The Good Life

It has been quiet around this space the last few weeks. 

In my home the days have been full of celebrations, decisions, viruses, prayer, people and life as usual.  The thoughts have been many.  Even so, the words have not come clearly or easily.  I’ve left this space to live life.  I return as the thoughts settle and the work of putting them into practice begins.

In the midst of a lot of reading I have been seriously thinking about the way we are to live out our relationship with God and what that means in the context of family.  

“This is the commandment, the rules and regulations, that God, your God, commanded me to teach you to live out in the land you’re about to cross into to possess. This is so that you’ll live in deep reverence before God lifelong, observing all his rules and regulations that I’m commanding you, you and your children and your grandchildren, living good long lives.

Listen obediently, Israel. Do what you’re told so that you’ll have a good life, a life of abundance and bounty, just as God promised, in a land abounding in milk and honey.

Attention, Israel!

God, our God! God the one and only!

Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.”  Deuteronomy 6:1-9 MSG

A few things stand out to me.  This is about the good life God wants us to live with Him.  It begins with me loving God first.  It is about my husband loving God first.  Out of that love we lead our child to love God.  This makes sense.  I cannot pass on what I do not have.  All of this is an all day every day, in every way you can, every chance you get way of life.

Along with this, I have been struck by the sensory nature of the symbolic elements and celebrations in Scripture.  We are made with bodies—able to see, smell, touch, taste, and hear—for a reason.  

With all of this in mind, I have been considering what it looks like to live mindful of these things.  I have to say I have a long way to go!

In the midst of all this, I am very aware that kingdom life is not about right actions, but allowing God to cultivate in me a right heart that leads to them.  This good life is what I want to be cultivated in me and around me (my family, my neighbors, my friends). 

I hope to be sharing more soon.  

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we seek to live the good life God has for us when we trust him.  May we discover that as we get his love and his commands inside our hearts it leads to transformed lives. 

Jessica :)

Blessed are the Poor

It was as I was driving back from a trip to the store for a few baby items that I saw her sitting on a bench holding out her cardboard sign.  She was bundled in a coat and scarf, with bare hands holding the words “Anything Helps.”  The temperature was chilly, but not terribly cold.  I found it a bit odd as the only people I had seen there before were waiting for the bus.  

I looked at her, really looked and got all knotted up inside as I recalled that I did not have any food packs in my car.  I had recently finished making up the latest batch, but they were sitting inside the front room at my home.  A year or two ago, I would have run home and circled back, but life with an infant makes it a bit harder to do that.  Instead, I offered her a smile, lifted up a prayer, and when I got home I moved the packs to just inside the front door so I would see them next time I left the house.

I think of this as I listen to the story of Bartimaeus again.

Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus and his disciples, together with a large crowd, were leaving the city, a blind man, Bartimaeus (which means “son of Timaeus”), was sitting by the roadside begging.  When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”

So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He’s calling you.”  Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus.

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him.

The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.”

“Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.

Mark 10:46-52 NIV

Bartimaeus calls out and will not be quieted.  In the face of opposition he is persistent.  And Jesus stops.

In her book, Come Along, Jane Rubietta writes of this moment:

“He throws away his cloak.  If you were blind, you would never do this, because if you let go of your cloak, you lose your primary possession, the one thing that keeps you warm on a cold night, cushions your seat, pillows your head, perhaps even collects the fruit of your beggings. 

No hesitation: he scrambles to his feet with the nimbleness born of desperation and hope.  He is not begging for crumbs or coins.  He is asking for what only one person can give him.  The man who just walked down the road.

Bartimaeus moves carefully to where Jesus’s voice sounded and halts in front of him. 

“What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asks.

What a world-opening, eye-opening question.

Bartimaeus sucks in a huge breath.  This is it.  It’s all or nothing. And he leaps into that chasm called faith: “Rabbi, I want to see.”

There it is, out in the open, for everyone else to see too.  What gall!  What temerity!  What gumption for this beggar, this street person, to call out to the very Messiah, the miracle worker who walked the streets and talked with anyone, so different from a regular king or other royalty.  To ask for a miracle, to ask to see.”   (p.49-50, 2008, used with permission)

Download the template for my food pack cards here.

I think of the woman on the bench again, with her desire right out there on a cardboard sign for all to see.

“Anything helps.”

Anything? 

Relationship.  Money.  Work.  Home.  Health.  Education.  Love.  Jesus. 

In baring her heart, is she being brave?  Manipulative?  Honest?

Is it desperation that brings her here to this place? 

Could it be that she, too, wants a miracle? I wonder.

Could it be that she is calling out in the only way she knows how in this busy world? 

I wonder at her poverty and think of Jesus’ words. 

