No Good Apart from You

I say to God, "Be my Lord!" 
      Without you, nothing makes sense. 


Psalm 16:2 [The Message]

Darkness to Light

Christine Wyrtzen post:  A REVIEW OF PAUL'S CALLING

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to an apostle... Romans 1:1

             

             Tomorrow, I embark on the last half of Romans.  Before I do, I felt it was important for me to re-discover Paul's purpose for writing the book.  It gives me solid footing before planting my feet in the new soil of chapter 10.  So, join me in this quick review.  Only for today.   

              Paul, a servant of the One who became a suffering servant to us, was called by Him to be an apostle.  An apostle is someone who is sent out with a message.  At his conversion, Paul was given an assignment that would define the rest of his life.  He probably thought, before his conversion, that his duty was to protect the sanctity of the Jewish faith from Christian heresy.  As it turned out, he was to encounter Christ and become what he had once hated. 

            How was Paul's calling defined straight out of the mouth of Jesus?  And, is it similar to ours?  The mandate out of heaven was a clear and beautiful one.  Here it is as Paul recounted it.  "Rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you.  I am sending you to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God."  (Acts 26:16-18)

                Our understanding of the 'call' can get so muddied when we mix it in with the realm of spiritual gifts.  "I am called to teach, or encourage, or give to others, or show hospitality, or exhort."  But each gift is just a vehicle to the main event; 'opening their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from Satan to God.'  That begs me to examine whether my understanding of my mission is clear enough.  What do I say when I encourage?  What do I teach when I open the scriptures?  Do I pick and choose inspirational topics and a smattering of scriptures that will make someone feel good or do I speak a Word that fashions the sharp arrow of conviction?  The answer to that question is whether or not my audience, large and small, personal and impersonal, is motivated to make a choice between darkness and Light.

            Ah yes, Paul grasped it.  Perhaps he had an advantage because he saw the light, fell to his knees, and heard the voice of his Lord.  But that excuse won't grant me or anyone else living today any pardons.  God speaks even more powerfully to us now through the Spirit of the One who spoke to Paul because that Voice is not without, it is within.  He speaks each time I open His Word.  If my perception of what I was born to do is diluted and fuzzy, I cry out today with a full voice and an intensity of my heart ~

Let me hear your call again, Lord.  Come calling on my heart with power and conviction in this next phase of our journey.  Amen

He Is Strong

Tullian Tchividjian post:  This Is The Year?

Today is the very first day of a brand new year. And for many that means a fresh start.

This is the year. It all starts now. We resolve to turn over a new leaf–and this time we’re serious. This time we’re really going to try, we’re not going to quit. We promise ourselves that we’re going to quit bad habits and start good ones. We’re going to get in shape, eat better, lust less, waste less time, be more content, more disciplined, more intentional. We’re going to be better husbands, wives, fathers, mothers. We’re going to pray more, serve more, plan more, give more, read more, and memorize more Bible verses. We’re going to finally be all that we can be. No more messing around.

Well…I say try. Seriously, try. You might make some great strides this year. I’m hoping to. There are a lot of improvements I’m hoping to make over the next 12 months. But don’t be surprised a year from now when you realize that you’ve fallen short…again.

For those who try and try, year after year, again and again, to get better and better, with seemingly less and less success…I have good news for you: you’re in good company!

My friend Jean Larroux sent me this powerful illustration that he got from Jack Miller.

Miller recounts the valiant efforts of Samuel Johnson (a literary giant of the 18th century) to fight sloth and to get up early in the morning to pray. Taken from Johnson’s diary and prayer journal, Jack gives us a record–through the years–of Johnson’s life-long resolutions, failures, and frustrations:

1738: He wrote, “Oh Lord, enable me to redeem the time which I have spent in sloth.”

1757: (19 years later) “Oh mighty God, enable me to shake off sloth and redeem the time misspent in idleness and sin by diligent application of the days yet remaining.”

1759: (2 years later) “Enable me to shake off idleness and sloth.”

1761: “I have resolved until I have resolved that I am afraid to resolve again.”

1764: “My indolence since my last reception of the sacrament has sunk into grossest sluggishness. My purpose is from this time to avoid idleness and to rise early.”

