community. But another’s immaturity is no excuse for our own. We have the opportunity to man up and learn how to live maturely. It helps if there are other key people in our life to guide us. If you have spent a lot of wasted time lamenting the lack of mature influences in your own life, may I offer you a word of encouragement? Stop fretting about what you lack, and instead, commit yourself to becoming the kind of person who can help others with the same help you wish you had along the way.
This will decrease the foolishness factor in our own lives, and perhaps increase the opportunity for others to grow as well.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 25
Scripture focus: Saul's sentries posted back at Geba (Gibeah) in Benjamin saw the confusion and turmoil raging in the camp. Saul commanded, "Line up and take the roll. See who's here and who's missing." When they called the roll, Jonathan and his armor bearer turned up missing.
Saul ordered Ahijah, "Bring the priestly Ephod. Let's see what GOD has to say here." (Ahijah was responsible for the Ephod in those days.) While Saul was in conversation with the priest, the upheaval in the Philistine camp became greater and louder. Then Saul interrupted Ahijah: "Put the Ephod away."
Saul immediately called his army together and they went straight to the battle. When they got there they found total confusion—Philistines swinging their swords wildly, killing each other. Hebrews who had earlier defected to the Philistine camp came back. They now wanted to be with Israel under
Saul and Jonathan. Not only that, but when all the Israelites who had been hiding out in the backwoods of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were running for their lives, they came out and joined the chase. GOD saved Israel! What a day! The fighting moved on to Beth Aven. The whole army was behind Saul now—ten thousand strong!—with the fighting scattering into all the towns throughout the hills of Ephraim. Saul did something really foolish that day. He addressed the army: "A curse on the man who eats anything before evening, before I've wreaked vengeance on my enemies!" None of them ate a thing all day. 1 Samuel 14:16-24 MSG
Who was Saul to hand out a blessing or a curse?
When we’re young, immature and foolish we have a lot to learn. I have no clue why Saul demanded that his people not nourish themselves as they fought. Clearly, snacks along the way would have re-energized the men, all of whom must have been burning massive calories as they fought hand-to-hand with their enemy.
If Saul had acquired maturity, he would have been a perpetual student. He could have learned how the human body, a temple of God, was created by God. He would have had some understanding of how to keep it functioning at an optimal level. A high foolishness factor manifests itself in even the seemingly most mundane dimensions of our lives. We don’t realize that when and what we eat, how we exercise, what we think about and how we process our emotions greatly impacts our fruit bearing.
None of these issues will ultimately be solved by knowing more stuff. All of them will improve as we trust God to guide us.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Saul's sentries posted back at Geba (Gibeah) in Benjamin saw the confusion and turmoil raging in the camp. Saul commanded, "Line up and take the roll. See who's here and who's missing." When they called the roll, Jonathan and his armor bearer turned up missing.
Saul ordered Ahijah, "Bring the priestly Ephod. Let's see what GOD has to say here." (Ahijah was responsible for the Ephod in those days.) While Saul was in conversation with the priest, the upheaval in the Philistine camp became greater and louder. Then Saul interrupted Ahijah: "Put the Ephod away."
Saul immediately called his army together and they went straight to the battle. When they got there they found total confusion—Philistines swinging their swords wildly, killing each other. Hebrews who had earlier defected to the Philistine camp came back. They now wanted to be with Israel under
Saul and Jonathan. Not only that, but when all the Israelites who had been hiding out in the backwoods of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were running for their lives, they came out and joined the chase. GOD saved Israel! What a day! The fighting moved on to Beth Aven. The whole army was behind Saul now—ten thousand strong!—with the fighting scattering into all the towns throughout the hills of Ephraim. Saul did something really foolish that day. He addressed the army: "A curse on the man who eats anything before evening, before I've wreaked vengeance on my enemies!" None of them ate a thing all day. 1 Samuel 14:16-24 MSG
Who was Saul to hand out a blessing or a curse?
When we’re young, immature and foolish we have a lot to learn. I have no clue why Saul demanded that his people not nourish themselves as they fought. Clearly, snacks along the way would have re-energized the men, all of whom must have been burning massive calories as they fought hand-to-hand with their enemy.
If Saul had acquired maturity, he would have been a perpetual student. He could have learned how the human body, a temple of God, was created by God. He would have had some understanding of how to keep it functioning at an optimal level. A high foolishness factor manifests itself in even the seemingly most mundane dimensions of our lives. We don’t realize that when and what we eat, how we exercise, what we think about and how we process our emotions greatly impacts our fruit bearing.
None of these issues will ultimately be solved by knowing more stuff. All of them will improve as we trust God to guide us.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 24
Scripture focus: Later that day, Jonathan, Saul's son, said to his armor bearer, "Come on, let's go over to the Philistine garrison patrol on the other side of the pass." But he didn't tell his father. Meanwhile, Saul was taking it easy under the pomegranate tree at the threshing floor on the edge of town at Geba (Gibeah). There were about six hundred men with him. Ahijah, wearing the priestly Ephod, was also there. (Ahijah was the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eli the priest of GOD at Shiloh.) No one there knew that Jonathan had gone off. The pass that Jonathan was planning to cross over to the Philistine garrison was flanked on either side by sharp rock outcroppings, cliffs named Bozez and Seneh. The cliff to the north faced Micmash; the cliff to the south faced Geba (Gibeah). Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come on now, let's go across to these uncircumcised pagans. Maybe GOD will work for us. There's no rule that says GOD can only deliver by using a big army. No one can stop GOD from saving when he sets his mind to it."
His armor bearer said, "Go ahead. Do what you think best. I'm with you all the way."
Jonathan said, "Here's what we'll do. We'll cross over the pass and let the men see we're there. If they say, 'Halt! Don't move until we check you out,' we'll stay put and not go up. But if they say, 'Come on up,' we'll go right up—and we'll know GOD has given them to us. That will be our sign."
So they did it, the two of them. They stepped into the open where they could be seen by the Philistine garrison. The Philistines shouted out, "Look at that! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!"
Then they yelled down to Jonathan and his armor bearer, "Come on up here! We've got a thing or two to show you!"
Jonathan shouted to his armor bearer, "Up! Follow me! GOD has turned them over to Israel!" Jonathan scrambled up on all fours, his armor bearer right on his heels. When the Philistines came running up to them, he knocked them flat, his armor bearer right behind finishing them off, bashing their heads in with stones.
In this first bloody encounter, Jonathan and his armor bearer killed about twenty men. That set off a terrific upheaval in both camp and field, the soldiers in the garrison and the raiding squad badly shaken up, the ground itself shuddering—panic like you've never seen before! 1 Samuel 14:-15 MSG
Once Saul began under-functioning (meaning, unwilling to step as God spoke and continue to develop maturity), his son Jonathan was compelled to over-function (do what Saul should have done as king). If we find ourselves over- or under-functioning, we may be tempted to think we have a problem that can be solved by dealing with our codependency, addiction, or messed up family system issues. That may help. But to flourish, we must make the decision to trust God, and follow his lead. Because like Saul’s situation, the issue is never the issue. Think about how this might apply in your own life.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Later that day, Jonathan, Saul's son, said to his armor bearer, "Come on, let's go over to the Philistine garrison patrol on the other side of the pass." But he didn't tell his father. Meanwhile, Saul was taking it easy under the pomegranate tree at the threshing floor on the edge of town at Geba (Gibeah). There were about six hundred men with him. Ahijah, wearing the priestly Ephod, was also there. (Ahijah was the son of Ahitub, brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, who was the son of Eli the priest of GOD at Shiloh.) No one there knew that Jonathan had gone off. The pass that Jonathan was planning to cross over to the Philistine garrison was flanked on either side by sharp rock outcroppings, cliffs named Bozez and Seneh. The cliff to the north faced Micmash; the cliff to the south faced Geba (Gibeah). Jonathan said to his armor bearer, "Come on now, let's go across to these uncircumcised pagans. Maybe GOD will work for us. There's no rule that says GOD can only deliver by using a big army. No one can stop GOD from saving when he sets his mind to it."
His armor bearer said, "Go ahead. Do what you think best. I'm with you all the way."
Jonathan said, "Here's what we'll do. We'll cross over the pass and let the men see we're there. If they say, 'Halt! Don't move until we check you out,' we'll stay put and not go up. But if they say, 'Come on up,' we'll go right up—and we'll know GOD has given them to us. That will be our sign."
So they did it, the two of them. They stepped into the open where they could be seen by the Philistine garrison. The Philistines shouted out, "Look at that! The Hebrews are crawling out of their holes!"
Then they yelled down to Jonathan and his armor bearer, "Come on up here! We've got a thing or two to show you!"
Jonathan shouted to his armor bearer, "Up! Follow me! GOD has turned them over to Israel!" Jonathan scrambled up on all fours, his armor bearer right on his heels. When the Philistines came running up to them, he knocked them flat, his armor bearer right behind finishing them off, bashing their heads in with stones.
