Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves. Psalm 126:6
To love might be described as to plant a seed.
In this sense planting is fairly easy when the ground is soft and the crops are plentiful, for to love those who welcome your love and who share their love with you can be a task done with great ease and filled with much joy.
Being a city boy I don’t know much about farming, but I am told that planting seeds in a time of drought and famine is about as difficult as it gets. Not only is the ground hard to work with, but once planted, you can’t be sure that the seed will grow. Even worse, when famine is involved, the seed that is placed into the hard, dry earth diminishes what is available to be eaten now.
Thus,
Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing…
Sowing LOVE can bring the same sense of weeping and despair when “the ground is hard” (or should we say, the attitude of the other person is hard) and when I don’t feel like I have much more to give nor do I have a guarantee of getting a return. In fact it may seem as though I will be starving myself and doing myself harm if I pour out anymore love in a certain direction.
And yet, the farmer knows that the only true way to make sure you don’t have the fruit of a harvest in the future is to not plant ANY seeds today. But as long as seeds continue to be planted, a hope for harvest still remains.
So also in love. The only true way I can be sure not to have a fruitful relationship with someone is to stop planting seeds of love. But as long as seeds of love continue to be planted, a hope for something new, something blessed, something fruitful still remains.
Pray that HE who along with His love was planted/buried in the cold dark tomb on account of the coldness and darkness of those whom He loved, might also empower our love, once planted, to burst forth as He and His love also did on the Third Day in His glorious resurrection.
Then, those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.
Prayer: O Jesus, may the fruit of your loving relationship with me provide the seed, the water, and the harvest in my relationships with others. In your name. Amen.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Practice, Practice, Practice
Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me – put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9
Both of my sons play the piano.
Their enjoyment level in playing, though, is often determined by which day of the week it is.
The first day after their piano lesson is usually the worst. With newly assigned music before them it is not out of the ordinary to hear such complaints as: This is too hard. I can’t play this. I don’t like this piece. I don’t want to play this. And sometimes even a: I don’t want to play piano anymore.
I wonder how often I have had the same attitude when presented with my “next assignment” from the Lord?
It has taken a few years for me to learn how to have patience with them and to realize what a little practice can accomplish. Not only do the confusing notes on the page begin to make sense to them and to their fingers (and to our ears!), but their frustrations and doubts quickly begin to subside and are replaced with confidence and joy. I love this piece! they finally proclaim, not because the piece is suddenly not hard – but because they have practiced it enough to learn it and enjoy it. They are still learning to recognize that some decent practice along with a little musical giftedness can go a LONG way.
How about you and YOUR next assignment from the Lord?
At first glance it may seem too hard, if not impossible. You want me to do what?!? You expect me to stop speaking badly about who? You would like me to spend more time with you when? You are inviting me to trust you regarding that?
While His assignments can seem overwhelming at times, we tend to forget what some decent practice mixed with a little giftedness can accomplish – and in fact, in Christ we are not merely “a little gifted” – rather we are completely gifted! In us dwells the perfect Son of God through His Holy Spirit!!!
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7
Only we forget that even the greatest gifts can be meaningless without practice.
And, true, the first few days (or sometimes weeks or longer) of practicing a new assignment can be by far the worst. But in time, as our Giftedness works within us, our doubts and frustrations will subside and be replaced with confidence and joy until what we do makes music to our ears as well as His.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your resurrected life now dwells in me. May the gift of this new life be seen as I learn to practice the faith you have given me. In your name. Amen.
Both of my sons play the piano.
Their enjoyment level in playing, though, is often determined by which day of the week it is.
The first day after their piano lesson is usually the worst. With newly assigned music before them it is not out of the ordinary to hear such complaints as: This is too hard. I can’t play this. I don’t like this piece. I don’t want to play this. And sometimes even a: I don’t want to play piano anymore.
I wonder how often I have had the same attitude when presented with my “next assignment” from the Lord?
It has taken a few years for me to learn how to have patience with them and to realize what a little practice can accomplish. Not only do the confusing notes on the page begin to make sense to them and to their fingers (and to our ears!), but their frustrations and doubts quickly begin to subside and are replaced with confidence and joy. I love this piece! they finally proclaim, not because the piece is suddenly not hard – but because they have practiced it enough to learn it and enjoy it. They are still learning to recognize that some decent practice along with a little musical giftedness can go a LONG way.
How about you and YOUR next assignment from the Lord?
At first glance it may seem too hard, if not impossible. You want me to do what?!? You expect me to stop speaking badly about who? You would like me to spend more time with you when? You are inviting me to trust you regarding that?