1764: (5 months later) He resolves to rise early, “not later than 6 if I can.”

1765: “I purpose to rise at 8 because, though, I shall not rise early it will be much earlier than I now rise for I often lie until 2.”

1769: “I am not yet in a state to form any resolutions. I purpose and hope to rise early in the morning, by 8, and by degrees, at 6.”

1775: “When I look back upon resolution of improvement and amendments which have, year after year, been made and broken, why do I yet try to resolve again? I try because reformation is necessary and despair is criminal.” He resolves again to rise at 8.

1781: (3 years before his death) “I will not despair, help me, help me, oh my God.” He resolves to rise at 8 or sooner to avoid idleness.

I love the never-quit effort of Johnson. What he chronicles sounds so much like me over the years. Try and fail. Fail then try. Try and succeed. Succeed then fail. Two steps forward. One step back. One step forward. Three steps back.

What I’m most deeply grateful for (as was Johnson) is that God’s love for me, approval of me, and commitment to me is not dependent on my success and resolve, but on Christ’s success and resolve for me. The gospel is the good news announcing Christ’s infallible devotion to us in spite of our lack of devotion to him. The gospel is not a command to hang onto Jesus. Rather, it’s a promise that no matter how weak and unsuccessful your faith and efforts may be, God is always holding on to you.

It’s ironically comforting to me as this new year gets under way that I am weak and He is strong–that while my love for Jesus will continue to fall short, Jesus’ love for me will never fall short. For, as Mark Twain said, “Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, your dog would get in and you would stay out.”

Thank God!

Happy New Year!

Be Quiet

From Sharon Jaynes Jan 2 2012 post:  Be Still and Know

Today’s Truth
In him we live and move and have our being, (Acts 17:28 NIV).

Friend to Friend

I pressed the send button on my latest manuscript, What God Really Thinks about Women. For twelve months I had spent night and day with Jesus and the women he encountered while he walked the earth. I was going to miss them. Miss walking in their sandals. Miss breathing their air. Miss crying their tears. Miss carrying their water jugs. And while I wasn’t going to be in their lives and in their business every day, their imagined faces were etched in my mind and they had become part of me for eternity. But it was time to move on.

I grabbed a cup of coffee, snuggled up in my favorite overstuffed den chair, and opened my Bible in my lap. “OK, God,” I began, “that project is finished and tied securely with a bow. So what do you want me to do now?” 

I wondered if I should get into a Bible study group, take a class at the local seminary, or finally write those magazine articles I had been putting off. Should I start a small group, volunteer at a charity, or start a new book project? I asked the question and waited.

God surprised me. Acts 17:28 came to my mind. I believed He put it there. In him we live and move and have our being. Learn what that means, He seemed to say. Let’s just spend time together. No agenda.  No goal. No deadlines. I want to rekindle the romance. Will you let me?

His answer startled me.  I hadn’t even realized the fire had died down.  Wasn’t I working for Him?  Wasn’t I doing God’s will?  Wasn’t I busy about my Father’s business? And then I began to see what He meant. He began turning the lens of my mind’s camera and the fuzzy image grew clear. I wondered how I had missed it before. In the middle of all my busyness for God, I had neglected my relationship with God.

I was made for goals, or so I thought. Sitting still wasn’t in my nature, and perhaps that was what God was trying to tell me. My “nature” or natural bent of work was standing in the way of worship. My natural bent of activity for God was getting in the way of my communion with God. My daily routine of sanctioned quiet times was getting in the way of divine romance in which He wanted me to engage.

Like the men caught on the stormy Sea of Galilee, I felt I had been reeling in the waves for years – never in danger of truly sinking – just reeling from one rolling wave of work and deadlines to the next.  But on this particular morning, I began to see the cast of characters in this Galilean scene in a different light. I was definitely in the scene, but I wasn’t in the boat at all. I was the storm.

I love how Eugene Peterson describes Jesus’ words to the wind and the waves as his friend stirred him from his sleep to calm the squall: “’Quiet!  Settle down!’” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass.”(Mark 4:39 The Message).