In this first bloody encounter, Jonathan and his armor bearer killed about twenty men. That set off a terrific upheaval in both camp and field, the soldiers in the garrison and the raiding squad badly shaken up, the ground itself shuddering—panic like you've never seen before! 1 Samuel 14:-15 MSG
Once Saul began under-functioning (meaning, unwilling to step as God spoke and continue to develop maturity), his son Jonathan was compelled to over-function (do what Saul should have done as king). If we find ourselves over- or under-functioning, we may be tempted to think we have a problem that can be solved by dealing with our codependency, addiction, or messed up family system issues. That may help. But to flourish, we must make the decision to trust God, and follow his lead. Because like Saul’s situation, the issue is never the issue. Think about how this might apply in your own life.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 23
Scripture focus: Saul was a young man when he began as king. He was king over Israel for many years. Saul conscripted enough men for three companies of soldiers. He kept two companies under his command at Micmash and in the Bethel hills. The other company was under Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the men home. Jonathan attacked and killed the Philistine governor stationed at Geba (Gibeah). When the Philistines heard the news, they raised the alarm: "The Hebrews are in revolt!" Saul ordered the reveille trumpets blown throughout the land. The word went out all over Israel, "Saul has killed the Philistine governor—drawn first blood! The Philistines are stirred up and mad as hornets!" Summoned, the army came to Saul at Gilgal. The Philistines rallied their forces to fight Israel: three companies of chariots, six companies of cavalry, and so many infantry they looked like sand on the seashore. They went up into the hills and set up camp at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that they were way outnumbered and in deep trouble, they ran for cover, hiding in caves and pits, ravines and brambles and cisterns—wherever. They retreated across the Jordan River, refugees fleeing to the country of Gad and Gilead. But Saul held his ground in Gilgal, his soldiers still with him but scared to death. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel. Samuel failed to show up at Gilgal, and the soldiers were slipping away, right and left. So Saul took charge: "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!" He went ahead and sacrificed the burnt offering. No sooner had he done it than Samuel showed up! Saul greeted him. Samuel said, "What on earth are you doing?" Saul answered, "When I saw I was losing my army from under me, and that you hadn't come when you said you would, and that the Philistines were poised at Micmash, I said, 'The Philistines are about to come down on me in Gilgal, and I haven't yet come before GOD asking for his help.' So I took things into my own hands, and sacrificed the burnt offering."
"That was a fool thing to do," Samuel said to Saul. "If you had kept the appointment that your GOD commanded, by now GOD would have set a firm and lasting foundation under your kingly rule over Israel. As it is, your kingly rule is already falling to pieces. GOD is out looking for your replacement right now. This time he'll do the choosing. When he finds him, he'll appoint him leader of his people. And all because you didn't keep your appointment with GOD!" 1 Samuel 13:1-14 MSG
God wasn’t interested in the Israelites having a king. But they wanted to be like all the other kingdoms in their neck of the woods, and they demanded a king and selected Saul. This was a fool thing to do. Saul fails to keep his appointment with God, starts thinking he’s king and believes what the people think about kings – they’re in charge. This was a fool thing to believe. If Saul is in charge, he begins to feel the pressure that often accompanies an appointment of kingship and as a result, starts doing what he feels is right in his own mind. That was a fool way to feel. As we continue to read Saul’s story, we will watch his foolishness factor grow as his maturity deteriorates. But the key point to remember is that his sin was not his mistakes – it was his failure to keep his appointment with God. All these other events are collateral damage. They will continue to distract and distress both Saul and his community. But the problem was not in his decision-making ability, it was in his foolish assumption that he was master of his decisions.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Saul was a young man when he began as king. He was king over Israel for many years. Saul conscripted enough men for three companies of soldiers. He kept two companies under his command at Micmash and in the Bethel hills. The other company was under Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent the rest of the men home. Jonathan attacked and killed the Philistine governor stationed at Geba (Gibeah). When the Philistines heard the news, they raised the alarm: "The Hebrews are in revolt!" Saul ordered the reveille trumpets blown throughout the land. The word went out all over Israel, "Saul has killed the Philistine governor—drawn first blood! The Philistines are stirred up and mad as hornets!" Summoned, the army came to Saul at Gilgal. The Philistines rallied their forces to fight Israel: three companies of chariots, six companies of cavalry, and so many infantry they looked like sand on the seashore. They went up into the hills and set up camp at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. When the Israelites saw that they were way outnumbered and in deep trouble, they ran for cover, hiding in caves and pits, ravines and brambles and cisterns—wherever. They retreated across the Jordan River, refugees fleeing to the country of Gad and Gilead. But Saul held his ground in Gilgal, his soldiers still with him but scared to death. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel. Samuel failed to show up at Gilgal, and the soldiers were slipping away, right and left. So Saul took charge: "Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!" He went ahead and sacrificed the burnt offering. No sooner had he done it than Samuel showed up! Saul greeted him. Samuel said, "What on earth are you doing?" Saul answered, "When I saw I was losing my army from under me, and that you hadn't come when you said you would, and that the Philistines were poised at Micmash, I said, 'The Philistines are about to come down on me in Gilgal, and I haven't yet come before GOD asking for his help.' So I took things into my own hands, and sacrificed the burnt offering."
"That was a fool thing to do," Samuel said to Saul. "If you had kept the appointment that your GOD commanded, by now GOD would have set a firm and lasting foundation under your kingly rule over Israel. As it is, your kingly rule is already falling to pieces. GOD is out looking for your replacement right now. This time he'll do the choosing. When he finds him, he'll appoint him leader of his people. And all because you didn't keep your appointment with GOD!" 1 Samuel 13:1-14 MSG
God wasn’t interested in the Israelites having a king. But they wanted to be like all the other kingdoms in their neck of the woods, and they demanded a king and selected Saul. This was a fool thing to do. Saul fails to keep his appointment with God, starts thinking he’s king and believes what the people think about kings – they’re in charge. This was a fool thing to believe. If Saul is in charge, he begins to feel the pressure that often accompanies an appointment of kingship and as a result, starts doing what he feels is right in his own mind. That was a fool way to feel. As we continue to read Saul’s story, we will watch his foolishness factor grow as his maturity deteriorates. But the key point to remember is that his sin was not his mistakes – it was his failure to keep his appointment with God. All these other events are collateral damage. They will continue to distract and distress both Saul and his community. But the problem was not in his decision-making ability, it was in his foolish assumption that he was master of his decisions.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 22
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 MSG
Maturation is a process AND we make progress as we mature.
Along the way, it is easy to get side-tracked or cocky.
One way that I do not suggest that we evaluate our maturation process is by trying to measure the fruit. Listen, it is written and thus we believe – we were created to mature and produce fruit in keeping with righteousness. BUT THAT IS NOT EVER TO BE OUR GOAL!
Our goal is to trust God.
As we trust God to restore us to sanity, we obey.
As we obey, we discover that our flesh is unwilling.
As we discover that our flesh is unwilling we have a moment of clarity – apart from God working in and through us – we cannot live as God desires for us to live. On our own, we have a high foolishness factor.
One of the problems with foolishness, is that we rarely recognize it when we’re the ones behaving foolishly. Again – apart from God, we can do nothing.
In the next few devotionals we’re going to look at the life of Saul, a man who had a very high foolishness factor…maybe we can learn from him.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
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 MSG
Maturation is a process AND we make progress as we mature.
Along the way, it is easy to get side-tracked or cocky.
One way that I do not suggest that we evaluate our maturation process is by trying to measure the fruit. Listen, it is written and thus we believe – we were created to mature and produce fruit in keeping with righteousness. BUT THAT IS NOT EVER TO BE OUR GOAL!
Our goal is to trust God.
As we trust God to restore us to sanity, we obey.
As we obey, we discover that our flesh is unwilling.
As we discover that our flesh is unwilling we have a moment of clarity – apart from God working in and through us – we cannot live as God desires for us to live. On our own, we have a high foolishness factor.
One of the problems with foolishness, is that we rarely recognize it when we’re the ones behaving foolishly. Again – apart from God, we can do nothing.
In the next few devotionals we’re going to look at the life of Saul, a man who had a very high foolishness factor…maybe we can learn from him.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 21
Scripture focus: Jesus said, "I didn't make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn't it, who gave you God's Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?" John 7:16-19 MSG
In today’s scripture focus, we find a snippet of a conversation that Jesus has with his community.
Jesus encourages the freaked out folks of his day to make a decision to be willing to do his will, and then come back and talk to him if they are confused about knowing God’s will.
Isn’t this true today? Be honest. Aren’t most of our struggles with doing
God’s will more so than knowing God’s will?
God desires mercy. Are we willing to be merciful?
God desires a contrite and humble heart. Are we willing to be contrite and humble?
God loves the unlovely. Will we do the same?
God cares about suffering. Do we? Do we care when our actions cause suffering for others? Are we willing to sacrifice our own personal comfort in order to ease the suffering of another?
May we take whatever we know and practice its application today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Jesus said, "I didn't make this up. What I teach comes from the One who sent me. Anyone who wants to do his will can test this teaching and know whether it's from God or whether I'm making it up. A person making things up tries to make himself look good. But someone trying to honor the one who sent him sticks to the facts and doesn't tamper with reality. It was Moses, wasn't it, who gave you God's Law? But none of you are living it. So why are you trying to kill me?" John 7:16-19 MSG
In today’s scripture focus, we find a snippet of a conversation that Jesus has with his community.
Jesus encourages the freaked out folks of his day to make a decision to be willing to do his will, and then come back and talk to him if they are confused about knowing God’s will.
