Fix Our Steps, O Lord

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST was actually sent my way years ago by my Tia Judy and periodically I run across it--thought I'd share it (it's from John Weston's "To Will One Thing"):

Fix thou our steps, O Lord,
that we stagger not
at the uneven motions of the world,
but go steadily on our way,
neither censuring our journey
by the weather we meet,
nor turning aside for anything that befalls us.

Amen...you've been prayed for today...

Trees and Grass

Hey, Y'all,

Ran across this quote a while back on BlueMarble.com 's homepage...

"Knowing trees I understand the meaning of patience.
Knowing grass I understand the meaning of persistence."
Hal Borland

Got me thinking...reminded me of a quote from Ellen White's book Education (p. 99) which says: "Upon all created things is seen the impression of Deity. Nature itself testifies of God...A mysterious life pervades all nature--a life that sustains the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity..."

Cool...You've been prayed for today...

RSTs -- Purpose?

Hey, Y'all,

It's been a while since we revisited our reason for being--I know there're several new folks who've come aboard recently. So what's the purpose of these Random Spiritual Thoughts?

Most days they're just quick reminders that there's more to life than what Madison Avenue (or the vast majority of society for that matter) says there is; that that vague sense of dissatisfaction, that feeling that there's something missing or incomplete, and that things should be better, that sense that things are not as they ought to be...it's for real.

It's an interesting quandary we post-modern people find ourselves in--we know we're being marketed to constantly, we understand that most of what we see and hear is at best a spin- or sales-job, and yet there remains this inexplicable deep yearning to believe that there's more...that's what RSTs are supposed to remind you of.

Yeah, most days they're of the warm and fuzzy, reassuring variety, nothing wrong with that...unless I do you the disservice of not pointing out that God wants much more for you than just that sense of "I'm OK"---which can easily morph into "I'm OK where I am so I think I'll just stay [stagnate] here." He wants you to open your eyes and see that there's much more than just getting by, He wants you to grow, to flourish, and to become a better human being, more mature and patient and kind (see Galatians 5:22&23 for the specifics)--that's the proof that there's a God and that He's a life-changing and powerful and benevolent God.

So it's true, He accepts us and loves us profoundly, wherever we are and whatever state we're in (check out the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 for more details). BUT...it's equally true that He loves us entirely too much to leave us where He found us. He did accept both the woman caught in adultery ("I don't condemn you") and the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda ("Do you want to be healed?") exactly as they were, but it's also interesting to note that He told them to move onward and upward from that point and to not keep spinning their wheels (to the woman, "now leave your life of sin," and to the paralytic, "get up, pick up your mat, and walk" --- and interestingly He meets the paralytic again later and tells him directly to change his life and "sin no more"---the complete stories are found in John 8:3-11 and John 5:1-15).

So there you have it: why RSTs? 'Cause there's more, much more, for us, but we tend to forget...So whenever I run across something that reminds me of that fact, I pass it on. But remember, God isn't just about getting you to feel better about yourself--He's about you growing and actually being a better person, more like what we were created to be: reflections of Him--literally "created in His image."

Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.
May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.
Psalm 143:10

You've been prayed for today...

Yancey Quote Response -- God Is God: Is He Lord?

Hey, Y'all,

Network issues here at home kept me from getting this out the last couple of days, hope you had a restful weekend. Today's RST is the first of a two-part follow-up to the recent Yancey quote--thanks Dave D for this thought-provoking tidbit: "I have heard it said that 'If He isn't the LORD of your all, then He isn't LORD at all.'"

Hmmm...that's no joke there. Here are some things that came to mind...

Is there some aspect of my life, some thing, which I am unwilling to relinquish control of? Or relinquish in general?

Check out 'The Lord's Prayer' (Matthew 6 and Luke 11): why would Christ include that bit about "your will be done" in the "how-to handbook" for prayer?

Why are the first two commandments (Exodus 20) "Do not worship any other gods besides me" and "Do not make idols of any kind?" Are there "idols" in my life? Are there things I put above or before God? What has highest priority for me? Is something (or someone) else on the throne of my life, of my heart, of my mind?

Interesting questions--I'm thinking about 'em, how 'bout you?

You've been prayed for today...

"Your Trust In Me Has Made You Whole"

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is a response from Bud (thanks!) to the recent "God Is God" quote of Yancey's:

The only way in which God could reveal the truth about Himself was to come in the personage of Jesus Christ. That is to say the only way He could set and keep us right was to reveal the truth about Himself. And what a beautiful revelation that was! One way it was made manifest was by His healing/saving of the sick. Throughout His ministry Jesus would state, "Thy faith hath made thee whole." The Greek for faith is "pistis." Dr. Maxwell states pistis can also be translated "trust." So whenever one reads "your faith" one could read "your trust" has made you whole. Trust God to heal the damage sin does, while asking for a heart transplant [I really like that!]. One who has been thus healed and possesses a new heart will also possess newly fine-tuned hearing: a willingness to listen, because in the earth made new, we'll have the opportunity to hear the truth presented and demonstrated more clearly than ever before.

