Begin Again, In Me

Father, my mind cannot grasp your greatness. I read your Word, your many feats - how you advocate for us, and my mind, my self-absorption, my pride, makes me focus on myself - my small problems, my small worries and cares. Your ways are good. You see beyond what I can see. You pursue justice. You ask us what we will do - if we will stand with you or against you, if we will both appreciate the lives you've given us, the opportunities to love and do what is good, in your name, or if we will, instead, fight our own fight, for our own glory.

Lord, forgive me for how I forget you. It is horrible, and it is true. I am your daughter, the one you love. Yet, my ways are not your ways. And I surrender my ways now. I give you my heart again, with all of its stubbornness, feelings of entitlement, self-hatred, judgmental attitudes.

Here I am, confident that, if you want me to, I can hear your voice, and yet how often do I ignore it? How often do you speak, and I close my ears? How often do you open your arms and I run to comfort in other things? Productivity, achievement, food, things? How often do you weep at the injustice of this world, and I close my eyes and heart to what is right in front of me? How often do you feel frustration and anger and yet love and love and love?

You love me despite me. Your love has nothing to do with what I do, what I think. But it is your love that breaks open my heart. And my old self, the one who rails against you, dies at the foot of the cross. She cannot stand - this old self - at your feet, Jesus. In your presence, the false parts of her wither; all of the sin in her completely destroyed. Take her again, will you?

Take this old self of mine. Take her and destroy her. Throw her into the fire and make her new. It is in death that new life comes. She needs your new life now. Jesus, you are tireless in your love. You are kind and good. I pick up your cross, my new self - strong and confident in you, and the cross does its work. Again and again, I am made brand new. In all good things, Jesus, you are present.

Lord, be present in me now. I stand here, your beauty, your delight. I stand here, filled with love, capable of anything you have for me to do. You defeat all of my enemies. You crush my every foe. You pursue my heart, pointing out what gets in the way of me completely following you. You ask me - do you want all of me now? For this, right now, needs to go.

And I say yes. Right here, right now. I say yes. I want all of you. Whatever it takes. Remove from me what is not of you and destroy it now. Right here. I am filled with your love. I am filled with your truth. You, Jesus, are the Word come down. You, Jesus, are the Beginning before the beginning.

Begin again, in me. I begin again, with you.

Amen.

Philippians 2:12-13

 

Let Your Light Shine

Scripture:
Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world... - Philippians 2:14-15

 

Reflect:

According to Paul, what is one way that Christians can witness to the world?

I recently asked my kids to complete a simple chore together. I thought they’d be happy to help me out and would work together to complete the task. Instead, they complained about having to do it in the first place. Then, they fought with each other about who would do what.

I’d like to think that as believers in Jesus, we would all joyfully obey God with an attitude of cooperation and unity. But when I read the Bible, I discover that grumbling and disputes are a frequent occurrence, even among God’s people! In Exodus, Moses led the people out of Egypt and God miraculously parted the Red Sea for them to cross over. But the people soon grumbled because they didn’t have any water. Later, God provided manna from heaven for them to eat but the people grumbled because they wanted meat. In Numbers, God promised to give the Israelites the land of Canaan but it was occupied by giants that needed to be driven out. So the people grumbled that they would have been better off dying in the wilderness. It’s easy to read this and think, “God’s people are acting just like everyone else!”

In today’s verse, Paul says that we should refrain from grumbling and disputing with each other. Why? Because when we joyfully obey God and serve Him with a godly attitude, we show the watching world around us that we are different. The world is “crooked and twisted” but we have been made “blameless and innocent” in Jesus Christ. We should stand out like lights shining in the dark.

I have no doubt that my kids will improve in these areas as they grow and mature. The same is true for Christians. Joyful obedience and unity are markers of spiritual maturity. They are evidence of spiritual growth. God is working in us through the Holy Spirit that enables us to grow and change.

I encourage you to ask God to help you shine a light into the darkness around you. Ask Him to improve your attitude so that you will behave in a way that is in stark contrast to the rest of the world. The world is watching and they will wonder what makes you so different. As believers in Jesus Christ, our behavior is oftentimes our greatest witness to others about our faith.

Pray:
God, I confess that sometimes I am prone to arguing and complaining. But You have called me to joyful obedience and unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Work in my heart God so that I can be an effective witness for You. Help me to shine Your light in a dark world. Amen.

- Nat Crawford (Provided by "Back To The Bible")

Quote: Corrie Ten Boom

Getting Gut-Level Honest With God

 “Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Psalm 42:11 (NIV)

We got a new dog last summer because I just couldn’t resist, especially after my daughter Missy declared, “Mom, I already love him, and he already loves me!”

Bucky is the sweetest in our canine crew, but he was "Sir Poops-a-Lot"when he was a puppy! Since he’s Missy’s dog, we agreed that house-training would fall on her shoulders. She was enthusiastic … until she started consistently getting up with him at 6 a.m. every morning.

One morning, she refused to get up. This led to an unwanted deposit on a brand-new rug, which led to an animated mother-daughter discussion, which led to my normally kind and respectful kid pitching a fit and mumbling, “Sometimes I wish you weren’t my mom.”

Goodness gracious, I went through heck and back for years to adopt her from Haiti. I’ve given her my whole heart. After Jesus, she’s my first priority every minute of every day. So her petulant comment stung a smidge, but I knew she didn’t mean it. Which is exactly what she whispered through repentant tears during our long hug mere minutes after the meltdown.

By the pure grace of our Creator and Redeemer, Missy is gut-level honest. She doesn’t curate her emotions - because she’s learned she doesn’t need to present the shiniest version of herself to me. Her position in our little family is more secure than two pairs of Spanx.

The same is true for us and God. We don’t have to present our shiniest selves to Him. No matter what we’re feeling, we can be honest, just like the psalmist who wrote Psalm 42:11:

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”

Psalm 42 concludes with a restorative proclamation - “I will yet praise him” - but what I appreciate the most about psalms of lament like this is that God allowed them to be included in the Bible in the first place! Instead of disowning disillusioned people, God allowed Scripture's 59 “sad psalms” to be His engraved invitation for us to be real with Him - to be honest when our hearts are heavy and not wear fake happy faces.

The biblical narrative proves over and over that His love for us is immutable - it doesn’t change. This means we can share everything with Him - our joy, tears, hopes, dreams, insecurities, anger and fears - all in absolute confidence that He will never leave us, forsake us or stop loving us.

Father, it’s difficult to understand how You can know me completely and still love me unconditionally. Thank You for sending me the comfort of the Holy Spirit, who consistently reminds me that I’ve been adopted into Your forever family and have the right to call You “Dad.” Today, I’m bringing my feelings to You. And I believe that I can linger in Your embrace. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

- Lisa Harper
Provided by "Proverbs 31 Ministries"