Isn’t this true today? Be honest. Aren’t most of our struggles with doing
God’s will more so than knowing God’s will?
God desires mercy. Are we willing to be merciful?
God desires a contrite and humble heart. Are we willing to be contrite and humble?
God loves the unlovely. Will we do the same?
God cares about suffering. Do we? Do we care when our actions cause suffering for others? Are we willing to sacrifice our own personal comfort in order to ease the suffering of another?
May we take whatever we know and practice its application today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 20
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 MSG
I love knowing that the core of my existence is not dependent upon me figuring out how to please God. My job is to trust God – this is what pleases him! I have a friend who really wrestles with trusting God. She doesn’t believe that she is capable – and she is right! On her own, independent of God, she can do nothing.
When we learn that God exists and that he cares enough to come when we call out to him – we find our way toward trust.
Belief is often a decision whose wisdom is only revealed in hindsight.
Think about what you’ve put your faith in – stop lights and people obeying them, bad people to do good things, goods and services to provide peace and purpose – the list is endless.
So when you are tempted to think you have trust issues with God, remind yourself that you have failed to have trust issues in areas that would have made a lot of sense to reserve trust…
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
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 MSG
I love knowing that the core of my existence is not dependent upon me figuring out how to please God. My job is to trust God – this is what pleases him! I have a friend who really wrestles with trusting God. She doesn’t believe that she is capable – and she is right! On her own, independent of God, she can do nothing.
When we learn that God exists and that he cares enough to come when we call out to him – we find our way toward trust.
Belief is often a decision whose wisdom is only revealed in hindsight.
Think about what you’ve put your faith in – stop lights and people obeying them, bad people to do good things, goods and services to provide peace and purpose – the list is endless.
So when you are tempted to think you have trust issues with God, remind yourself that you have failed to have trust issues in areas that would have made a lot of sense to reserve trust…
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 19
Scripture focus: Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 MSG
The Greek word for “helping” is a mouthful – sunantilambanao – and it paints a picture of the Holy Spirit standing with us, beside us, protectively leading us to freedom from our vulnerability to sin and shame.
Our family loves football. More accurately, the rest of my family loves football. I love my family, so to be with them I watch a lot of football. I hate it when a player gets injured. I often worry about how the mom of the hurt guy is able to watch her baby lay on the playing field without storming the field herself.
However, I love it when the team and appropriately trained representatives for the team come and sunantilambanao their wounded warrior off the field. Once in awhile, a fellow team member will attempt to sunantilambanao their fellow player. If the injury is small, this is not big deal. But this kind of well-intentioned sunantilambanao could be life altering if the injury involves the neck or spinal area. For those kinds of big time sufferings, only the team trainers and physicians can help.
I suppose that there is a small suffering or two that we can handle without prayer – if we’re really mature (I’m not there yet). But beware putting hope in another player, when only the divine healer is equipped to handle our injury. When God’s Spirit comes alongside us, helping us along – we can rest in that rescue. We don’t have to tell him how to carry us off the field.
May we rest in God’s rescue today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 MSG
The Greek word for “helping” is a mouthful – sunantilambanao – and it paints a picture of the Holy Spirit standing with us, beside us, protectively leading us to freedom from our vulnerability to sin and shame.
Our family loves football. More accurately, the rest of my family loves football. I love my family, so to be with them I watch a lot of football. I hate it when a player gets injured. I often worry about how the mom of the hurt guy is able to watch her baby lay on the playing field without storming the field herself.
However, I love it when the team and appropriately trained representatives for the team come and sunantilambanao their wounded warrior off the field. Once in awhile, a fellow team member will attempt to sunantilambanao their fellow player. If the injury is small, this is not big deal. But this kind of well-intentioned sunantilambanao could be life altering if the injury involves the neck or spinal area. For those kinds of big time sufferings, only the team trainers and physicians can help.
I suppose that there is a small suffering or two that we can handle without prayer – if we’re really mature (I’m not there yet). But beware putting hope in another player, when only the divine healer is equipped to handle our injury. When God’s Spirit comes alongside us, helping us along – we can rest in that rescue. We don’t have to tell him how to carry us off the field.
May we rest in God’s rescue today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 18
Scripture focus: Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. Ephesians 6:12-18 MSG
Life is more than we can handle on our own. When we are given the information that God is in the business of restoration, renewal, and redemption, it will help if we can come to understand what our part is in the process of redemption – and what is God’s. First, let me encourage you: God does all the heavy lifting. But that doesn’t mean you sit around and wait for celestial reconstruction while watching reality tv and gorging on chips and dip.
We must prepare.
Life is more than we can handle.
Take all the help we can get. As we trust that God is coming to our aid and providing us with the rescue we so desperately need, we practice learning how to live and trust him.
Prayer is one of those essential tools that we need to learn how to use. Neil Anderson says, “What is prayer? It is communication with God by which we express our dependence on Him. God knows what we need in our battle with the powers of darkness, and He is more ready to meet our needs that we are to ask. But until we express our dependence on Him in prayer, God may not acct. In prayer we say, “You are the Lord, not I. You know what’s best; I don’t. I’m not telling You what to do; I’m asking.” Prayer is a means by which God guides and protects His children. (See Daily In Christ, by Dr. Neil and Joanne Anderson, January 12th.)
In the Christ-centered 12 step process, step one is the place where we begin to acknowledge our dependence on the wrong thing/s. Step two invites us to come to believe that a power greater than ourselves – God – can restore us to sanity. These are two very powerful steps. It is not easy to admit our need for sanity.
Life is more than we can handle on our own. It will drive us crazy if we try.
May we pray and ask God to rescue us today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Be prepared. You're up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it's all over but the shouting you'll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You'll need them throughout your life. God's Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other's spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. Ephesians 6:12-18 MSG
Life is more than we can handle on our own. When we are given the information that God is in the business of restoration, renewal, and redemption, it will help if we can come to understand what our part is in the process of redemption – and what is God’s. First, let me encourage you: God does all the heavy lifting. But that doesn’t mean you sit around and wait for celestial reconstruction while watching reality tv and gorging on chips and dip.
We must prepare.
Life is more than we can handle.
Take all the help we can get. As we trust that God is coming to our aid and providing us with the rescue we so desperately need, we practice learning how to live and trust him.
Prayer is one of those essential tools that we need to learn how to use. Neil Anderson says, “What is prayer? It is communication with God by which we express our dependence on Him. God knows what we need in our battle with the powers of darkness, and He is more ready to meet our needs that we are to ask. But until we express our dependence on Him in prayer, God may not acct. In prayer we say, “You are the Lord, not I. You know what’s best; I don’t. I’m not telling You what to do; I’m asking.” Prayer is a means by which God guides and protects His children. (See Daily In Christ, by Dr. Neil and Joanne Anderson, January 12th.)
In the Christ-centered 12 step process, step one is the place where we begin to acknowledge our dependence on the wrong thing/s. Step two invites us to come to believe that a power greater than ourselves – God – can restore us to sanity. These are two very powerful steps. It is not easy to admit our need for sanity.
Life is more than we can handle on our own. It will drive us crazy if we try.
May we pray and ask God to rescue us today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 17
Scripture focus: That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:15-19
What do you think it means to trust God?
I have a friend who trusted God when she made the decision to not drink (her “go to” escape plan when life gets hard) even though she received some very upsetting news – information that proved without a shadow of doubt that life for her and those she loves is about to get a lot harder. My friend is, in my opinion living large and trusting big time – but she wonders if this is so. Why does she wonder? Because sometimes our expectations about trust are unrealistic, or just plain wrong. Here are some of the issues my friend is working through….
* This courageous act of trusting God did NOT make my friend FEEL better. She thought it should!
* My friend trusted God, but didn’t fully realize that she had done so until her community pointed her trust out to her. She was so distracted by her feelings of shame (triggered by her desire to drink) that she missed her big moment when she trusted God to rescue her more than alcohol.
* Her act of trust did not change the tough circumstances she and others are experiencing. She was hoping trust would change her tough circumstance. She discovered that instead, it changed her!
* My friend is continuing to trust in God’s endless energy and boundless strength to protect her – because for her, the decision to live differently in a trust relationship with God is taking every ounce of energy she possesses.
*Sometimes trust is blind – not necessarily full of discernment, intelligence, focus and clarity at the moment one chooses to trust.
Bottom line: For today, my friend chose to trust by taking the next right step even as every fiber in her being demands that she listen to them and drink, drink, drink. This is a battle, and she’s fighting.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: That's why, when I heard of the solid trust you have in the Master Jesus and your outpouring of love to all the followers of Jesus, I couldn't stop thanking God for you—every time I prayed, I'd think of you and give thanks. But I do more than thank. I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength! Ephesians 1:15-19
What do you think it means to trust God?
I have a friend who trusted God when she made the decision to not drink (her “go to” escape plan when life gets hard) even though she received some very upsetting news – information that proved without a shadow of doubt that life for her and those she loves is about to get a lot harder. My friend is, in my opinion living large and trusting big time – but she wonders if this is so. Why does she wonder? Because sometimes our expectations about trust are unrealistic, or just plain wrong. Here are some of the issues my friend is working through….
* This courageous act of trusting God did NOT make my friend FEEL better. She thought it should!
