Odd Spiritual Equation

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is based on a devotional written by John Fischer of PurposeDrivenLife.com--I enjoyed it because it's an idea I've been rolling around in my head as well (good to know it's not just me :-) . Here goes...

"Comfort equals confusion. Calamity equals clarity." How’s that for an odd spiritual contradiction? No, it isn’t directly scriptural, but I have found it to be true of how Christ works in our day-to-day experiences.

In my own life, being comfortable can cloud the picture of what God is doing. A comfortable place often makes me lazy spiritually. I find myself praying less, seeking God less, and often finding it hard to recognize the voice of God in my life. Comfort takes the edge off, and walking in the Spirit is all about being on the edge, spiritually – being alert to the dangers around me and the temptations that always lurk so close at hand, whether I am aware of them or not. It was while his army was off to war that King David of Israel had the time and the leisure to have an affair with the wife of one of his generals.

And in this culture of relative affluence, we keep trying to seek more comfort when that may be the worst thing for us and something that God may prevent our achieving, at least for now. It’s not because he loves making us uncomfortable, but because he knows what it takes to make us walk by faith. It takes trial, and testing, and pressure for faith to grow in us, and he loves us too much to rob us of this opportunity. That’s why a little chaos usually clears things up. It' is in these moments of pain and pressure that our faith becomes real.

This is why Christians in troubled parts of the world always seem to be more passionate about following Christ. They are surrounded by calamity on every side, and yet their faith remains unshakable. They risk their lives to meet together with other believers. They consider a Bible the greatest treasure they could possess. They hold an immense amount of joy in their hearts in complete contrast to their situation.

On the contrary, when faith is taken for granted, as it is in our society, we often let spiritual things slide, and the result can be confusion about God’s will and our place in it. Our joy over temporal things competes with our joy in Christ. We start to treasure things that we are going to ultimately lose. So we get confused.

Not that I wish calamity on you or me, but I think we need to learn to welcome it as an opportunity to grow (read James 1:2-4 again). And I also think we need to be wary of anything that makes us think we are comfortable. Usually, it’s only short-lived and not something we want to derive comfort from anyway. So, if you're feeling a little brave today, pray this little prayer with me: "Lord, if we find calamity upon us, make our faith strong, and if we feel too comfortable, awaken us to distrust the source of our comfort if it is anything other than you."

Amen to that--you've been prayed for today...

"Come, Let Us Reason Together"

Hey, Y'all,

Been reading an excellent book--stand by for a new set of RSTs on different facets of a complicated and crucial topic: prayer. In the meantime, for those of you who were in church in my neck of the woods, this is going to ring a bell...

“Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”
Isaiah 1:18

How cool is it that God wants to sit with us and talk with us and reason with us and help us understand things?

You've been prayed for today...

"Thank You" Would Be Enough

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is based on a quote from Meister Eckhart (who was a 13th century Christian mystic of the Dominican Order):

"If the only prayer you ever truly prayed was 'thank you,' it would be enough."

Hope you're having a phenomenal Thanksgiving--and of course giving thanks for the innumerable things God has provided.

Follow-Up To "Of Goodness And Gardens"

Hey, Y'all,

Just got back from a couple of days at "The Pearl Of The Desert" --- NAF El Centro. Always good to get out of town and catch a quick change of scenery and spend some time in the desert (especially at sunrise and sunset and of course nighttime--you forget how many stars there are). And speaking of stars and nighttime, welcome to the world, Leila Simone Tabuenca .

Today's RSTs are a continuation of the last ones...but first, quick thanks are due to my brother Maximus from whose computer this RST is being broadcast (not to mention the carne asada feast that's fueling it --sweet!). Alright, here we go...

"It is a newly created garden He asks me to cultivate. I do not create it myself...Rather I dress and keep it as His new creation...If we would but keep our eyes on that creation and not on our own selves and our own relative attainments (or lack of them), every day doing the best we can to dress and keep that garden, how glorious would be the expression of divine grace in our lives."

Reminds me of 2 Cor 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" It's not something I do, it's something I receive as a gift from God, from "plugging in" and hanging out with Him and learning from Him and about Him and His Way. Also reminds me of Philippians 2:13, "It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose," or in another version, "For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him." Sweet--like we read in the book Experiencing God, "It's not about me." It's about Him. His strength, His provision for my needs along The Way, including the desire and the strength to get on and stay on The Way.

