GOD PUT ETERNITY IN MY HEART

There truly is nothing new under the sun; in the beginning God…in the end God; the Alpha and the Omega.  I find comfort in those parameters.  I feel a great deal of creative freedom in the space in between them.  Knowing the beginning and the end gives me the plumb line that is true that I can build my life upon and have it be pleasing to God and to myself.

For me the “vanity, vanity, all is vanity” that Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes comes when I try to do things without the vision of eternity clear in my thinking and in my living; the vision that God put in my heart when he created me.  I find parameters and plumb lines helpful rather than being hindrances to my freedom to be me, the best me that is most helpful rather than harmful to others.  The fruit of the Spirit of God is grown within me, but it is produced to give away to others, all others, at all times.

Nature is most true in wilderness, untouched by human intervention, invention, or intrusiveness.  But in that natural wildness there is a natural law and order, pattern, and purpose.  It’s those things that make it seem so free.  Human law and order, pattern and purpose, tends to be restrictive and constrictive, which speaks to control more than freedom.

 People who live close to the land seem to live with a sense of rhythm rather than restriction.  It seems that the more civilized we become, the more we lose that sense of natural rhythm, and then we learn to depend on the artificial restrictions of time and space.  We lose the overall bigger picture of eternity and restrict ourselves to the now.  The over all natural parameters become artificial boundary lines, man made laws, and restrictive rules that put some in control and others under control.  With that comes an artificial illusion of power that humans use in forceful ways against one another.

When we lose the vision of eternity we become narrowly focused in the present and a sense of fear overtakes our sense of freedom.  It seems to me that the responsibility of those who know God is to keep that vision of eternity alive in the hearts of all people.  That is what Jesus did for all those he came in contact with.

There is much more beyond this present moment, beyond these present circumstances, beyond this present world, and beyond this present life.  The kingdom of God is the vision of eternity that God put in our hearts.  It is above and beyond anything we can imagine and it is beautiful, whole, and true.  It is the true power and majesty of a God who is pure love, life, and all that is good.  Without that vision people perish, frantically running around looking for something they know is there within them, but can’t find. It is clearly visible all around us in creation and it is available to all who seek after it. Seek it and you will find it.  Knock for it and it will be opened to you.  Ask for it and it will become known to you.  God has put the vision eternity in our hearts.  It’s already there, waiting for you to see, hear, and know. 

WHAT IS PRAYER TO ME?

What is prayer to me?  Three words come to mind when I think about prayer; relationship, communion, and communication.  It’s about being in a relationship with God, the creator of all things; it’s about spending time simply being in one another’s presence, communing with one another by sharing time and space; it’s about talking and listening to one another on a heart to heart level.  For me it is intimate and private.  It seems to be more a part of who I am than something that I do.  “Make my life a simple prayer unto you, O Lord; take my life it is yours.”

In Luke’s Gospel Jesus’ disciples asked him to teach them to pray.  Jesus gave them a pattern to follow.  After that there is a teaching about the importance of asking, seeking, and knocking.  Jesus assures them that if they ask they will receive.  This is a description of what is called intercessory prayer; asking for what is needed and receiving what is needed from a loving and generous Father God.

In Matthew’s Gospel this pattern of prayer is a part of the Sermon on the Mount and it comes as part of an admonition to “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them and not to be like the hypocrites” (Matthew 6:1).  They are to “go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret” (Matthew 6:6).  Prayer isn’t about just asking for your needs.  It’s more about acknowledging who God is, what God has on his heart, our daily simple need for bread, and being right with one another.

David is considered a man after God’s heart. (I Samuel 13:14) The psalms he wrote reveal a man whose life was a simple prayer unto God.  He was in a relationship with God, communed with God, and communicated with him at all times and about all things.  David lived in God’s Presence and he bore the fruit of that Presence, fruit that was pleasing to God.  I can imagine David lying there on the slope of a hill while his sheep are happily grazing.  I can se him just looking up into the heavens, watching the wind play with the clouds and the trees, just communing with God in his spirit.  Those heavens declare the glory and majesty of God and that fills David’s mind and soul.  The clouds, the trees, the birds are all the handiwork of God; all speak of the Creator, who he is and what he does.  David learns his lessons in the silence that surrounds him.  This is my desire.

Nobody's right if Everybody's Wrong

Neither side speaks my mind

Those who cry intolerance

Are themselves intolerant

Those who cry foul

Also commit foul

Conversation has become a shouting match

Where no one listens

Where no one is heard

Labels fighting labels

Humanity has disappeared

Opinions fighting opinions

Truth has vanished

Meanwhile

The innocent are slaughtered

The poor are ignored

The children are starving

All lost in the arguments

Of those proving their points.

PRESENT IN THE MOMENT...PERSISTENT IN ATTENTION

If I want something to grow healthy, strong, and fruitful, I have to intentionally devote time and energy into helping that growth develop.  I will attend, care, and love the object of my intention, be it a person, an idea, or a talent.  Time and energy are finite things so I do need to be intentional about how I use them.  It is easy to have both of them depleted by insignificant and unimportant demands that the world puts on us.  Busyness is often a waste of both time and energy; it consumes them and yields nothing in return.

“Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).  That tells me there is something already established; something that I will be a part of.  To see how things are in that place, I need to look to someone who came from there; I need to look at how Jesus lived while he was on earth. 

