The Good Way

Last week I picked up the “Who & What of Elections” guide from the library.  I wanted to begin becoming informed as a voter about the candidates and the issues that I will be asked to vote on in a few weeks. 

As I began reading the guide over breakfast, I was disappointed to discover there was not much helpful information for me about the candidates.  Whether it was the questions that were asked or the political responses that were a lot of fluff with little substance I found myself thinking that I needed more information.  I do plan to seek that out in the next few weeks. 

However, it leaves me wondering.  What is a person to do when they try to become informed and feel like they still do not have a good grasp of who they are voting for or what they are voting about?  How do we wade through all the campaign advertisements—negative or positive?  How do we see through the colored lenses of these things clearly?

Yesterday, I was finishing up the book Prayer: Finding the Hearts True Home by Richard Foster when I came across some words that resonated with me.

“We must turn a deaf ear to media caricatures and prayerfully discern the way of Christ amid the complex issues of our day.”

There are so many complex issues in the midst of this election cycle. 

In the midst of this, I do not believe there is one party or one candidate that represents the way of Christ in all of them. 

This makes me pause and consider each issue and each candidate with fresh eyes.  It makes me come to God in prayer. 

When I hear people firing off statistics and arguing in the middle of debates and advertisements, I am challenged to seek out more information and to not just go with what my emotions are telling me.  I am challenged to prayerfully consider what I find.

I am finding that I am trying to prayerfully listen and consider issues, leaving the way that our culture and the different media sources would like to shape the arguments behind. 

How might politics be different in our country if we operated in this way?  How might the way we engage in politics, in our own life, be different if we operated in this way?

“This is what the LORD says: Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”   Jeremiah 6:16

As it gets closer to Election Day, I challenge you to keep this in mind as you consider how you will vote.

Let’s move into this election prayerfully.

And whatever happens in the midst of them, may we lift up our country in the weeks and months and years to come, confident that God listens to the prayers of His people and works in the midst of them to bring change.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we submit our beliefs to the God that asks us to put our trust in Him.

Jessica :)

P.S.  Thank you to Jason for this wonderful photo from when we were at the USS Constitution awhile back :)

Acting Out Prayer

“Anthony Bloom writes, “A prayer makes sense only if it is lived.  Unless they are ‘lived,’ unless life and prayer become completely interwoven, prayers become a sort of polite madrigal which you offer to God at moments when you are giving time to Him.”  The work of our hands and of our minds is acted out prayer, a love offering to the living God.”  -Richard Foster in his book, Prayer

This week…

May our actions be full of love.

May our words be full of grace and truth.

May all of our moments—waking in the morning, drifting asleep at night, and all the moments in between—be lived as acts of prayer.

May we discover that in so living we understand what Paul meant when he wrote to the Thessalonians “pray without ceasing.”

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we do.

Jessica :)

Today is a Gift

A few weeks ago, as I was checking Facebook,  I came across a quote my brother-in-law posted. 

It captured my attention. 

“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.  That’s why we call it the present.”

-Winnie the Pooh, by A.A. Milne

I wrote it down on a post-it note and stuck it to the sheet of glass that sits on my desk. 

Since then, I have noticed that when I sit down at my computer I look at it.  I have read it as I sit down to write or work.  I have considered it as I put something on the calendar. 

I take in Pooh Bear's wise words.  They are a good reminder of the way I want to live.

Today is a gift. 

James 1:17-18 says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.  He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.”

Today is a gift, God’s present to us.  Will we receive it as such?

We are His gifts, firstfruits.  Will we live as such—firstfruits, blessings to the world?

This week…

Let’s consider this and respond to God’s goodness.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we receive today as a gift, God’s present to us.  As we embrace it as such, may we find that we welcome each encounter with another person, each challenge, each moment of sheer joy, as reason to trust God and give Him thanks.  As we do, may we discover that we are first fruits, both the blessed and the blessings of God.

Jessica :)

Heart Prayer

“It is the heart that prays, it is to the voice of the heart that God listens and it is the heart that he answers.” –Jean-Nicholas Grou, quoted in Prayer (p.132)

This week…

Let the cry of your heart rise before God.

Know that He hears the deep places of joy, pain and longing.

Listen as He responds to your heart.

Be open to the places He challenges you to trust Him.

Respond to the ways He invites you to act in new ways.

Live fully aware of His presence.