While His assignments can seem overwhelming at times, we tend to forget what some decent practice mixed with a little giftedness can accomplish – and in fact, in Christ we are not merely “a little gifted” – rather we are completely gifted! In us dwells the perfect Son of God through His Holy Spirit!!!
Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 1 Corinthians 12:7
Only we forget that even the greatest gifts can be meaningless without practice.
And, true, the first few days (or sometimes weeks or longer) of practicing a new assignment can be by far the worst. But in time, as our Giftedness works within us, our doubts and frustrations will subside and be replaced with confidence and joy until what we do makes music to our ears as well as His.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your resurrected life now dwells in me. May the gift of this new life be seen as I learn to practice the faith you have given me. In your name. Amen.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
SHINE!
Let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16
What would the church look like in our country (not to mention the world), if each congregation, rather than focusing on filling pews and meeting budgets and making sure everyone “inside the walls” was pleased – if instead we focused on doing good to every person the Lord puts in our lives?
What kind of CRAZY difference would we make if each Christian spent his/her life blessing others!?!
Life in this world is constantly tempting us to focus on ourselves and our own survival, and the church is not immune to such temptations. Nonetheless, the Word of God (who was made flesh and in whom we now live) just as constantly calls us back to join Him in His mission to SHINE.
Read the following verses ALOUD (unless you’re at work and embarrassed to do so, then at least “mouth” them):
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1Cor 10:24
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal 6:9
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:10
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Heb 10:24
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Jam 3:13
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1Pe 2:12
Having been baptized in Christ, we have been born “into” the One who has come to love and do good to this world. He has done so (and continues to do so!) for us – and His mercies are new to us every morning (Lam. 3:23) – not because we deserve, but because He has come to serve!
What are some of the ways that you might serve, bless, or otherwise do good to the people around you? Make a quick list: five things; two; just one! However many!
Now list (though maybe don’t write this down) a few of the most UNdeserving people in your life.
What would you need in order to put the two of these together – your blessings and the undeserving people in your life?
Might you even pray for such an opportunity to arise within the next few days??? (hours??, NOW?)
Fear for your own survival in such a scenario? The Lord has this covered too:
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
May the undeserved love of the LORD both FILL you and overflow from you that this love might indeed FILL all of creation!
Prayer: Only you, Lord Jesus, could love the world like you do. Bless me by doing so through me. In your holy name. Amen.
What would the church look like in our country (not to mention the world), if each congregation, rather than focusing on filling pews and meeting budgets and making sure everyone “inside the walls” was pleased – if instead we focused on doing good to every person the Lord puts in our lives?
What kind of CRAZY difference would we make if each Christian spent his/her life blessing others!?!
Life in this world is constantly tempting us to focus on ourselves and our own survival, and the church is not immune to such temptations. Nonetheless, the Word of God (who was made flesh and in whom we now live) just as constantly calls us back to join Him in His mission to SHINE.
Read the following verses ALOUD (unless you’re at work and embarrassed to do so, then at least “mouth” them):
Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others. 1Cor 10:24
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Gal 6:9
For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Eph 2:10
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Heb 10:24
Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. Jam 3:13
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 1Pe 2:12
Having been baptized in Christ, we have been born “into” the One who has come to love and do good to this world. He has done so (and continues to do so!) for us – and His mercies are new to us every morning (Lam. 3:23) – not because we deserve, but because He has come to serve!
What are some of the ways that you might serve, bless, or otherwise do good to the people around you? Make a quick list: five things; two; just one! However many!
Now list (though maybe don’t write this down) a few of the most UNdeserving people in your life.
What would you need in order to put the two of these together – your blessings and the undeserving people in your life?
Might you even pray for such an opportunity to arise within the next few days??? (hours??, NOW?)
Fear for your own survival in such a scenario? The Lord has this covered too:
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 2 Corinthians 9:8
May the undeserved love of the LORD both FILL you and overflow from you that this love might indeed FILL all of creation!
Prayer: Only you, Lord Jesus, could love the world like you do. Bless me by doing so through me. In your holy name. Amen.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Managing Mercy
who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:11
I want to manage my money so that I don’t spend more than I earn. I want to manage my time in a way where moments aren’t wasted (or overbooked). I want to manage a lot of things. I even want to manage my use of energy and natural resources in a way that helps the environment (though I sometimes forget what goes into recycling and what just gets thrown away, not to mention that I just learned that chicken bones should go in neither, but rather down the sink’s garbage disposal – who would have thought!).
But what about wanting to manage what Jesus calls true riches?