* My friend trusted God, but didn’t fully realize that she had done so until her community pointed her trust out to her. She was so distracted by her feelings of shame (triggered by her desire to drink) that she missed her big moment when she trusted God to rescue her more than alcohol.
* Her act of trust did not change the tough circumstances she and others are experiencing. She was hoping trust would change her tough circumstance. She discovered that instead, it changed her!
* My friend is continuing to trust in God’s endless energy and boundless strength to protect her – because for her, the decision to live differently in a trust relationship with God is taking every ounce of energy she possesses.
*Sometimes trust is blind – not necessarily full of discernment, intelligence, focus and clarity at the moment one chooses to trust.
Bottom line: For today, my friend chose to trust by taking the next right step even as every fiber in her being demands that she listen to them and drink, drink, drink. This is a battle, and she’s fighting.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 16
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
For the last few days you’ve heard some snippets of conversation from people all around the world who are all over the map spiritually. Isn’t that cool?
One of the lessons I’ve learned from listening to others is that evaluating others may not be the best use of my time. However, I really love the process of engaging in thoughtful conversations with others who want to think about how knowing God might alter how we evaluate our own lives.
I love thinking about the implications and possibilities of a fresh start for: someone six days clean and sober, a convicted pedophile, an unemployed father of four, an eager seminary graduate starting his or her first job, a wife who just discovered her husband is gay, a young couple dealing with infertility, a husband who just caught his wife cheating with his best friend, a freshman in college trying to decide how to have a successful college experience, a lonely young man without many social skills trying to find friends in a new town, a pastor with a dark secret sin, a homeless kid on the streets (because that’s safer than living at home).
I love the sound of a fresh start.
My heart breaks at all the reasons we might need one.
Seeking after a faith-filled life is not for sissies.
May we join in prayer for each other as we deal with God’s task, given to us, to tell everyone what he is doing.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
For the last few days you’ve heard some snippets of conversation from people all around the world who are all over the map spiritually. Isn’t that cool?
One of the lessons I’ve learned from listening to others is that evaluating others may not be the best use of my time. However, I really love the process of engaging in thoughtful conversations with others who want to think about how knowing God might alter how we evaluate our own lives.
I love thinking about the implications and possibilities of a fresh start for: someone six days clean and sober, a convicted pedophile, an unemployed father of four, an eager seminary graduate starting his or her first job, a wife who just discovered her husband is gay, a young couple dealing with infertility, a husband who just caught his wife cheating with his best friend, a freshman in college trying to decide how to have a successful college experience, a lonely young man without many social skills trying to find friends in a new town, a pastor with a dark secret sin, a homeless kid on the streets (because that’s safer than living at home).
I love the sound of a fresh start.
My heart breaks at all the reasons we might need one.
Seeking after a faith-filled life is not for sissies.
May we join in prayer for each other as we deal with God’s task, given to us, to tell everyone what he is doing.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 15
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I think a big problem in our world today is religion. It’s all about trying to make us feel guilty. If we could just eliminate religion, the world would be a better place because we wouldn’t have to feel bad and could just do what we think is right for us.”
It’s cold in my part of the world; instead of jogging through my neighborhood, I head out each morning to my local fitness center and grab a treadmill. I distract myself by watching a tv screen attached to the torture machine I run on. One day I watched a program on a religious broadcasting station. I came in toward the end of his message, but as best I can tell, he promised me that God would make me rich if I would just believe it and send his church a nice donation to prove my belief to God. He was followed by a woman bible study teacher who told her audience that the reason they were not experiencing God’s blessings was because of their sin. If they would believe God and confess their sin, God would either forgive them or smite them. But they shouldn’t feel bad if God chooses to judge rather than forgive, because God is God and can do anything he wants. It’s by grace anyone is saved, so if he doesn’t pick you, you should accept your fate. You are born to sin, and you may die that way too. After all that talk about religion, I flipped over to the channel that shows movies only women like to watch. I saw the conclusion of one of those cheesy chick flicks, where it so happens that an evil small town preacher was thwarted in his attempts to seduce the village youngsters into bad behaving by a woman in the community who knew better than to attend church, but was deeply spiritual. Through her use of, shall we say, spiritually alternative means, she was able to expose this God following imposter and restore order to her community. Looking at mere mortals as a way to understand God is risky business. I understand why “religion” gets a bad rap. But according to Paul, we are not being asked to drink the “Kool-aide” and adopt a particular religion. He’s asking us to become friends with God. He’s inviting us to join him in the work of getting out his message of hope to hurting people.
Since I didn’t have a clue what this writer meant by religion, I’m afraid I didn’t have much of a response. But I did offer up the idea that for me, I need more than my own thoughts to help me figure out my next right step. I told the writer about my own struggles with guilt and shame, and how I was learning to live by grace, with God as my protector against my own personal vulnerabilities to sin and shame. I told her I thought my biggest problem was me, but that my spiritual journey was helping me move beyond myself and find a purpose for living. I didn’t hear back from her.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I think a big problem in our world today is religion. It’s all about trying to make us feel guilty. If we could just eliminate religion, the world would be a better place because we wouldn’t have to feel bad and could just do what we think is right for us.”
It’s cold in my part of the world; instead of jogging through my neighborhood, I head out each morning to my local fitness center and grab a treadmill. I distract myself by watching a tv screen attached to the torture machine I run on. One day I watched a program on a religious broadcasting station. I came in toward the end of his message, but as best I can tell, he promised me that God would make me rich if I would just believe it and send his church a nice donation to prove my belief to God. He was followed by a woman bible study teacher who told her audience that the reason they were not experiencing God’s blessings was because of their sin. If they would believe God and confess their sin, God would either forgive them or smite them. But they shouldn’t feel bad if God chooses to judge rather than forgive, because God is God and can do anything he wants. It’s by grace anyone is saved, so if he doesn’t pick you, you should accept your fate. You are born to sin, and you may die that way too. After all that talk about religion, I flipped over to the channel that shows movies only women like to watch. I saw the conclusion of one of those cheesy chick flicks, where it so happens that an evil small town preacher was thwarted in his attempts to seduce the village youngsters into bad behaving by a woman in the community who knew better than to attend church, but was deeply spiritual. Through her use of, shall we say, spiritually alternative means, she was able to expose this God following imposter and restore order to her community. Looking at mere mortals as a way to understand God is risky business. I understand why “religion” gets a bad rap. But according to Paul, we are not being asked to drink the “Kool-aide” and adopt a particular religion. He’s asking us to become friends with God. He’s inviting us to join him in the work of getting out his message of hope to hurting people.
Since I didn’t have a clue what this writer meant by religion, I’m afraid I didn’t have much of a response. But I did offer up the idea that for me, I need more than my own thoughts to help me figure out my next right step. I told the writer about my own struggles with guilt and shame, and how I was learning to live by grace, with God as my protector against my own personal vulnerabilities to sin and shame. I told her I thought my biggest problem was me, but that my spiritual journey was helping me move beyond myself and find a purpose for living. I didn’t hear back from her.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 14
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I wish my spouse would read NSC materials or go to church with me. She has a lot of problems, and we fight all the time. Do you know of any good resources in Oklahoma that could help my wife get on track?”
Yikes! I’m not sure anyone is going to get on track in this family so long as there’s finger pointing going on. I suggested to this writer that he consider first looking at resources for himself. Maybe if he could learn some new ways to love his wife as Christ loved the church, she would be so encouraged by his metamorphosis from fighting man to loving husband that she’s join him in the journey.
I did some research and found an awesome church called Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. He began attending, met some really cool people, and soon his whole family joined him. His new friends at HHBC made some recommendations for support groups, healthy living and even some one-on-one counseling. They also got them into a couple’s bible study. Here’s the latest update.
“Who would have thought that I’d end up at a church where it was totally acceptable to say that my marriage is in trouble? These guys didn’t judge me or even tell me they’d pray for me and walk off shaking their heads in disgust like I’m some basket case of a person in need of their pity. In fact, I’ve learned that some of their families have had similar struggles. This is a great place to love God and work on my marriage.”
Notice that all the finger pointing has stopped, and together, as a community, this family is joining others in asking for help and seeking support and resources without finding fault. It sounds like a place where friendships are being established as a result of God going first – loving us, and encouraging us to do the same.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I wish my spouse would read NSC materials or go to church with me. She has a lot of problems, and we fight all the time. Do you know of any good resources in Oklahoma that could help my wife get on track?”
Yikes! I’m not sure anyone is going to get on track in this family so long as there’s finger pointing going on. I suggested to this writer that he consider first looking at resources for himself. Maybe if he could learn some new ways to love his wife as Christ loved the church, she would be so encouraged by his metamorphosis from fighting man to loving husband that she’s join him in the journey.
I did some research and found an awesome church called Henderson Hills Baptist Church in Edmond, Oklahoma. He began attending, met some really cool people, and soon his whole family joined him. His new friends at HHBC made some recommendations for support groups, healthy living and even some one-on-one counseling. They also got them into a couple’s bible study. Here’s the latest update.
“Who would have thought that I’d end up at a church where it was totally acceptable to say that my marriage is in trouble? These guys didn’t judge me or even tell me they’d pray for me and walk off shaking their heads in disgust like I’m some basket case of a person in need of their pity. In fact, I’ve learned that some of their families have had similar struggles. This is a great place to love God and work on my marriage.”