One more thought: "And when those weeds of yesterday, those old habit patterns, reappear as I till this new creation--as inevitably they must--they appear as alien weeds I can attack from strength and not in weakness. Gradually they disappear forever, one by one--and I rejoice in their passing." Kind of a cool thought, that as I am more and more "under the influence" of the Holy Spirit, the things in my life that are not consistent with that life, with The Way, clash with my new life, and they are seen for the shallow and superficial and unsatisfying weak substitutes for Truth that they really are, and I don't want them anymore, I crave them less and less. Now THAT's good news.

You've been prayed for today...

On Goodness and Gardens

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RSTs come from a book called "You Can Go Home Again" by Jack Provonsha...kinda got me thinkin', hopefully you too...

“God is gracious by definition. No one can, or ever needs to, merit divine acceptance. The presumption that God requires our goodness in order to respond in kind is a negative and false answer to the question about His essential friendliness.” (pp. 101,102)

“The question is not ‘How good do I have to be?' but ‘How good do I get to be?'" (p. 107)

“It is a newly created garden He asks me to cultivate. I do not create it myself... Rather I dress and keep it as His new creation... And when those weeds of yesterday, those old habit patterns, reappear as I till this new creation--as inevitably they must--they appear as alien weeds I can attack from strength and not in weakness. Gradually they disappear forever, one by one--and I rejoice in their passing.” (p. 109)

“If we would but keep our eyes on that creation and not on our own selves and our own relative attainments (or lack of them), every day doing the best we can to dress and keep that garden, how glorious would be the expression of divine grace in our lives.” (p. 111)

“One thing more about that garden. In Eden, Adam and Eve didn’t make things grow. Plants sprouted as they do now in the light of the sun and in moist, fertile soil. Just so, as we do our best to dress and keep the garden God has created in us, He will provide the nutrients and the water and the sun (Son) to make it grow.” (p. 111)

So, what is this "garden" God creates in us and how do we nurture it and keep it? Think about it for a minute...more tomorrow...but you've been prayed for today.

Belief

Hey, Y'all,

Hope this e-mail finds you well on your way to enjoying a relaxing weekend--a longer one for some of us, don't forget to be sure to thank a Veteran for their service! My mom forwarded this to me today (so today's RST is fresh-made!)(thanks, Mai)--she ran across it in the Sabbath school lesson study for this week, interestingly enough). It goes like this:

Scientist Ben Clausen points out that human beings want certainty, but uncertainty is an inescapable part of life...In "The Book of Beginnings" that Clausen co-authored with Gerald Wheeler he shares this quote from [Spanish writer and philosopher] Miguel de Unamuno: "Those who believe that they believe in God, but without passion in their hearts, without anguish in their minds, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without an element of despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God Himself."

Now THAT's an RST. Reminds me of a couple of conversations I had today--one said in essence that extraordinary accomplishments require extraordinary effort, but first they require extraordinary leaps of faith, all of which entails commitment and sacrifice and uncertainty...but that's just the way it is: there are no shortcuts, there are no other ways to accomplish great things. The other conversation was much more banal but fleshes out this idea on another level: a buddy told me at the gym earlier today when I tweaked my vastus medialis --- yeah, I said vastus medialis, look it up :-) --- that "that's a good thing, 'cause if you don't tweak something once in a while then you're not really trying." We seem to be able to grasp this about other aspects of life; why do we expect our walk, our attempt at relationship with an omnipotent and omniscient and omni-everything God to be straightforward or easy or even comprehensible?!?

So don't sweat it, keep on keepin' on, 'cause if it's hard then you're doing it right (and remember: if you're not tweakin' something once in a while, then you're not really trying).

You've been prayed for today...

AudioRST--"Morning Thought (Search Me)"

Hey, Y'all,

I was playing this song earlier this (crazy busy) week, rolling it over in my head and basically meditating on it--it's based on Psalm 139, a remarkable passage (these are verses 23,24):

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Test me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Lots to chew on and mull over--more on that later--but today it's the mere idea that He's interested enough in me and my mental state to sit and talk it over that I find mind-blowing. On the one hand, an incredibly vast and powerful God; on the other, an incredibly personable being who wants peace and joy for me. How cool is that?!? I also love David's request that His Lord lead him in the way everlasting...the implication of course being that that way of peace and joy everlasting is not one he can find nor follow consistently on his own...but I'm sure it's just David (and me), right?

You've been prayed for today...