Take mercy for example. Mercy is certainly one of our true riches, isn’t it?
And yet, how often do I think about managing mercy? How many books are written about it? How many seminars teach it? Do any of you iPhone users have an app for that?
What in the world is mercy?
I suppose it is anything from simply helping someone who doesn’t deserve it to actually letting your enemy, who just offended you, off the hook.
How often do you let your enemy off the hook? How often do we let our FRIENDS off the hook?
How often do you help the undeserving? How often do we help those who DO deserve?
Even if we were to stop and think about and intentionally manage our mercy, how generous would we be with it? (I wonder if we aren’t sometimes more merciful when we DON’T intentionally manage it.)
And why don’t we give out mercy more often? And why don’t we give out mercy EVERY TIME an opportunity occurs?
Every time I’m offended – mercy.
Every time someone doesn’t deserve help, but could use it – mercy.
Every day. Every person. Mercy for you and for you and for you.
What? Am I afraid that I’ll run out of it? As though it is like money where I only have so much I can spend before I run out?
Am I fearful that I don’t have the time for it? As though I don’t have room in my schedule for forgiveness today because I have to take my kids to soccer practice?
Do I think that it might not be good for the environment? As though too much mercy will bring about greater global warming (which by the way, it might!)?
Jesus said, Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
I am thankful beyond words that our Lord has not noticed all of the good reasons to neglect or intentionally withhold His mercy from us – but rather that His mercies are new each morning (noon and night) and that He so graciously showers them upon me and all – not because we are His friends or because we deserve it, but rather because that is the type of Manager He is.
My prayer is that He might help me manage my mercy in the same way.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your mercy never fails me. Help me to give out mercy to others in the same way that you have allowed me to receive mercy from you. In your name. Amen.
I want to manage my money so that I don’t spend more than I earn. I want to manage my time in a way where moments aren’t wasted (or overbooked). I want to manage a lot of things. I even want to manage my use of energy and natural resources in a way that helps the environment (though I sometimes forget what goes into recycling and what just gets thrown away, not to mention that I just learned that chicken bones should go in neither, but rather down the sink’s garbage disposal – who would have thought!).
But what about wanting to manage what Jesus calls true riches?
Take mercy for example. Mercy is certainly one of our true riches, isn’t it?
And yet, how often do I think about managing mercy? How many books are written about it? How many seminars teach it? Do any of you iPhone users have an app for that?
What in the world is mercy?
I suppose it is anything from simply helping someone who doesn’t deserve it to actually letting your enemy, who just offended you, off the hook.
How often do you let your enemy off the hook? How often do we let our FRIENDS off the hook?
How often do you help the undeserving? How often do we help those who DO deserve?
Even if we were to stop and think about and intentionally manage our mercy, how generous would we be with it? (I wonder if we aren’t sometimes more merciful when we DON’T intentionally manage it.)
And why don’t we give out mercy more often? And why don’t we give out mercy EVERY TIME an opportunity occurs?
Every time I’m offended – mercy.
Every time someone doesn’t deserve help, but could use it – mercy.
Every day. Every person. Mercy for you and for you and for you.
What? Am I afraid that I’ll run out of it? As though it is like money where I only have so much I can spend before I run out?
Am I fearful that I don’t have the time for it? As though I don’t have room in my schedule for forgiveness today because I have to take my kids to soccer practice?
Do I think that it might not be good for the environment? As though too much mercy will bring about greater global warming (which by the way, it might!)?
Jesus said, Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:36
I am thankful beyond words that our Lord has not noticed all of the good reasons to neglect or intentionally withhold His mercy from us – but rather that His mercies are new each morning (noon and night) and that He so graciously showers them upon me and all – not because we are His friends or because we deserve it, but rather because that is the type of Manager He is.
My prayer is that He might help me manage my mercy in the same way.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, your mercy never fails me. Help me to give out mercy to others in the same way that you have allowed me to receive mercy from you. In your name. Amen.
Wealth
So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:11
So as I was walking to work the other day, amongst the various pieces of litter along the way (which by the way, now that I’m mentioning such litter in this devotion my conscience is telling me, “why don’t you just bring a plastic bag with you so that you can clean it up every day as you walk?” – which, by the way, again, is only making me hope that my conscience will forget to ask this question tomorrow morning when I walk out of the door and that my wife, having read this devotion – I’m assuming she reads them – will also forget to remind me….nonetheless I digress) – so anyway – among the pieces of litter, one crumbled up ball of trash catches my eye. And in fact I DO pick this one up. Why? Well, because it is a McDonald’s receipt which just happens to be crumbled up and wrapped around two dollar bills.