Notice that all the finger pointing has stopped, and together, as a community, this family is joining others in asking for help and seeking support and resources without finding fault. It sounds like a place where friendships are being established as a result of God going first – loving us, and encouraging us to do the same.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 13
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I’m in recovery. Thanks for providing me with some ways to think about my spirituality within the context of my recovery experience. I like how you guys are talking about process and not perfection. In my home group we talk about progress and not perfection. I like how ‘process’ and’ progress’ are only one letter different – but I think both are important points for me to keep in mind. I’ve been sober for the longest stretch since I was 11 years old – 180 days. Pray for me. I’m praying for you and your community.”
Evidently this guy has tried to start fresh a number of times and “failed” repeatedly (if success is sobriety without relapse). What I love about this email is the encouragement we are receiving from each other. It helps when God’s word reminds us that “we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look.”
Who knows what tomorrow will bring for any of us?
Notice that in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul is encouraging us to become friends with God. He isn’t asking us to become perfect or stop making mistakes. Because God is already a friend to us, we can relax and learn how to be a friend to God without fear of judgment and condemnation.
Once we have take the third step in the 12-step journey, our old life is gone and a new life burgeons. Figuring how to live this new life will take practice. Sometimes our outsides won’t look as new as our insides have the potential to achieve, and that’s okay.
Let’s pray for each other. God’s at work. How can we enter into this work with him?
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I’m in recovery. Thanks for providing me with some ways to think about my spirituality within the context of my recovery experience. I like how you guys are talking about process and not perfection. In my home group we talk about progress and not perfection. I like how ‘process’ and’ progress’ are only one letter different – but I think both are important points for me to keep in mind. I’ve been sober for the longest stretch since I was 11 years old – 180 days. Pray for me. I’m praying for you and your community.”
Evidently this guy has tried to start fresh a number of times and “failed” repeatedly (if success is sobriety without relapse). What I love about this email is the encouragement we are receiving from each other. It helps when God’s word reminds us that “we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look.”
Who knows what tomorrow will bring for any of us?
Notice that in 2 Corinthians 5 Paul is encouraging us to become friends with God. He isn’t asking us to become perfect or stop making mistakes. Because God is already a friend to us, we can relax and learn how to be a friend to God without fear of judgment and condemnation.
Once we have take the third step in the 12-step journey, our old life is gone and a new life burgeons. Figuring how to live this new life will take practice. Sometimes our outsides won’t look as new as our insides have the potential to achieve, and that’s okay.
Let’s pray for each other. God’s at work. How can we enter into this work with him?
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 12
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I appreciated today’s message. It made me feel better. I’m really trying this year to focus on me and feeling good.” I could have let this message ring delightfully in my ears and reply, “Thank you!” But I couldn’t leave it alone. So I sent back a response, asking the listener if I had missed the point, or was her objective in life “feeling good.”
Here is her reply. “Definitely, I want to feel good. I think that’s the mark of a Christian. The fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control – is what I want to display all the time.”
I’m really not trying to be a smarty pants here, but again, I had to reply. “Do you think it will always feel good to produce the fruit of the Spirit?”
“Yes! If it doesn’t, why else would we pursue it?” She answered.
“I’m just asking, because this week I had to use a lot of patience in order to extend someone love in my community. It did not make me feel good. What would have made me feel good was to hit someone on top of the head with a frying pan.” You can’t make stuff like this up. This is the truth; this is how I felt.
“Are you allowed to say stuff like this with your job title?” She asked.
“I don’t know. No one gave me an instruction manual when I started down this path. But it is how I honestly felt in the moment.”
“I think what you’re trying to tell me is that feeling good probably isn’t the goal I should have for 2010.”
“I’m just saying, if this works out for you, I want what you have.” I love how spiritual conversations are not limited to “right” and “wrong” answers – sometimes we just put it out there and ask God to have his way with us. May God have his way with us all today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I appreciated today’s message. It made me feel better. I’m really trying this year to focus on me and feeling good.” I could have let this message ring delightfully in my ears and reply, “Thank you!” But I couldn’t leave it alone. So I sent back a response, asking the listener if I had missed the point, or was her objective in life “feeling good.”
Here is her reply. “Definitely, I want to feel good. I think that’s the mark of a Christian. The fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control – is what I want to display all the time.”
I’m really not trying to be a smarty pants here, but again, I had to reply. “Do you think it will always feel good to produce the fruit of the Spirit?”
“Yes! If it doesn’t, why else would we pursue it?” She answered.
“I’m just asking, because this week I had to use a lot of patience in order to extend someone love in my community. It did not make me feel good. What would have made me feel good was to hit someone on top of the head with a frying pan.” You can’t make stuff like this up. This is the truth; this is how I felt.
“Are you allowed to say stuff like this with your job title?” She asked.
“I don’t know. No one gave me an instruction manual when I started down this path. But it is how I honestly felt in the moment.”
“I think what you’re trying to tell me is that feeling good probably isn’t the goal I should have for 2010.”
“I’m just saying, if this works out for you, I want what you have.” I love how spiritual conversations are not limited to “right” and “wrong” answers – sometimes we just put it out there and ask God to have his way with us. May God have his way with us all today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 11
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I would love to think that I could be forgiven for my sins. But you don’t understand – my sins are really really bad. A just God would never forgive me – I can’t forgive myself and don’t think I deserve forgiveness.”
My friend lives far, far away from our little community, but she is not alone. Many of us struggle with coming to understand how God can forgive us for our very great and dark offenses.
As I sent scripture verses winging through cyber-space about God’s mercy and grace, I eventually received this reply: “I was snorkeling the other day, and had what I think you would call a “God moment. It occurred to me that my resistance to accepting God’s forgiveness was very arrogant. As I was looking at the beauty of God’s creation, it was as if God spoke to me (not in an audible voice, I’m not crazy) and said, ‘Do you really think anything you could do, right or wrong, is more powerful than me?’ I get it, at least for the moment. God’s forgiveness is more about who he is than what I did!”
This may sound weird, but in some ways this young woman’s heart cry of feeling unforgiven and unforgivable turned out to be an excuse for inaction. As long as she could feel unforgiven, she felt no responsibility to do the next right thing.
She’s using her fresh start to make appropriate amends and wrestle with what it means to be a Christ representative. I’m so appreciative of her willingness to listen to God. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you the rest of the story. She continues to struggle with feeling unforgiven. But she is practicing living a forgiven life. No longer is she allowing how she feels to be her internal compass. She has stepped up to the plate and made a conscious decision to trust God.
May we follow her lead!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
“I would love to think that I could be forgiven for my sins. But you don’t understand – my sins are really really bad. A just God would never forgive me – I can’t forgive myself and don’t think I deserve forgiveness.”
My friend lives far, far away from our little community, but she is not alone. Many of us struggle with coming to understand how God can forgive us for our very great and dark offenses.
As I sent scripture verses winging through cyber-space about God’s mercy and grace, I eventually received this reply: “I was snorkeling the other day, and had what I think you would call a “God moment. It occurred to me that my resistance to accepting God’s forgiveness was very arrogant. As I was looking at the beauty of God’s creation, it was as if God spoke to me (not in an audible voice, I’m not crazy) and said, ‘Do you really think anything you could do, right or wrong, is more powerful than me?’ I get it, at least for the moment. God’s forgiveness is more about who he is than what I did!”
This may sound weird, but in some ways this young woman’s heart cry of feeling unforgiven and unforgivable turned out to be an excuse for inaction. As long as she could feel unforgiven, she felt no responsibility to do the next right thing.
She’s using her fresh start to make appropriate amends and wrestle with what it means to be a Christ representative. I’m so appreciative of her willingness to listen to God. I would be remiss if I didn’t tell you the rest of the story. She continues to struggle with feeling unforgiven. But she is practicing living a forgiven life. No longer is she allowing how she feels to be her internal compass. She has stepped up to the plate and made a conscious decision to trust God.
May we follow her lead!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 10
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
For the next few days, we’re going to use the emails of our friends brave enough to share them with us, and have a brief conversation about each one. I hope you will be encouraged by their stories.
“I have a lot of secret sins. I wish you’d stop talking about sharing our secrets and confessing. This makes me feel uncomfortable. My secrets don’t hurt anyone, why do you keep harping on this? In my community, I am a well known, influential person. If I shared my secret life, my reputation would be tarnished. Are you freaking crazy? There is nothing wrong with having a little privacy. Oh, and by the way, I’m an elder in my church – so don’t think I’m not religious. I normally love your content and quote you often. But this time you’ve gone too far. No one really lives like this. ”
This email triggered a week long dialogue that started with a question from me: “How would you feel if your secret sin was suddenly made public? Would you be ok with that?”
Response: “That would be the ruination of me; I would die.”
My response: “Unfortunately, you would not die. You would have to live with the exposure (ask the Governor of South Carolina, Tiger Woods, Elliott Spitzer, etc. if you doubt me). We like to think that our secret sins are indeed secret. But this is rarely true in this world, and certainly not true in the next. Do you often worry about exposure?”
Response: “Only when you make me think about it!!”
My response: “Oh come on. Don’t kid a kidder. You’ve had some close calls with exposure, right? And didn’t you freak out and promise yourself to clean up your act if you didn’t get caught?”