 ***

“Praise be to the Lord, for he has heard my cry for mercy.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him and he helps me.

My heart leaps for joy and with my song I praise Him.”  Psalm 28:6-7

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we cry out with our hearts and wait on the Lord knowing that He hears, He loves, and He answers.

Jessica :)

A Morning Prayer

Bill Hybels was the final speaker at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. 

He talked about how the local church is the hope for the world. 

That is me.  That is you. 

We are the church. 

We are the hope of the world. 

He ended by inviting us to pray a prayer for thirty days. 

I am still praying this prayer. 

I would invite you to join me in praying this prayer at the start of each day. 

Download it here.  Print it out.  Place it by your bed. 

Begin the day by offering God your best. 

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we recognize what a privilege it is to build the church with our gifts, talents, and energy.  May God grow us and change us as we place all we have, all we are into His hands, trusting He will accomplish much more than we would if we held tightly to these things. 

Jessica :)

P.S.  The prayer graphics and printable are made available by the Willow Creek Association.  Both have been used by permission.

Planted By Streams

Read the words of Psalm 1.  Sit with them.  Think upon them.  Be changed by them. 

“Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

but whose delight is in the law of the LORD,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

Not so the wicked!

     They are like chaff

     that the wind blows away.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,

    nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous,

     but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.”

This week…

Commit to being one who delights in the word of God. 

Pull out your Bible. 

Read it.  Listen to it.  Delight in it.

Sit with the words. 

Wrestle with them. 

Steep in their truth. 

Ask God to give you a hunger for His truth. 

Ask God to teach you. 

Ask God to help you to believe that which you would rather not. 

Ask Him to change you. 

Ask Him to make you like a tree planted by streams of water—refreshed, filled, and bearing fruit. 

Ask Him to help you live that which you read. 

For this is the way to know the heart of God.  He reveals who He is through His word.  He teaches us about His will for the world.  He helps us to recognize the voice of His Holy Spirit, which always agrees with Scripture, so that we can learn to respond in the moment to His nudges.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we seek God by immersing ourselves in the Word of God.  May we find that we become more of who God desires as we sit with His word, and surrender to the transformation He wants to work in our lives through it.  As we do may we find that we are more in love with Jesus; more effective in sharing God’s Story, proclaiming Christ; more aware of the places where we need to respond in repentance; and more in tune to the ways in which we should be in prayer for our families, our friends, our leaders, our country, and for the hurts of the world. 

Jessica :)

P.S.  Thank you to my dear husband for taking such a fun photo.

Whatever You Do

I still remember standing before the dining hall at Scioto Hills before meal time.  Campers would congregate on the verandah conversing and laughing before breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Then, one of the camp directors would gather the attention of the crowd; and we would quiet to, collectively, take part in a wonderful ritual. 

It was a time to stop and remember what life is meant to be about--God's glory. 

Together, hundreds of kids would recite Scripture together:

“1 Corinthians 10:31.  Whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory of God.”

I still remember that mealtime verse fondly. 

Really, it’s a verse for all the time and everyday.

So, friends…

Whether you eat or drink…

Whether you are talking to your roommate, your spouse, your child, your student, your grocery bagger, or a telemarketer…

Whether you are behind the slow person on the highway, the one who is obeying the traffic laws, or the one who cuts you off…

Whether you are talking with someone who shares your opinion or someone who seems like they have come from a foreign planet…

Whether you are making dinner, cleaning toilets, or figuring something out with a person at your corporate headquarters or on the phone in Costa Rica…

…whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we seek to live each moment bringing glory to Jesus.

Jessica :)

Gift of Love

A book I have been picking up on and off since late spring is The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer.  I have loved reading about the attributes of God, reminding myself about what God is really like, not how I imagine Him to be.  This weekend I read a chapter about “The Love of God.” 

Tozer’s prayer that begins his musing on the topic reads:

“Our Father which art in heaven, we Thy children are often troubled in mind, hearing within us at once affirmations of faith and the accusations of conscience.  We are sure that there is in us nothing that could attract the love of One as holy and as just as Thou art.  Yet Thou hast declared Thine unchanging love for us in Christ Jesus.  If nothing in us can win Thy love, nothing in the universe can prevent Thee from loving us.  Thy love is uncaused and undeserved.  Thou art Thyself the reason for the love wherewith we are loved.  Help us to believe the intensity, the eternity of the love that has found us.  Then love will cast out fear; and our troubled hearts will be at peace, trusting not in what we are but in what Thou hast declared Thyself to be. Amen.”