In light of the above quoted words of Jesus, different questions come to mind about the person who left this for me to discover and add to my small collection of similar bills.
One – how could this person be so careless?
Two – if this person cannot be trusted with worldly wealth, would God EVER trust him (or her) with “true riches”
Three – what are TRUE riches, anyway?
Four – maybe this person already had TRUE riches, and therefore didn’t care about the money
Five – maybe this person had TRUE riches BECAUSE he knew that money was essentially worthless (compared with true riches, of course) and therefore threw the money out of the window on purpose
Six – maybe this was his way of helping the needy
Seven – maybe he simply littered and lost two bucks in the process
Eight – maybe he did it as a test to see who would pick it up and what that person would do with it (did I mention it ended up in my pocket?)
More importantly, I suppose, are questions about me rather than him.
How careless am I with worldly wealth? Whether throwing it out of the window literally or figuratively with what it gets spent on – does it matter? Could I be better? (WILL I be better?)
How often do I think about the spiritual issues at stake each time I make a purchase or make a financial decision???? (Do you?)
In light of my imperfections regarding finances, how could God ever trust ME with “TRUE riches”? What are these true riches? (I think I could name several, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many which I missed.)
Which type of riches do we spend more time and energy with – desiring, spending, budgeting, investing, working for….?
And why?
Not that I have all of the answers – which may be okay – as the parable that Jesus gives before this quote does more to provoke thought than it does to clarify the “right answer”. But I suppose that is part of the answer – am I letting my thought be provoked – in the sense that EVERY financial decision is in fact a part of my living out my faith in Him.
Whether He ultimately trusts me (and you) may be questionable, but in His GRACE He still seems to give – TRUE riches even more than worldly! And yet thankfully He doesn’t leave me alone to manage such true riches on my own, but through His Spirit comes to me and teaches me and provokes me and sometimes even succeeds in leading me. And through this shows me once again why He not only gives the riches, but how HE indeed IS the truest and richest Treasure.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, whether it be our change from a fast-food purchase or our salary for a year or the greater treasures of love and friendship and forgiveness and the like, thank you for having patience with us as you guide us to manage such things for good. In your precious name. Amen.
So as I was walking to work the other day, amongst the various pieces of litter along the way (which by the way, now that I’m mentioning such litter in this devotion my conscience is telling me, “why don’t you just bring a plastic bag with you so that you can clean it up every day as you walk?” – which, by the way, again, is only making me hope that my conscience will forget to ask this question tomorrow morning when I walk out of the door and that my wife, having read this devotion – I’m assuming she reads them – will also forget to remind me….nonetheless I digress) – so anyway – among the pieces of litter, one crumbled up ball of trash catches my eye. And in fact I DO pick this one up. Why? Well, because it is a McDonald’s receipt which just happens to be crumbled up and wrapped around two dollar bills.
In light of the above quoted words of Jesus, different questions come to mind about the person who left this for me to discover and add to my small collection of similar bills.
One – how could this person be so careless?
Two – if this person cannot be trusted with worldly wealth, would God EVER trust him (or her) with “true riches”
Three – what are TRUE riches, anyway?
Four – maybe this person already had TRUE riches, and therefore didn’t care about the money
Five – maybe this person had TRUE riches BECAUSE he knew that money was essentially worthless (compared with true riches, of course) and therefore threw the money out of the window on purpose
Six – maybe this was his way of helping the needy
Seven – maybe he simply littered and lost two bucks in the process
Eight – maybe he did it as a test to see who would pick it up and what that person would do with it (did I mention it ended up in my pocket?)
More importantly, I suppose, are questions about me rather than him.
How careless am I with worldly wealth? Whether throwing it out of the window literally or figuratively with what it gets spent on – does it matter? Could I be better? (WILL I be better?)
How often do I think about the spiritual issues at stake each time I make a purchase or make a financial decision???? (Do you?)
In light of my imperfections regarding finances, how could God ever trust ME with “TRUE riches”? What are these true riches? (I think I could name several, though I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many which I missed.)
Which type of riches do we spend more time and energy with – desiring, spending, budgeting, investing, working for….?
And why?
Not that I have all of the answers – which may be okay – as the parable that Jesus gives before this quote does more to provoke thought than it does to clarify the “right answer”. But I suppose that is part of the answer – am I letting my thought be provoked – in the sense that EVERY financial decision is in fact a part of my living out my faith in Him.