Response: “Yes. Busted.”
My response: “Think about this. What you are currently calling freedom and the right to privacy is really bondage in disguise and supported by your propensity to reside in the land of denial. The enemy has you in his sights. If you had a safe way to come clean and live up to your reputation, not just do a good job with appearance management, would you have a better, more purposeful life? Honestly, do you like the guy that people think you are? Or do you like your secret dark self better?”
Response: “I like the guy that people think I am.”
My response: “Then get the help you need, find the community that can support you, allow God’s grace and mercy to heal you – and be that guy. Independently of God, you can’t do it. But with God, all things are possible. But it’s a process, and it starts with you getting honest about how you’re living today.”
Response: “Of course you are right. I will follow through today.” JUST KIDDING!!!! We’re still in conversation about this - both of us trusting God with the results. My friend feels pretty discouraged at the moment. I’m kind of excited to see where he’s headed. I’m really excited to see where we are all headed as we seek God with all our hearts.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
For the next few days, we’re going to use the emails of our friends brave enough to share them with us, and have a brief conversation about each one. I hope you will be encouraged by their stories.
“I have a lot of secret sins. I wish you’d stop talking about sharing our secrets and confessing. This makes me feel uncomfortable. My secrets don’t hurt anyone, why do you keep harping on this? In my community, I am a well known, influential person. If I shared my secret life, my reputation would be tarnished. Are you freaking crazy? There is nothing wrong with having a little privacy. Oh, and by the way, I’m an elder in my church – so don’t think I’m not religious. I normally love your content and quote you often. But this time you’ve gone too far. No one really lives like this. ”
This email triggered a week long dialogue that started with a question from me: “How would you feel if your secret sin was suddenly made public? Would you be ok with that?”
Response: “That would be the ruination of me; I would die.”
My response: “Unfortunately, you would not die. You would have to live with the exposure (ask the Governor of South Carolina, Tiger Woods, Elliott Spitzer, etc. if you doubt me). We like to think that our secret sins are indeed secret. But this is rarely true in this world, and certainly not true in the next. Do you often worry about exposure?”
Response: “Only when you make me think about it!!”
My response: “Oh come on. Don’t kid a kidder. You’ve had some close calls with exposure, right? And didn’t you freak out and promise yourself to clean up your act if you didn’t get caught?”
Response: “Yes. Busted.”
My response: “Think about this. What you are currently calling freedom and the right to privacy is really bondage in disguise and supported by your propensity to reside in the land of denial. The enemy has you in his sights. If you had a safe way to come clean and live up to your reputation, not just do a good job with appearance management, would you have a better, more purposeful life? Honestly, do you like the guy that people think you are? Or do you like your secret dark self better?”
Response: “I like the guy that people think I am.”
My response: “Then get the help you need, find the community that can support you, allow God’s grace and mercy to heal you – and be that guy. Independently of God, you can’t do it. But with God, all things are possible. But it’s a process, and it starts with you getting honest about how you’re living today.”
Response: “Of course you are right. I will follow through today.” JUST KIDDING!!!! We’re still in conversation about this - both of us trusting God with the results. My friend feels pretty discouraged at the moment. I’m kind of excited to see where he’s headed. I’m really excited to see where we are all headed as we seek God with all our hearts.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 9
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
(Continued from yesterday’s devotional….) Messages that our friends from around the world are willing to trust me with and share anonymously with you...
“I appreciate today’s message. It made me feel better. I’m really trying this year to focus on me and feeling good.”
“I’m in recovery. Thanks for providing me with some ways to think about my spirituality within the context of my recovery experience. I like how you guys are talking about process and not perfection. In my home group we talk about progress and not perfection. I like how process and progress are only one letter different – but I think both are important points for me to keep in mind. I’ve been sober for the longest stretch ever since I was 11 years old – 180 days. Pray for me. I’m praying for you and your community.”
“I wish my spouse would read NSC materials or go to church with me. She has a lot of problems, and we fight all the time. Do you know of any good resources in Oklahoma that could help my wife get on track?”
“I think a big problem in our world today is religion. It’s all about trying to make us feel guilty. If we could just eliminate religion, the world would be a better place because we wouldn’t have to feel bad and could just do what we think is right for us.”
I could have selected a bunch more samples of the kinds of conversations that I have the privilege of hearing each day. With their permission, I’d like to take a few days and unpack some of the things we’ve talked about via email as they have shared and I’ve tried to respond.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
(Continued from yesterday’s devotional….) Messages that our friends from around the world are willing to trust me with and share anonymously with you...
“I appreciate today’s message. It made me feel better. I’m really trying this year to focus on me and feeling good.”
“I’m in recovery. Thanks for providing me with some ways to think about my spirituality within the context of my recovery experience. I like how you guys are talking about process and not perfection. In my home group we talk about progress and not perfection. I like how process and progress are only one letter different – but I think both are important points for me to keep in mind. I’ve been sober for the longest stretch ever since I was 11 years old – 180 days. Pray for me. I’m praying for you and your community.”
“I wish my spouse would read NSC materials or go to church with me. She has a lot of problems, and we fight all the time. Do you know of any good resources in Oklahoma that could help my wife get on track?”
“I think a big problem in our world today is religion. It’s all about trying to make us feel guilty. If we could just eliminate religion, the world would be a better place because we wouldn’t have to feel bad and could just do what we think is right for us.”
I could have selected a bunch more samples of the kinds of conversations that I have the privilege of hearing each day. With their permission, I’d like to take a few days and unpack some of the things we’ve talked about via email as they have shared and I’ve tried to respond.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 8
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
One of the unexpected blessings that we have as a result of creating a website is our own “worldwide web” of people connections. Each morning I crawl out of bed, grab a cup of caffeine and eagerly head to my home office. I punch up my NSC blog and fire up my email. I always have a message or two or twenty from Brazil, the UK, India or Indiana. I love the interaction! Consistently, these messages are cries for help or frustration. People watch our shows, read our blog, whatever, and they for some reason feel compelled to write and share with us their personal story. I’d love to report that these are happy stories that go like this – “I once was lost, then I was found and now I’m fine.” It’s not like that. But that doesn’t mean the news is all bad. In fact, I love how people are willing to confess the truth about their messy lives – loving God and having secret sins that leave them filled with shame. When people get real about their situation, it is often at that very moment that they see God and his grace in new and transforming ways! Here are a few preapproved-for-anonymously-sharing messages from this past week...
“I have a lot of secret sins. I wish you’d stop talking about sharing our secrets and confessing. This makes me feel uncomfortable. My secrets don’t hurt anyone, why do you keep harping on this? In my community, I am a well known, influential person. If I shared my secret life, my reputation would be tarnished. Are you freaking crazy? There is nothing wrong with having a little privacy. Oh, and by the way, I’m an elder in my church – so don’t think I’m not religious. I normally love your content and quote you often. But this time you’ve gone too far. No one really lives like this.”
“I would love to think that I could be forgiven for my sins. But you don’t understand – my sins are really really bad. A just God would never forgive me – I can’t forgive myself and don’t think I deserve forgiveness.”
More messages tomorrow, and then we’ll discuss ‘em.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG
One of the unexpected blessings that we have as a result of creating a website is our own “worldwide web” of people connections. Each morning I crawl out of bed, grab a cup of caffeine and eagerly head to my home office. I punch up my NSC blog and fire up my email. I always have a message or two or twenty from Brazil, the UK, India or Indiana. I love the interaction! Consistently, these messages are cries for help or frustration. People watch our shows, read our blog, whatever, and they for some reason feel compelled to write and share with us their personal story. I’d love to report that these are happy stories that go like this – “I once was lost, then I was found and now I’m fine.” It’s not like that. But that doesn’t mean the news is all bad. In fact, I love how people are willing to confess the truth about their messy lives – loving God and having secret sins that leave them filled with shame. When people get real about their situation, it is often at that very moment that they see God and his grace in new and transforming ways! Here are a few preapproved-for-anonymously-sharing messages from this past week...
“I have a lot of secret sins. I wish you’d stop talking about sharing our secrets and confessing. This makes me feel uncomfortable. My secrets don’t hurt anyone, why do you keep harping on this? In my community, I am a well known, influential person. If I shared my secret life, my reputation would be tarnished. Are you freaking crazy? There is nothing wrong with having a little privacy. Oh, and by the way, I’m an elder in my church – so don’t think I’m not religious. I normally love your content and quote you often. But this time you’ve gone too far. No one really lives like this.”
“I would love to think that I could be forgiven for my sins. But you don’t understand – my sins are really really bad. A just God would never forgive me – I can’t forgive myself and don’t think I deserve forgiveness.”
More messages tomorrow, and then we’ll discuss ‘em.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 7
Scripture focus: And what we believe is that the One who raised up the master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:14-18 MSG
We need to get serious about assessing how our way of living is working for us.