One thing I see is that he was intentional about the time and energy he spent, both with God, his Father, and with the people he interacted with.  He wasn’t rushing around being busy.  He took his time with individuals, focusing his energy and attention on them while he was in their presence.  He knew them, each one of them, just as a good shepherd knows each one of his sheep.  He paid attention to them, knew their strengths and weaknesses, knew their thoughts and their concerns; he was present to the moment and persistent in his attention.  He was faithful to what had been given to him by God.  That is the example I am to follow. 

IDENTIFY YOURSELF

The purpose of calling yourself something, labeling yourself as something, is to give your self an identity.  It provides a standard, a plumb line to grow true to and to measure yourself by.  When  a group loses its identity it no longer shares its unity as a group, but becomes a bunch of individuals with no common center, axels of a wheel without being connected to a hub that will crumble and lose its function as a wheel.

Without roots a tree will fall; without an anchor a ship will drift aimlessly at sea, tossed around by wind and waves.  People of God, people of faith, people of the Spirit must return to Jesus, for he is the standard; he is the plumb line.  “Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:2).  “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me” (John 15:26). 

People of God, people of faith, people of the Spirit must also return to the Scriptures.  The Holy Spirit will teach us and guide us through the Scriptures.  “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them they have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 5:39).

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you” (John 14:26).

Has leaving home,  neglecting God, neglecting Jesus, neglecting the Holy Spirit, neglecting the Scriptures, and living the way we want to live made this world a better place?  It’s time for God’s prodigal children to remember their identity and return to their loving Father who will welcome them with love and open arms.

SALT & LIGHT.... REFLECT DON'T REPULSE

In the early morning when I wake up, get my cup of coffee, and have my quiet time with You is my favorite time of the day.

Late at night, when I make my rounds, shutting everything down for the night, lying on my bed waiting for sleep to come is my favorite time of the night.

Beginning and ending each of my days with You brings delight to my heart, peace to my mind, and refreshment to my soul.

You are with me throughout the day, but I have to be a bit more intentional about recognizing and responding to Your Presence.

The many affairs of life tend to crowd in, requiring and demanding my attention.

But my mornings and days end spent with You are a natural rhythm and ritual for me.

The older I get the longer my morning extends and the earlier I end my day…

More time with You.

It always mystifies me when people tell me they have a difficult time finding time for a spiritual discipline of a Quiet Time.  To me that is like telling me they don’t have time to breathe.  I used to go into high gear and explain the necessity of this time, and strongly encourage them to at least make a commitment of five minutes a day.  But I have come to see the futility of that and don’t do it anymore.  Now I just feel sad because I see their loss and God’s loss as well.

It’s difficult to make people drink if they aren’t thirsty…so now I simply pray that they will at some point become thirsty and drink from the fountain of living water.  I can’t make people love God and want to be in his Presence.  That is an inside response that only can be discovered by each individual for themselves.  What I can do is point them to the One who fulfills all thirst when they ask for a drink.  (I Peter 3:15)

I am called to live my life right, before God, and before the world.  When I do that God will be honored.  Right living requires a rightly formed conscience and obedience to the example and teachings of Jesus.  That will result in being salt and light to the world.  In my repentance and my times of refreshment while being in God’s Presence, and in my ability to know and share the reason for the love and hope I have inside, then others will recognize that I have been with Jesus and then respond as the woman at the well in John 4:12-15, “Give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty.”  Then I can point them to the fountain of living water that becomes “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

It is God who wishes to draw all people to himself.  He desires us to be reflections of his love to meet that end.  Unfortunately many times we are stumbling blocks and builders of barriers as we act in our own power and arrogance. It is this that the Christian Church itself needs to repent of before calling others to repent of their ways.

God has nothing but love for all people and it grieves him when people reject that love, “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 5:9).  Those who love God and follow Jesus need to stay out of their way; we need to help as reflectors, not hinder as repulsers.

We need to follow and obey Jesus as he calls each of us to follow and obey.  Our lives are our witness and our words and actions are to be salt and light, to create a thirst and to show the Way.

BATHING IN THE FOUNTAIN OR REPAIRING BROKEN CISTERNS

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money. THEREFORE, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life” (Matthew 6:24, 25).

“I have no silver or gold, but what I do have I give to you.  In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6).

Many religious systems today are serving money rather than God.  Ministries have grown dependent on the bottom line, giving up programs that help people to maintain the business of keeping their institution going.  Activities that used to be volunteer work have become work for pay, and when the money is gone, so is the work.  Once that pattern starts the downward spiral begins.  Now religious institutions are worried about rights that they claim God gave them, and then were followed through by our founding fathers and government.  Now money is being poured into law suits, money that could have been used for better purposes.  The disciples called ‘foul’ on the woman with the alabaster jar for wasting money.  I call ‘foul’ on the law firms and lawyers in these law suits.  Somehow, I believe Jesus would as well.

When I look at the roots of the Christian Church I find very little close to what it is, to what it was.  That is true of most of the religious institutions I have seen and worked with these days, including The Religious Society of Friends.  “You cannot serve God and money.”  The quest of many of these groups is to return to the origins of the early church.  The liturgy is changed, the missals are changed, the concept of community is changed; the outside of the bowl is being cleaned up to look like the early Christians.

But, Peter and John had no money, no church building or church affaire to manage.  What they had was the power of Jesus Christ to be able to heal a lame beggar they happen to walk past on their way to temple.  They were true to the teachings of Jesus, not the ways of the world that so quickly serves money rather than God.  They loved God, the fountain of living water, and did not build cisterns, broken cisterns that held no water.  That is what religious institutions need to do as they return to their roots…draw near to God and stop trying to repair their broken cisterns.