What does God really want from me? I’ve pondered that question since the day I first came to Christ. It was one of the two questions Saul asked when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus: “Who are you? What shall I do?” (Acts 22:8, 10).

I think I’ve made my relationship with Jesus far too difficult. I have spent so much time striving to get closer to the heart of God. And all the while God has been whispering to me, “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 NASB). “It’s not that hard. Settle down. Be quiet.”

And that is what Jesus was telling me that frosty January morning. But I realized I didn’t really know how to be quiet and settle down. I had never mastered the idea of “be still and know.”  I knew that God was God.  It was the “be still” part that stumped me every time.  Now don’t get me wrong. I can be still for a few minutes, maybe even an hour if need be. But much longer than that and I’m undone. Restless spirit syndrome begins to shake my soul, and the urge to get up and get moving wrestles me from worship.

So on this January morning, as I share this with you, I’m asking…will you be still and know that He is God with me?  For a moment?

God had a lot to show me in the year that followed that frosty morning. I’ll be sharing what I learned from time to time as we go through 2012 together.

So Happy New Year! I look forward to linking arms and hearts in 2012.

His Agenda

Mark Batterson post:  YOP

It’s official. 2012 is the Year of Prayer. I’m so excited to see what God will do if we devote ourselves to seeking His heart in prayer!  It’s not about our agenda for God. It’s about surrendering to His agenda for us.  Those are two very different things.

What would happen if we work like it depends on us and pray like it depends on God?  What would happen if we dream big, pray hard, and think long?  What would happen if we get in the prayer circle and don’t come out until God answers?

I want to find out.

God honors bold prayers because bold prayers honor God.

YOP.

Primary Means of Grace

Jonathan Parnell post:  A System for Praying in 2012

The New Year is a great time to reconfigure the way we do things. And it can be a bit overwhelming.

Diet, exercise, memorization habits, reading lists, time management — all this is good. But perhaps the best place to start — and the foundation to all the rest — is the primary means of grace in the Christian life, the Word and prayer.

For the Word, Justin Taylor has put together a great list of Bible reading plans to consider. As for prayer, you might also find that some systematic approaches are helpful.

A Few Systems to Consider

Paul Miller warns us that systems can become rote, making us mechanical and mindless in our praying. They can desensitize our communing with God as a person. But he continues, "Remember, life is both holding hands and scrubbing floors. It is both being and doing. Prayer journals or prayer cards are on the 'scrubbing floors' side of life. Praying like a child is on the 'holding hands' side of life. We need both."

Prayer Cards

Adapted from Paul Miller, A Praying Life, (NavPress, 2009), 225-233.

Using a stack of 3x5 index cards, Miller creates cards for people in varous relationships: family members, people in suffering, non-Christians, and friends.

Guidelines:

1. The card functions like a prayer snapshot of a person's life, so I use short phrases to describe what I want.
2. When praying, I usually don't linger over a card for more than a few seconds. I just pick out one or two key area and pray for them.
3. I put the Word to work by writing a Scripture verse on the card that expresses my desire for that particular person or situation.
4. The card doesn't change much. Maybe once a year I will add another line. These are just the ongoing areas in a person's life that I am praying for.
5. I usually don't write down answers. They are obvious to me since I see the card almost every day.
6. I will sometimes date a prayer request by putting the month/year as in 08/07.

He concludes, "Write out your prayer requests; don't mindlessly drift through life on the America narcotic of busyness. If you try to seize the day, the day will eventually break you. Seize the corner of [Jesus'] garment and don't let him go until he blesses you. He will reshape the day" (233).

Lists and Memorium

Adapted from D. A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation, (Baker Books, 1992), 27-29.

Apart from any printed guides I may use, I keep a manila folder in my study, where I pray, and usually I take it with me when I am traveling. The first sheet in that folder is a list of people for whom I ought to pray regularly: they are bound up with me, with who I am. My wife heads the list, followed by my children and a number of relatives, followed in turn by a number of close friends in various parts of the world. . . .