Whether He ultimately trusts me (and you) may be questionable, but in His GRACE He still seems to give – TRUE riches even more than worldly! And yet thankfully He doesn’t leave me alone to manage such true riches on my own, but through His Spirit comes to me and teaches me and provokes me and sometimes even succeeds in leading me. And through this shows me once again why He not only gives the riches, but how HE indeed IS the truest and richest Treasure.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, whether it be our change from a fast-food purchase or our salary for a year or the greater treasures of love and friendship and forgiveness and the like, thank you for having patience with us as you guide us to manage such things for good. In your precious name. Amen.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Learning to Love by Learning to Hate
Jesus said, Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26, from the 15th Sunday after Pentecost)
I love you so much that I hate you! Okay - that is not the normal way of expressing the depths of our love to those who are important in our lives. And yet, should it be?
It only takes a little bit of investigation to reveal that our normal, generic love for others tends to be on the side of selfish and self-serving. (Yikes, really?)
Quick test: do you in general tend to be more loving to those who ADD to your life OR to those who SUBTRACT from your life? (Ever ask why this is?)
Assuming you are like the rest of us and find yourself attracted to those who ADD to your life, consider this: does what your loved ones ADD to your life ever amount to enough? (And even more, will it be FOREVER enough?)
It is in this context that Jesus shares these powerful (and at times confusing) words, specifically directed toward those of us who "love in order to receive": whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother...
It is His way of saying, you can love them all you want, but they will never satisfy what you are looking for and truly need. Therefore "hate" them (or "reject" might be the better translation), and instead of trying to "receive" from them, receive rather from the One whose love DOES in fact satisfy.
AND THEN, having received HIS LOVE, then turn back to your father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, and LOVE THEM with a love which is focused completely on giving rather than on receiving.
By the way - this is how HE loves you!
Prayer: O Lord Jesus, you who love me for my sake rather than for your own, may your love in me help me to do the same with those around me. In your loving name. Amen.
I love you so much that I hate you! Okay - that is not the normal way of expressing the depths of our love to those who are important in our lives. And yet, should it be?
It only takes a little bit of investigation to reveal that our normal, generic love for others tends to be on the side of selfish and self-serving. (Yikes, really?)
Quick test: do you in general tend to be more loving to those who ADD to your life OR to those who SUBTRACT from your life? (Ever ask why this is?)
Assuming you are like the rest of us and find yourself attracted to those who ADD to your life, consider this: does what your loved ones ADD to your life ever amount to enough? (And even more, will it be FOREVER enough?)
It is in this context that Jesus shares these powerful (and at times confusing) words, specifically directed toward those of us who "love in order to receive": whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother...
It is His way of saying, you can love them all you want, but they will never satisfy what you are looking for and truly need. Therefore "hate" them (or "reject" might be the better translation), and instead of trying to "receive" from them, receive rather from the One whose love DOES in fact satisfy.
AND THEN, having received HIS LOVE, then turn back to your father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, and LOVE THEM with a love which is focused completely on giving rather than on receiving.
By the way - this is how HE loves you!
Prayer: O Lord Jesus, you who love me for my sake rather than for your own, may your love in me help me to do the same with those around me. In your loving name. Amen.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Seeing
Jesus looked at him and loved him. Mark 10:21
Before we can struggle with loving others like Jesus loves them, it might be best to begin by first looking at them. Sometimes our lives have become so self-absorbed that no matter what we might see with our eyes, in reality we are merely looking at ourselves. Jesus looked at him. Truth is, if you read the text you’ll notice that even this man was looking at himself (“what must I do to inherit eternal life?” he asks). Jesus tries to get him to look at the poor around him and yet he went away sad because he was unwilling to look away from the “me” that was him. The love of Jesus is found in this, He looked away to look at us – at you – and in seeing you couldn’t help but love you. Not because you deserved His love – heavens no! But rather because seeing you He noticed how much you needed His love. Jesus, help us to look at others and see the same. Amen.
Before we can struggle with loving others like Jesus loves them, it might be best to begin by first looking at them. Sometimes our lives have become so self-absorbed that no matter what we might see with our eyes, in reality we are merely looking at ourselves. Jesus looked at him. Truth is, if you read the text you’ll notice that even this man was looking at himself (“what must I do to inherit eternal life?” he asks). Jesus tries to get him to look at the poor around him and yet he went away sad because he was unwilling to look away from the “me” that was him. The love of Jesus is found in this, He looked away to look at us – at you – and in seeing you couldn’t help but love you. Not because you deserved His love – heavens no! But rather because seeing you He noticed how much you needed His love. Jesus, help us to look at others and see the same. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
