I have just rediscovered a bit of the joy of my first love, how great it is to start my day on my face, rejoicing that God has chosen to let me have another day on this planet He created in the Milky Way galaxy.
Loving to sleep in, and being a night owl too, always trying to squeeze in another task or read the next page or chapter, does not lend itself to living life as bounding out of bed daily, as 260 lbs generally just doesn't bound, but that is a work in progress (thanks to the treadmill I now plugged in by the freezer in our garage, having icy pops available within arms reach in the Oklahoma summer is a lovely thing!)
Several years ago in my Christian walk, I was struggling with when to schedule my daily quiet time, and the immediate answer to my prayer was for radio station to break out in Rich Mullin's Sometimes by Step. The familiar chorus "I will seek You in the morning, and I will learn to walk in Your ways, step by step you lead me, and I will follow You all of my days", to which my immediate response was like Indiana Jones seeing the snakes in aircraft as we were introduced to Indy's phobia of snakes early on, "Morning?!? I hate getting up early , and even more trying to read and absorb early in the day, what a sense of humor our Creator has.
Now , my favorite time with my Lord is in the shower, reminding me that Christ's finished work on the Cross has made me clean indeed, as I have bowed my knee and asked Him to be Savior and Lord, the Lord part coming on 01JAN1989 , following the Savior profession at the age of 6 . I kneel in the warm comfort of water massaging tired, almost 52 yr old neck and upper back muscles, and profess how thankful that my standing with my Lord is not based on my ability to perform, but a free gift, that I cannot buy, earn, or deserve, but is graciously given, even at a time when I was not called friend of God, but one who like Peter, denied Him daily.
Today, I am reminded of Rich and Beaker, sitting together I am sure , under the starry night or hundred in a grassy place in Kansas, loving their Creator and wondering at the words and chords coming into this world for the first time, and am thankful that I can offer their efforts to my Lord as my own " and I will follow you all of my days, I will follow you all of my days, and step by step You lead me, and I will follow you all of my days", that is my prayer, moment by moment, to walk like Jesus did, step by step where He saw His Father at work in the lives of whoever was brought to a daily path in a place where the same stars shone one night upon the baby in a manger, Creator of our Universe, coming to offer a chance to be clean to any who will bow the knee, and confess, Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise You.
Some day I will sing this with Rich and other brothers and sisters in Jesus, and hear a hammered dulcimer once again in the hands of a ragamuffin, brought to praise by the awesome, furious, raging fury we call the Love of God.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
A Passover dinner with my Master?
Today I continue the step by step process of beginning a ministry that I pray God will make my primary source of sustaining my family, and if not, it will be a part time passion for the rest of my life, not a sometime or spare time hobby as I have lazily pursued at my leisure these past 7 years.
As I am moment to moment seeking strength and renewal as I have some good 15 minute spans, maybe a good hour now and them, but daily, I am still not giving my whole self in seeking the Lord I say I want to serve, and get so easily distracted it makes me crazy at times. In those moments, trying to get the slot car back on the track and off the carpet, I love to read the 6 chapters in John's Gospel that take us from when Jesus washed the feet of those gathered with him that night for the Passover meal to when they departed for the garden to pray.
So many things taught in those short hours, how thankful I am that this is part of what God providentially inspired to be recorded as Holy Scripture, when I struggle, and know I have a battle facing me that I am not feeling up to fight, I get an unearthly calm in my self after meditating on these verses.
I believe the peace of Christ that He promises to give us is just this, that when we obey the Father in what He is asking of us, the rest of the concerns of the world cease to matter, if we know we are obedient, we are who God has made and called us to be. John 14:27 shares this promise from Jesus to the disciples, on the night when they were taught so many things, and shared His peace of oneness with the Father that comes from obedience with them. Without the need or temptation to worry about how other people respond or if they respond, and to resist Satan's lie that we judge our life's success on what others think or what other people do, or how they respond, our life is, and we just are, wholly His, and in that, we are all those things we want so badly to be, without having a struggle to equip ourselves or educate ourselves, we recognize that when we walk step by step, as Rich Mullins would write, " Step by step You lead me, and I will follow You all of my days". The confession, " Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you", minute by minute is on our lips and heart and mind, and we rest in that obedience, knowing our Father is pleased, because He sees His obedient Son, Jesus, when He looks at our life.
John 14: 15-18 says this again, as when we follow the commandments of Jesus, we are showing Him our love for and oneness with Him. Jesus gave comfort to those closest to Him, on the night He knew they would replay in their minds over and over again, recalling His words and promises to them, preparing them to walk without His physical presence, but to walk through the Comforter with Him for the rest of their lives, once it was revealed to them who was with them, and would never leave, nor forsake them.