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.”  Luke 6:20

I wonder about Jesus’ words. 

I wonder about my own poverty.  Where am I poor in spirit?  

What would my cardboard sign say on it today? 

Could it be this woman with the sign is more in touch with her own poverty than I am right now?

 She knows what she wants.

Jesus asks, “What do you want me to do for you?”

Am I desperate enough to reveal the desire of my heart for all to see and bring it to the Messiah?  Do I even know what it is?

Blessing waits on the other side of this revelation.  Healing waits.  Do I want it?

Will I receive what Jesus gives? 

If I do, might it be that he will open my eyes to the signs written by hand on cardboard and others written on the hearts of the people I encounter each day. 

Photo by Missi Kershner, used with permission.

Do I want to bless others? 

Jesus says, “Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:12-14 TNIV

Perhaps the woman with the sign is waiting for the blessing that will come as I identify my own poverty, receive the miracle of the heart, and allow the Spirit to work in me.

 I consider this and bring to Jesus a longing to be fully present in the moment.

I receive and along with Bartimaeus, I follow Jesus down the road.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we bring our desires to Jesus.  May we receive the miracle and find that in our poverty, He gives us the kingdom of God.  May we live changed--following Jesus, allowing His Spirit to work in us, making us a blessing to everyone we meet.

Jessica :)

P.S.  Enjoy a free download of the insert that I created for food packs here.  You can print them on cardstock, color them (or let your kids color them) and cut them down to size or be a little more creative than that as time allows.  The food packs are put together in a quart size bag include a fruit cup, a can of Vienna sausages, peanut butter crackers, granola bars, a mint, a utensil pack, and a card.  We keep bottles of water on hand to go with them.

Kingdom Coming

On Thursdays I have been sharing a little bit about what I have been learning as I read through 1 John.

1 John is a letter written to the believers in Asia Minor.  John has been giving examples of what a believer who walks with God looks like.  He has been contrasting these believers with those who say that they walk with God, but whose actions and beliefs do not support their claims.  He calls these people liars and says they walk in darkness.  John wants the believers to be able to recognize the difference between that which is true and that which is false.  He pauses in this endeavor to encourage the believers he is writing to by reminding them of the joy, the power, and the faithfulness they have received from Christ.

Recently, we have been looking at a few verses about the world. 

John writes, 

“Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:15-17 TNIV

 

In the last few weeks we have discovered the Greek the term for world is kosmos. It has to do with “the present condition of human affairs in alienation and opposition to God” (VINES Expository Dictionary).  I have shared some thoughts about how we choose what to love moment by moment—either the world or God.  I have also mused about how the best of all that comes from the world fails to satisfy.  I began to wonder about God and His Kingdom.  Might it be a place where cravings are satisfied?  I suggested it is. 

There are hints of this in the final verse of this section.

“The world and its desires pass away but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”

There is Kingdom language hidden here.  Can you spot it?

It’s there in six short words: “whoever does the will of God.”

In John’s words, I hear the words of Jesus.

“This, then is how you should pray:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil on.”  Matthew 6:9-13 NIV

 

It is when we do the will of God that His kingdom comes.

I’m not sure I had thought about God’s kingdom in quite this way until I participated in the Story Formed Life.  The facilitator of my group switched these phrases around and suddenly the wheels began turning in my head. 

When I do God’s will, His kingdom comes on earth through me.  Isn’t that amazing?

God’s kingdom is always available to us. 

I can choose that which will satisfy by doing God’s will. 

That sounds nice doesn’t it?  But what does it really mean?

Kingdom language is a bit foreign to Americans today.  We live in a republic.  We choose our representation.  Our thoughts and ideas are represented by those who are elected to do so.  We do not live in a kingdom ruled by a monarch, so we don't have much experience with what that might be like.

Greg Boyd describes a kingdom as “The dome over which the King reigns.”

In a kingdom, the people give their rights to the king; in turn, the king provides for the needs of the people.

When we live in God’s kingdom we recognize that Jesus is king.

There is a cost.  We give up our right to make the decisions.  God’s will be done, not mine. 

There is a reward too.  The King provides for the needs of His people.  God promises to satisfy.

 As I read the rest of Matthew 6, it is clear Jesus recognizes this.  He goes on to talk about how no one can serve two masters.  In the Kingdom, the King makes the decisions.  He also goes on to say there is no need to worry, because God will provide as we seek His kingdom. 

We can trust God.

“Trust in the LORD and do good;

     dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the LORD,

     and he will give you the desires of your heart.”  Psalm 37:3-4 NIV

 

God knows our desires. 

He also knows that as we delight in His word and in His presence, our desires will become His desires.  As they do, he is all too happy to give them to us.  We will be satisfied.