Reminded me of a few passages:

Psalm 20:7---"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

Jeremiah 29:11-13---"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."

Also sounds like Matthew 7:7-11---"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

"Trust God to heal the damage sin does, while asking for a heart transplant"--really enjoyed that one. So there it is--trust is the key. But think about it for a second: some people you would trust with your life; how much do you trust someone you don't know?

You've been prayed for today...

God's Fridge

Hey Y'all,

Hope you're having a relaxing weekend (though I know some of you are plugging away in board review classes and other academic endeavors--hang in there! This too shall pass!). Even though it was a (technically) short week because of Labor Day, it sure seemed to drag along and be surprisingly busy (but that was probably just me, right? ).

So, back to RST business: we'll be revisiting the recent Yancey RSTs momentarily--got some good responses and thoughts to pass on--but first we'll revisit the last one. It was actually found in Zephaniah 3:14-17 (not 16 as I inadvertently noted), and the punchline for me was in fact verse 17--take a minute, read it again below, and let it kind of settle on your mind, and picture it--especially the last 3 lines:

"The LORD your God is with you.
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

Struck me as an amazing picture of God (especially while watching friends and family becoming new--or now relatively new--parents) as our loving Father, actually delighting in us, in our growth and development as people and as His children--the baby steps as well as our "big" achievements; then, when we need it, soothing our hurts and quieting our doubts with His loving thoughts expressed via His word and the Holy Spirit's impressions; and most interestingly for me 'cause I'd never thought of Him this way: above it all, He rejoices over us with singing--looking over us all, watching our lives unfold day by day, inching closer to that day when He'll come back and make all things new, and here's the part that gets me: that we little creations of His bring Him such joy that He has to hum a tune--and maybe even on occasion belt out a song--while He sticks our little projects on His refrigerator. Who knew?

You've been prayed for today...

Sing and Shout! (God Is Good)

Today's (truly) Random Spiritual Thought is found in Zephaniah 3:14-16--I don't know why it resonated with me today but for some reason I really feel like I understand it better today...and you know what?
God is good.

Sing, O Daughter of Zion;
shout aloud, O Israel!
Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,
O Daughter of Jerusalem!

The LORD has taken away your punishment,
He has turned back your enemy.
The LORD, the King of Israel, is with you;
never again will you fear any harm.

On that day they will say to Jerusalem,
"Do not fear, O Zion;
do not let your hands hang limp.

The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
He will quiet you with his love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

You've been prayed for today...

Yancey Quote 2 -- God Is God: Me? Not So Much

Hey, Y'all,

Hope you're having a rejuvenating weekend. Back to our second quote of Yancey's--he said that he'd realized while pursuing his hobby of hiking that "God is God, and we are not." The first passage that came to mind was God's reply to Job (at the end of the book of Job--chapters 38-42 basically, but they can be summarized by verses 4-6 of chapter 38). God sat quietly and allowed Job and His friends and wife have their say, and then when they'd said what they had on their mind, God finally replied:

"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone?..."

We run the risk of taking God out of context and picking and choosing characteristics of His to emphasize while minimizing others; we humanize Him, which is good to a certain extent, but then we forget that He is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, and Holy, wholly committed to the life and death struggle against sin and its effects (and its proponents as well).

We extol His grace and love while often forgetting that very love and grace call us to a better life, to grow into His Way, and that that Way is often at odds with what the prevailing culture around us says is "good" and "right."

So yeah, it's true, "God is God"--but is He my God? He's my savior, but is He the Lord of my life? Does He rule there, or do I have someone or something else on the throne of my life? Am I growing into His way, or am I headed down the way of my choosing?

More on this soon...but today, you've been prayed for...

Yancey Quote 1 -- God's Already Here: is He Visible?

Hey, Y'all,

Here're a couple of RSTs that one of you sent my way after hearing Philip Yancey speak...kind of cool, gets you thinking about your place in the world...

He said a couple of things that stuck in my mind: "God is already here. It's our job to make Him visible." He also commented that one thing he learned while pursuing his hobby of hiking was that "God is God, and we are not."

The first quote brings a lot of texts to mind of course but the first one is Matthew 25:34-40 which says:

"Then the King will say to those on the right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.' Then these righteous ones will reply, `Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison, and visit you?' And the King will tell them, `I assure you, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'"

And of course right behind it was Galatians 5:22, 23:

"But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." This list of characteristics stands in sharp contrast to verses 19-21 which describe the life without God's steadying and bettering influence: "When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, excessive eagerness for pleasure, idolatry [putting other things first before your relationship with God], participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, division, discord, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and many other kinds of sin."

So there it is--"God is already here. It's our job to make Him visible." How's that going for you?


You've been prayed for today...

(Tomorrow we'll talk about the second quote).