We then are asked to love others the same way God loves us, by loving unconditionally, and forgiving when forgiveness is not due, but is given freely, again, because we are asked and commanded to do so, so that the God we serve is modeled and glorified to those we come in contact with here in our earthly walk. What a difference would be made in the world if believers in God and His son, Jesus Christ, lived that way-a life of obedience, giving God the glory He is worthy of and deserves, and that leads us back to What Would Jesus Do? He never did anything or said anything that did not give glory to His Father, and that is His call to us, I believe. It is a call to be answered, and that we can answer, as believers we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.
I believe the doing of all things strengthens us, as Phillipians. 4:13 refers to, when we walk with Him, as well as being a checkpoint for us in our daily lives, if we find ourselves not doing all things, we are not in Christ, and need to repent, confess our sins, be refilled by the Holy Spirit, and continue the life of obedience we are called to, doing what Jesus would, glorifying God in all we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. If we will take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to, we will live a life that glorifies God. It is God’s will for us , and will cause revolution around us, turning the world upside down, as the first century church did, see Acts 17:6, they did nothing more, and nothing less than this-living a life that glorified God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until being united with Him forever when we are called home by our Father to that place His Son has lovingly gone to prepare for us.
As I am moment to moment seeking strength and renewal as I have some good 15 minute spans, maybe a good hour now and them, but daily, I am still not giving my whole self in seeking the Lord I say I want to serve, and get so easily distracted it makes me crazy at times. In those moments, trying to get the slot car back on the track and off the carpet, I love to read the 6 chapters in John's Gospel that take us from when Jesus washed the feet of those gathered with him that night for the Passover meal to when they departed for the garden to pray.
So many things taught in those short hours, how thankful I am that this is part of what God providentially inspired to be recorded as Holy Scripture, when I struggle, and know I have a battle facing me that I am not feeling up to fight, I get an unearthly calm in my self after meditating on these verses.
I believe the peace of Christ that He promises to give us is just this, that when we obey the Father in what He is asking of us, the rest of the concerns of the world cease to matter, if we know we are obedient, we are who God has made and called us to be. John 14:27 shares this promise from Jesus to the disciples, on the night when they were taught so many things, and shared His peace of oneness with the Father that comes from obedience with them. Without the need or temptation to worry about how other people respond or if they respond, and to resist Satan's lie that we judge our life's success on what others think or what other people do, or how they respond, our life is, and we just are, wholly His, and in that, we are all those things we want so badly to be, without having a struggle to equip ourselves or educate ourselves, we recognize that when we walk step by step, as Rich Mullins would write, " Step by step You lead me, and I will follow You all of my days". The confession, " Oh God, you are my God, and I will ever praise you", minute by minute is on our lips and heart and mind, and we rest in that obedience, knowing our Father is pleased, because He sees His obedient Son, Jesus, when He looks at our life.
John 14: 15-18 says this again, as when we follow the commandments of Jesus, we are showing Him our love for and oneness with Him. Jesus gave comfort to those closest to Him, on the night He knew they would replay in their minds over and over again, recalling His words and promises to them, preparing them to walk without His physical presence, but to walk through the Comforter with Him for the rest of their lives, once it was revealed to them who was with them, and would never leave, nor forsake them.
We then are asked to love others the same way God loves us, by loving unconditionally, and forgiving when forgiveness is not due, but is given freely, again, because we are asked and commanded to do so, so that the God we serve is modeled and glorified to those we come in contact with here in our earthly walk. What a difference would be made in the world if believers in God and His son, Jesus Christ, lived that way-a life of obedience, giving God the glory He is worthy of and deserves, and that leads us back to What Would Jesus Do? He never did anything or said anything that did not give glory to His Father, and that is His call to us, I believe. It is a call to be answered, and that we can answer, as believers we can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us.
I believe the doing of all things strengthens us, as Phillipians. 4:13 refers to, when we walk with Him, as well as being a checkpoint for us in our daily lives, if we find ourselves not doing all things, we are not in Christ, and need to repent, confess our sins, be refilled by the Holy Spirit, and continue the life of obedience we are called to, doing what Jesus would, glorifying God in all we do and don’t do, say and don’t say. If we will take every thought captive to the mind of Christ, as 2 Corinthians 10:5 calls us to, we will live a life that glorifies God. It is God’s will for us , and will cause revolution around us, turning the world upside down, as the first century church did, see Acts 17:6, they did nothing more, and nothing less than this-living a life that glorified God, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, month by month, year by year, until being united with Him forever when we are called home by our Father to that place His Son has lovingly gone to prepare for us.
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