I’m not talking about a life without troubles. I’m asking you quite directly – do you feel as if your life serves a purpose? That it is rich with meaning? If we want the good life, and we define that as trouble-free living with lots of toys, I don’t have anything to offer you in words of encouragement. If that life worked, wouldn’t someone like Tiger Woods have the sweet life? That guy, from an appearance management perspective, had it all - skill, victories in his field, fame, fortune, a beautiful family, and parents who adored him. Sure, he worked hard. But he played hard too. I’m not knocking on the guy. I am actually expressing empathy for him. Because we are so foolish as to look at the outward appearance of things, I doubt that many people were offering this man a hand up. Who would have thought he needed it? But what we’ve discovered as the Tiger Woods scandal has unfolded is something we should have known all along – appearances are deceiving. We all desperately need God to protect us and explain our lives to us. All of us are defiled and defined by our sin; we are hopeless and helpless, a condition that is offensive to God but never diminishes his love for us.
Our lives are unmanageable (no matter the appearance of things) when we live independently of God.
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” Matthew 5:8 MSG
Every detail works to our advantage and God’s glory if we ask God to make new life inside us. Then we will be equipped to provide a hand up to the next guy who has the good sense to reach his hand out and ask God to save him. This is our calling – to love as God loves, extending grace and mercy to others in need. May we reach up and out today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: And what we believe is that the One who raised up the master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise! So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:14-18 MSG
We need to get serious about assessing how our way of living is working for us.
I’m not talking about a life without troubles. I’m asking you quite directly – do you feel as if your life serves a purpose? That it is rich with meaning? If we want the good life, and we define that as trouble-free living with lots of toys, I don’t have anything to offer you in words of encouragement. If that life worked, wouldn’t someone like Tiger Woods have the sweet life? That guy, from an appearance management perspective, had it all - skill, victories in his field, fame, fortune, a beautiful family, and parents who adored him. Sure, he worked hard. But he played hard too. I’m not knocking on the guy. I am actually expressing empathy for him. Because we are so foolish as to look at the outward appearance of things, I doubt that many people were offering this man a hand up. Who would have thought he needed it? But what we’ve discovered as the Tiger Woods scandal has unfolded is something we should have known all along – appearances are deceiving. We all desperately need God to protect us and explain our lives to us. All of us are defiled and defined by our sin; we are hopeless and helpless, a condition that is offensive to God but never diminishes his love for us.
Our lives are unmanageable (no matter the appearance of things) when we live independently of God.
“You’re blessed when you get your inside world – your mind and heart – put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.” Matthew 5:8 MSG
Every detail works to our advantage and God’s glory if we ask God to make new life inside us. Then we will be equipped to provide a hand up to the next guy who has the good sense to reach his hand out and ask God to save him. This is our calling – to love as God loves, extending grace and mercy to others in need. May we reach up and out today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 6
Scripture focus: Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been torn down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us – trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us – he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best! 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 MSG
“Eternal life, identity, purpose, significance, security, and a sense of belonging are all attributes of mankind created in the image of God. Adam and Eve experienced these attributes in full measure, and we were destined to enjoy them too. But when Adam sinned, he died spiritually and forfeited everything God had provided. Being separated from God, Adam’s glowing attributes became glaring needs. As children of Adam, born separated from God, we come into the world with these same glaring needs. We wander through life striving to make a name for ourselves, looking for security in temporal things, and searching for significance apart from God. Is it a hopeless quest? No! We are able to fulfill these needs by establishing a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Everything Adam enjoyed in the garden before he sinned is now at our disposal.” Daily in Christ, by Dr. Neil and Joanne Anderson, January 15th entry.
Although mere mortals may not be much to look at with our messy ways and predisposition to grow forgetful of God and woefully self-reliant, there is more to each of us than meets the eye. We are created in the likeness of God. If created in God’s likeness, we will live our most contented lives when we care about what he cares about and love as he loves.
Coming to believe that God can restore us to sanity will require that we trust him with our every need, want and desire. May we pray to God about this today, pouring out our hearts and asking him to make us aware of his protection and provision.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Remember, our Message is not about ourselves; we’re proclaiming Jesus Christ, the Master. All we are is messengers, errand runners from Jesus for you. It started when God said, “Light up the darkness!” and our lives filled up with light as we saw and understood God in the face of Christ, all bright and beautiful. If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. As it is, there’s not much chance of that. You know for yourselves that we’re not much to look at. We’ve been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we’re not demoralized; we’re not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we’ve been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn’t left our side; we’ve been torn down, but we haven’t broken. What they did to Jesus, they do to us – trial and torture, mockery and murder; what Jesus did among them, he does in us – he lives! Our lives are at constant risk for Jesus’ sake, which makes Jesus’ life all the more evident in us. While we’re going through the worst, you’re getting in on the best! 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 MSG
“Eternal life, identity, purpose, significance, security, and a sense of belonging are all attributes of mankind created in the image of God. Adam and Eve experienced these attributes in full measure, and we were destined to enjoy them too. But when Adam sinned, he died spiritually and forfeited everything God had provided. Being separated from God, Adam’s glowing attributes became glaring needs. As children of Adam, born separated from God, we come into the world with these same glaring needs. We wander through life striving to make a name for ourselves, looking for security in temporal things, and searching for significance apart from God. Is it a hopeless quest? No! We are able to fulfill these needs by establishing a personal relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. Everything Adam enjoyed in the garden before he sinned is now at our disposal.” Daily in Christ, by Dr. Neil and Joanne Anderson, January 15th entry.
Although mere mortals may not be much to look at with our messy ways and predisposition to grow forgetful of God and woefully self-reliant, there is more to each of us than meets the eye. We are created in the likeness of God. If created in God’s likeness, we will live our most contented lives when we care about what he cares about and love as he loves.
Coming to believe that God can restore us to sanity will require that we trust him with our every need, want and desire. May we pray to God about this today, pouring out our hearts and asking him to make us aware of his protection and provision.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 5
Scripture focus: If our message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 MSG
If we think that following God means that we get everything we think we want and need out of life, then aren’t we turning God into nothing more than a glorified tooth fairy, Easter bunny or Santa? God promises to give us what we need (see Psalm 23:1), but that has very little to do with what we want.
* Following God means bothering to believe a truth that we can’t see.
* This requires that we continually acknowledge our stone-blindedness.
* Part of coming out of the darkness into his wonderful light requires that we give up our secrets and trust God and others with our shame.
* We identify our problems through our perceptions of what we lack. Perhaps we’d be better off if we studied what we perceive we lack and use that information to acknowledge our longing for darkness rather than the light.
Our sin and shame may currently define us in our own eyes, but God sees us clearly through his own eyes. Oh, how I pray that we will seek his view of us. This will require us to believe truths that we can’t quite see yet, as we trust God’s view of ourselves and the world we live in.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: If our message is obscure to anyone, it’s not because we’re holding back in any way. No, it’s because these other people are looking or going the wrong way and refuse to give it serious attention. All they have eyes for is the fashionable god of darkness. They think he can give them what they want, and that they won’t have to bother believing a Truth they can’t see. They’re stone-blind to the dayspring brightness of the Message that shines with Christ, who gives us the best picture of God we’ll ever get. 2 Corinthians 4:3-4 MSG
If we think that following God means that we get everything we think we want and need out of life, then aren’t we turning God into nothing more than a glorified tooth fairy, Easter bunny or Santa? God promises to give us what we need (see Psalm 23:1), but that has very little to do with what we want.
* Following God means bothering to believe a truth that we can’t see.
* This requires that we continually acknowledge our stone-blindedness.
* Part of coming out of the darkness into his wonderful light requires that we give up our secrets and trust God and others with our shame.
* We identify our problems through our perceptions of what we lack. Perhaps we’d be better off if we studied what we perceive we lack and use that information to acknowledge our longing for darkness rather than the light.
Our sin and shame may currently define us in our own eyes, but God sees us clearly through his own eyes. Oh, how I pray that we will seek his view of us. This will require us to believe truths that we can’t quite see yet, as we trust God’s view of ourselves and the world we live in.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 4
Scripture focus: Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 4:1-3 MSG
As I read Paul’s words to the Corinthians, I am reminded of God’s creative power. In the beginning, God spoke and creation came into existence. This is what I think about as I read Paul’s description of how believers behave. It sounds like these words are spoken about our potential, not necessarily our current situation. Frankly, I am not this evolved.
I love Paul’s words, because they remind me of where I am headed, so long as I continue to follow Jesus and step as he speaks. Here’s what my marching orders look like from this scripture focus.
* Hard times happen and are not necessarily a reflection of my believing state – for good or evil. Hard times are inevitable, but are not all about me. Stepping as God speaks does not provide an antidote for suffering.
* As a follower, I am in the process of practicing how to live life mask-free and without game playing. Trusting God will require me to stop trying so darn hard to get my way all the time.
* Part of my spiritual development will come as I learn God’s Word and handle it appropriately – learning what God means through it, not using it as a tool to convince self or others of something I want to believe to be true.
* I must learn how to live my life without secrets.
* I leave the judgment of my life and God to others; my job is to step as God speaks.
May we step lively today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: Since God has so generously let us in on what he is doing, we’re not about to throw up our hands and walk off the job just because we run into occasional hard times. We refuse to wear masks and play games. We don’t maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. And we don’t twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we keep everything we do and say out in the open, the whole truth on display, so that those who want to can see and judge for themselves in the presence of God. 2 Corinthians 4:1-3 MSG
As I read Paul’s words to the Corinthians, I am reminded of God’s creative power. In the beginning, God spoke and creation came into existence. This is what I think about as I read Paul’s description of how believers behave. It sounds like these words are spoken about our potential, not necessarily our current situation. Frankly, I am not this evolved.