  

Tozer makes me think about the gift of God's love and give thanks. 

This week...

May we delight in the gift of God’s love. 

May we know that nothing can separate us from God’s love.  His gift of love is always available to us.  

May we be rooted in God’s love and taste of how wide and long and high and deep this love is in Christ. 

May we be changed by this love, extending it to all who cross our paths this week.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we come to know His love more fully.  

Jessica :)

What Matters Most

Jason and I have been reading through 1 Samuel as a part of our Old Testament reading lately. 

As we have read, I have been fascinated by Saul.  I find His story of fear and blessing, success and how he responds to it very relatable. 

When he is chosen as king before Israel he is a timid man—he hides and has to be drawn out from his hiding place.  Yet, the Spirit of God is upon Saul and he prophesies in one instance and is moved to defeat the Ammonites, who were threatening the people of Jabesh-gilead, in another.  The Lord leads Him and Saul gives the glory to God.

After Saul is made king, Israel and he are reminded about the importance of following the Lord and serving Him with their whole heart.  As time passes, Saul seems to forget this; he forgets that his success is a gift from God.  He begins to think Israel’s success is his own doing. 

           

Samuel confronts Saul after he hears of his disobedience to God’s word and how he sets up a monument to himself.  Saul tries to put a nice spin on what has happened, but Samuel knows the truth.  He speaks the truth in love to Saul—for Samuel truly grieves his disobedience.

He says,

“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

As in obeying the voice of the Lord?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

And to heed than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

He has also rejected you from being king.”  1 Samuel 15:22-23 NASB

 

His words are pointed.

Samuel identifies disobedience as rebellion.  He says pride and arrogance are the same as idol worship.  Ouch.  I understand this more than I would like to admit.

He tells how God doesn’t care about religious ceremony.  He desires obedience.  He wants us to listen and to respond to Him.  He wants us to love Him with our whole heart—by doing what He says.  This is what matters most.

This stands out to me.   

I want to listen and respond in loving obedience.  This is what I want to understand.  This is what I want to relate to.

So this week…

May our desire be to seek the Lord—in Scripture, in prayer, in conversation, in each moment.

May our desire be to listen for His still small voice—the one that often encourages us in places of anxiety and challenges us to do that which we would never think to do on our own.

May our desire to be respond to Him in loving obedience—trusting Him who has shown us love.

May we recognize that the results belong to Him and give Him praise.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we seek the Lord and follow Him in loving obedience.  May we never forget that our success belongs to Him.  May we never grow tired of doing what He calls us to and giving Him the glory.

Jessica :)

Trust and Obey

There are times when certain words play over and over in my mind. 

Sometimes they are words of Scripture.  Sometimes they are songs.

Sometimes they stay for a few minutes or hours.  Sometimes they stay for days.

This week, I’ve had the chorus of a hymn in my mind for days:
 

“Trust and obey, yeah, we’ll finally surrender it all, all, all." 

The words of this updated chorus have stuck with me as a prayer I've been lifting up.  They have stayed with me as a conversation I've been having with God, as something I am telling Him I want to be true in my life.  They have also stayed with me as a reminder of how I want to be living.

Trust.  Obey.  Surrender. 

These are characteristics of a life of discipleship.

Simple to say.  So much more difficult to live.

In trust, I find that I must take God at His word. 

In obedience, I find that I must let go of what I think is best or what I want to do.

To trust and obey well, I must surrender—my fears and wants.  I must believe that God is good and He is working for my good in what He calls me to do.

This is the lifelong challenge that we respond to one day at a time with our lives. 

“Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”  Luke 11:28

 

So this week…

May your desire be to trust and obey and surrender it all.

May you spend time in His presence, learning that he is, indeed trustworthy.

May you experience His faithfulness.

May you hear God’s word in Scripture and seek to live it out obediently.

May you find that in His presence His wants become your wants.

May you trust Him to walk with you through fear.

May you find that He blesses you as you live surrendered in trust and obedience.

"Those who know your name trust in you, for you Lord have never forsaken those who seek you." 

Psalm 9:10

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we trust and obey and surrender it all to Jesus.   May we find that life is abundantly full of the best He has to offer.

Jessica :)