The second sheet in my folder lists short-range and intermediate-range concerns that will not remain there indefinitely. They include forthcoming responsibilities in ministry and various crises or opportunities that I have heard about, often among Christians I scarcely know. Either they are the sort of thing that will soon pass into history (like the project of writing this book!), or they concern people or situations too remote for me to remember indefinitely. In other words, the first sheet focuses on people for whom I pray constantly; the second includes people and situations for whom I may pray for a short or an extended period of time, but probably not indefinitely. . . .

The next item in my manila folder is the list of my advisees — the students for whom I am particularly responsible. This list includes some notes on their background, academic program, families, personal concerns and the like, and of course this list changes from year to year.

The rest of the folder is filled with letters — prayer letters, personal letters, occasionally independent notes with someone's name at the top. These are filed in alphabetical order. When a new letter comes in, I highlight any matters in it that ought to be the subject of prayer, and then file it in the appropriate place in the folder. The letter it replaces is pulled out at the same time, with the result that the prayer folder is always up to date. I try to set aside time to intercede with God on behalf of the people and situations represented by these letters, taking the one on the top, then the next one, and the next one, and so forth, putting the top ones, as I finish with them, on the bottom of the pile. Thus although the list is alphabetized, on any day a different letter of the alphabet may confront me.

Lectio Divina

Kenneth Boa, Conformed to His Image, (Zondervan, 2001), 96-97.

The ancient art of lectio divina, or sacred reading, was introduced to the West by the Eastern desert father John Cassian early in the fifth century.

It consists of four elements.

1. Lectio (reading). Select a very short text and ingest it by reading it several times. I normally choose a verse or a brief passage from the chapters I read from the Old and New Testaments in my morning Bible reading.
2. Meditatio (meditation). Take a few minutes to relfect on the words and phrases in the text you have read. Ponder the passage by asking questions and using your imagination.
3. Oratio (prayer). Having internalized the passage, offer it back to God in the form of personalized prayer.
4. Contemplatio (contemplation). For the most of us, this will be the most difficult part, since it consists of silence and yieldedness in the presence of God. Comtemplation is the fruit of the dialogue of the first three elements; it is the communion that is born out of our reception of divine truth in our minds and hearts.

Lavished, Liberated and Launched

Scotty Smith:  A Prayer for 2012 and More Growth in the Gospel

Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Josh. 24:14-15

Gracious Father, as I sit here sipping fresh coffee, praying these stirring words of Joshua, tons of confetti cover the streets of Manhattan and a lot of gratitude fills my heart.

I’m thankful I’m beginning this year with a little better understanding of the gospel than I had last year and the previous years. This time next year, I hope to be able to say exactly the same thing. I’m convinced, but continue to convict me that the gospel is not just good news for people getting ready to die—it’s good news for people who are now ready to live. There’s nothing more than the gospel, just more of the gospel.

By the gospel, we are lavished with your love, liberated by your grace, and launched into your transforming story of redemption. We’re loved and we matter. What more could we possibly want or hope for, in life or in death?

Because the gospel is true, I don’t respond to Joshua’s bold charge with a guilty conscience and a list of New Year’s resolutions—promises of what I’m going to do for you. Rather, I begin this year resolving to abandon myself to everything Jesus has done for us. Jesus is THE promise keeper—not us, not me. He is the one who has promised to make all things new, including me. O the peace and joy this brings us.

Heavenly Father, that’s why serving you is much more than merely “desirable”; it’s the greatest privilege conceivable and the purest delight imaginable. For Jesus is our Joshua—the one who has saved us, is saving us, and one day will completely save us. It’s neither cliché, “fundy” nor embarrassing to say… make that, to shout, “Jesus saves!” For what other savior died for us that we might find life in him? What other god sacrificially serves us that we might gratefully serve him? What other lord has made a rebellious people his beloved bride?

Because of the gospel of your grace and kingdom, throwing away my idols feels less like a painful sacrifice and more like a liberating dance. For all my “empty nothings” have ever given me is momentary pleasure and lasting regrets. Remind me of this throughout 2012, especially in the surely-to-come moments when I’m tempted to believe Jesus isn’t enough.

Father, may this be a year of considering our lives worth nothing to us, if only we may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us—the task of testifying (by word and deed) to the gospel of your grace (Acts 20:24). So very Amen we pray in Jesus’ name, dependent on your love and longing for your glory.