I love Paul’s words, because they remind me of where I am headed, so long as I continue to follow Jesus and step as he speaks. Here’s what my marching orders look like from this scripture focus.
* Hard times happen and are not necessarily a reflection of my believing state – for good or evil. Hard times are inevitable, but are not all about me. Stepping as God speaks does not provide an antidote for suffering.
* As a follower, I am in the process of practicing how to live life mask-free and without game playing. Trusting God will require me to stop trying so darn hard to get my way all the time.
* Part of my spiritual development will come as I learn God’s Word and handle it appropriately – learning what God means through it, not using it as a tool to convince self or others of something I want to believe to be true.
* I must learn how to live my life without secrets.
* I leave the judgment of my life and God to others; my job is to step as God speaks.
May we step lively today!
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 3
Scripture focus: We are to grow up in all aspects into Him. Ephesians 4:15 NAS
It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Galatians 5:1 NAS
Last week my son the songwriter allowed me the privilege of listening to a series of songs he’s writing that focus on the theme of transformation. Some of them are very difficult to listen to because transformation often starts in a very dark and lonely place. Eventually all his songs end on a hopeful note. I asked him about the song structure. I fully expected to hear some really great reason why his songs progress in this manner. I imagined that he will respond with something deep and theological, profound and in keeping with all the excellent parenting and godly instruction he received during his formative years.
“It’s easy to write depressing, dark, and lonely.” He glances up from his guitar with an enigmatic grin.
“That’s it? It’s easy? That’s all you got? A lot of people are going to be pretty disappointed to find out that one reason for all those great songs that sing the blues is because they’re easy to write.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t seem to leave them alone. I always end up tacking on some reason to hope.” He sighs as if this is a defect of character.
Has [God] said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19 NAS
I pray that we will listen to that small, barely perceptible voice within us that woos us toward maturity. We may find the blues a song with a catchy, familiar tune. God’s Spirit calls to us, inviting us into an uncommon life. May we heed the call to hope – a richer, more complex life reserved for those who refuse to give up and give in.
I suspect my boy is right – it is easier to sing the blues. But once we’ve come to believe that God can restore us to sanity, I want more than a common life, don’t you? I want to leverage God’s saving grace and redemptive work for an uncommonly large living life. May we find our way back to God and his grand epic adventures! Prince and Princess Warriors can handle far more than easy.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: We are to grow up in all aspects into Him. Ephesians 4:15 NAS
It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Galatians 5:1 NAS
Last week my son the songwriter allowed me the privilege of listening to a series of songs he’s writing that focus on the theme of transformation. Some of them are very difficult to listen to because transformation often starts in a very dark and lonely place. Eventually all his songs end on a hopeful note. I asked him about the song structure. I fully expected to hear some really great reason why his songs progress in this manner. I imagined that he will respond with something deep and theological, profound and in keeping with all the excellent parenting and godly instruction he received during his formative years.
“It’s easy to write depressing, dark, and lonely.” He glances up from his guitar with an enigmatic grin.
“That’s it? It’s easy? That’s all you got? A lot of people are going to be pretty disappointed to find out that one reason for all those great songs that sing the blues is because they’re easy to write.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t seem to leave them alone. I always end up tacking on some reason to hope.” He sighs as if this is a defect of character.
Has [God] said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19 NAS
I pray that we will listen to that small, barely perceptible voice within us that woos us toward maturity. We may find the blues a song with a catchy, familiar tune. God’s Spirit calls to us, inviting us into an uncommon life. May we heed the call to hope – a richer, more complex life reserved for those who refuse to give up and give in.
I suspect my boy is right – it is easier to sing the blues. But once we’ve come to believe that God can restore us to sanity, I want more than a common life, don’t you? I want to leverage God’s saving grace and redemptive work for an uncommonly large living life. May we find our way back to God and his grand epic adventures! Prince and Princess Warriors can handle far more than easy.
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
February 2
Scripture focus: God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? Don't worry and ask yourselves, "Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?" Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. Matthew 6:30-34 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
I am convinced that I worry about the wrong things. I belong to a fitness center that I use six days a week. A creature of habit, I have a particular treadmill that suits me. I’m already fretting about all those New Year’s resolutions and the people that will invade my club and mess up my routine. By mid-March, experience has taught me that the interlopers will give up and return to their couches. But the next few weeks will annoy me. I know this is stupid, small and petty behavior. I realize that I have no proprietary right to the one treadmill that doesn’t have a big air vent blowing down on it. It is incongruent for someone who knows God to worry about such things. But I believe, AND I fret. I’ve also learned a couple of hard lessons.
(1) If I’m fretting, I’m suffering unproductively; it is impossible for me to effectively participate in the solution when I’m in worry mode. Under stress, our brain lights up in all the wrong places to think clearly and creatively. (However, if you need to run from a bear chasing you, fret away! Your mid-brain and those giant shots of adrenalin shooting through your limbs will provide the fuel you need to run faster than at least one other person also fleeing from Smokey.)
(2) Worry causes me to focus on the minute details, and I fail to take into account a bigger picture. Have you ever noticed that the things we worry about rarely happen, but we’re sometimes blindsided by a problem that we never anticipated? I have a friend who is obsessed with her abs, and she is working out like an Olympic hopeful . Meanwhile, her husband is cheating on her and her kids are running amok. But she’s in that gym seven days a week for hours on end. She tells me that she doesn’t have time to book an appointment with a therapist – his schedule doesn’t mesh with her workout regime. I admire her abs. But I’m not sure how comforting they’re going to be when the consequences of such misplaced concern come home to roost.
Finally, I’ve learned this frustrating fact. No matter how much I know about the deleterious effects of worry on my body, mind and spirit – I still find myself becoming anxious about all sorts of large and small matters. Beating myself up about my worrisome ways doesn’t change my bad habit. I’ve begun the practice of asking God to protect me from myself. I’m asking him to make me conscious of my anxiety, and as soon as I am aware of my state of mind, I acknowledge to him, myself and my accountability partner my unmanageable and worry-dependent ways. I have ceased to believe that I have it within myself to change. But I am trusting God to protect me from my vulnerability to worry and the shame that this bad believing behavior triggers within me. Whether or not I can eliminate worry from my own life, God is standing with me. I am trusting that he is at work, as I work to believe. Lord, help us in our unbelief!
Has [God] said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Scripture focus: God gives such beauty to everything that grows in the fields, even though it is here today and thrown into a fire tomorrow. He will surely do even more for you! Why do you have such little faith? Don't worry and ask yourselves, "Will we have anything to eat? Will we have anything to drink? Will we have any clothes to wear?" Only people who don't know God are always worrying about such things. Your Father in heaven knows that you need all of these. But more than anything else, put God's work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today. Matthew 6:30-34 Contemporary English Version (CEV)
I am convinced that I worry about the wrong things. I belong to a fitness center that I use six days a week. A creature of habit, I have a particular treadmill that suits me. I’m already fretting about all those New Year’s resolutions and the people that will invade my club and mess up my routine. By mid-March, experience has taught me that the interlopers will give up and return to their couches. But the next few weeks will annoy me. I know this is stupid, small and petty behavior. I realize that I have no proprietary right to the one treadmill that doesn’t have a big air vent blowing down on it. It is incongruent for someone who knows God to worry about such things. But I believe, AND I fret. I’ve also learned a couple of hard lessons.
(1) If I’m fretting, I’m suffering unproductively; it is impossible for me to effectively participate in the solution when I’m in worry mode. Under stress, our brain lights up in all the wrong places to think clearly and creatively. (However, if you need to run from a bear chasing you, fret away! Your mid-brain and those giant shots of adrenalin shooting through your limbs will provide the fuel you need to run faster than at least one other person also fleeing from Smokey.)
(2) Worry causes me to focus on the minute details, and I fail to take into account a bigger picture. Have you ever noticed that the things we worry about rarely happen, but we’re sometimes blindsided by a problem that we never anticipated? I have a friend who is obsessed with her abs, and she is working out like an Olympic hopeful . Meanwhile, her husband is cheating on her and her kids are running amok. But she’s in that gym seven days a week for hours on end. She tells me that she doesn’t have time to book an appointment with a therapist – his schedule doesn’t mesh with her workout regime. I admire her abs. But I’m not sure how comforting they’re going to be when the consequences of such misplaced concern come home to roost.
Finally, I’ve learned this frustrating fact. No matter how much I know about the deleterious effects of worry on my body, mind and spirit – I still find myself becoming anxious about all sorts of large and small matters. Beating myself up about my worrisome ways doesn’t change my bad habit. I’ve begun the practice of asking God to protect me from myself. I’m asking him to make me conscious of my anxiety, and as soon as I am aware of my state of mind, I acknowledge to him, myself and my accountability partner my unmanageable and worry-dependent ways. I have ceased to believe that I have it within myself to change. But I am trusting God to protect me from my vulnerability to worry and the shame that this bad believing behavior triggers within me. Whether or not I can eliminate worry from my own life, God is standing with me. I am trusting that he is at work, as I work to believe. Lord, help us in our unbelief!
Has [God] said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19
Click on the word comments below and join our conversation!
© Copyright 2010 NorthStar Community
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)