We will do His will--allowing Him to work through us--and His Kingdom will come.

It will happen one moment at a time.

May His Kingdom come through us today.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as we discover life in the Kingdom.  May we find joy and satisfaction in laying down our lives to participate in bringing God’s Kingdom.  May we find that as we surrender and do God’s will, His Kingdom comes on earth through us.  May we remember to listen and respond moment by moment to His call.

Jessica :)

P.S.  There is a song by Shaun Groves from his album Third World Symphony that I love.  It is called Kingdom Coming.  Perhaps you'd like to take a listen?  If you like it, consider purchasing his song over here?
 

Kingdom Coming for Sophie at BooMama.net from Shaun Groves on Vimeo.

Where Cravings Are Satisfied

On Thursdays I have been sharing a little bit about what I have been learning as I read through 1 John.

1 John is a letter written to the believers in Asia Minor.  John has been giving examples of what a believer who walks with God looks like.  He has been contrasting these believers with those who say that they walk with God, but whose actions and beliefs do not support their claims.  He calls these people liars and says they walk in darkness.  John wants the believers to be able to recognize the difference between that which is true and that which is false.  He pauses in this endeavor to encourage the believers he is writing to by reminding them of the joy, the power, and the faithfulness they have received from Christ.

Last week, we looked at the first of three verses about the world.  This week we look at the second.

John writes, 

“Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you.  For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful people, the lust of their eyes and their boasting about what they have and do—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”  1 John 2:15-17 TNIV

 

It says it right in the opening words of Genesis: 

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

As creation unfolds, it is God who brings everything into existence. 

John knows this.  Yet, choosing his words carefully, he says, “Everything in the world comes not from the Father but from the world.” 

It makes me stop.  If everything in the world comes not from the Creator God, but from the world, what is John talking about? 

I think the key to uncovering what he is trying to say can be found in the word for “world.” Last week, we read that the Greek word kosmos has to do with “the present condition of human affairs in alienation and opposition to God” (VINES Expository Dictionary).

This human condition in opposition to God comes not from God, but from man. (The definition of kosmos in the second instance of the word “world”is slightly different).  This idea brings to mind a picture.

I imagine the command given to Adam in the Garden.  I imagine the scene where the command is broken.  It is here the present condition of the world begins.  Man is alienated from God.  Adam and Eve choose opposition to God.  Left unto myself, I choose this too, everyday.  It is my default.

At its best, “The world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions” (NLT).  At its worst, the world is full of hunger, slavery, and all kinds of brokenness—all the fruit of trying to be like God, apart from God.  Yet, even the best the world has to offer is empty, because it is never enough.  The cravings are never satisfied. 

It seems to me that nearly every American probably relate to this picture.  We are driven by cravings.  It seems to me that our economy depends on the cravings of the consumer.  Commercials tell us every day that what we have is not enough, and we believe it.  We see the newest piece of technology and we are sure that we couldn’t be content without it.  We go shopping just for fun, not because we need something.  If we are truly honest, sometimes the things we say we need are really just things we want.  We seek to get ahead in our careers—to get promoted, be in charge, to buy a bigger home, and to make more money in order to get more of something someone has convinced us we need.  We want more and more and it is never enough.

When we see the world with eyes of scarcity rather than eyes of abundance, what we have is never enough.

John says the things of the world are not from the Father. It makes me wonder, what is from the Father?  
I begin to imagine the kingdom He inhabits.  What might that be like? 

Could it be that His kingdom is a place where cravings are satisfied?  A place where there is humility in achievement?  A place where possessions aren’t a priority, because all we need is provided?  What might it be like to live in that place?

I believe such a kingdom exists. 

I believe it comes through Jesus—who showed us how to live, who humbly accomplished his work on the cross, atoning for our sins, and defeating death in His resurrection—by grace. 

I believe it involves surrendering to God's will and living in obedience.  It begins with choosing loving obedience through Christ rather than living in willful disobedience with Adam and Eve.  As we begin anew we start to discover that in Christ our cravings are satisfied; we learn to trust that His humble example is better than the world’s pride; and we see that all we need will be provided in Him.

***

Grace and peace be ours in abundance as our eyes are opened to the scarcity of this world and the abundance of God’s kingdom.  As we seek Him may we find our cravings are satisfied, humility is indeed better than pride, and that all we need is provided as we pursue obedience to Christ.  May our eyes be open to see the grace that is poured out on us each day, so that we never cease to be amazed by the abundant goodness of God.

Jessica :)

P.S.  We will continue to look at this kingdom next week.  I believe it is closely tied to the last verse (v.17) about God's will.  I hope you will join me next week :)