Never Wasted

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is based on an old post of John Fischer's from PurposeDrivenLife.com and is in line with some of what we talked about last night in Men's Group...

Is it possible that our difficult or painful experiences, in God's omnipotent hands, change us and shape us and prepare us for ministries he custom-designs us for? Now, listen, I know what you're thinking, but stop for a moment and think about it: haven't your problems, hurts, and trials taught you infinitely more than your easy times? Do you realize that God never wastes a hurt? In fact, it's possible that your greatest fulfillment in life may actually arise out of the ashes of your greatest hurts. The Bible says, "He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us" 2 Corinthians 1:4 NLT.

As Aldous Huxley has said, "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." What will you do with what you've been through? Don't waste your painful experiences; use them to help others. Remember that God never wastes a hurt--unless you don't allow Him to redeem it for good (check out Romans 8:28).

Two key phrases keep rolling through my head: "It's possible that your greatest fulfillment in life may actually arise out of the ashes of your greatest hurts." Hmmm...how true have you found that to be? And how 'bout this one: "Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you." Hmmm...kinda gets me thinking...So what're you doing with your stuff?

You've been prayed for today...

"Thoughts"...Practicing The Presence

Hey, Y'all,

Interestingly enough, I ran across today's thought (by Max Lucado) just after posting the last one--and it dovetails nicely with the former...

Practicing the Presence
How do I live in God's presence? How do I detect His unseen hand on my shoulder and His inaudible voice in my ear? How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into His presence. I have a friend who makes it a habit to roll out of his bed onto his knees and begin his day in prayer. Personally, I don't get that far. With my head still on the pillow and my eyes still closed, I offer God the first seconds of my day. The prayer is not lengthy and far from formal. Depending on how much sleep I got, it may not even be intelligible. Often it's nothing more than "Thank you for a night's rest. I belong to you today."

Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence. A mature married couple may have learned the treasure of shared silence; they don't need to fill the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent with God. "Be still, and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10 NIV). Awareness of God is a result of stillness before God.

Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries Christians have learned the value of brief sentence prayers, prayers that can be whispered anywhere, in any setting. Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as "Thank you, Father," "Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord," "You are my resting place, Jesus" can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn't leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray wherever you are, however you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the cubicle a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.

And last, give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Thank him for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise: "He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4 NIV). If you fall asleep as you pray, don't worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.

You've been prayed for today...

Words To Live By: "Worship Is Central" and "Referred To God"

Hey, Y'all--not sure where I read this but I liked it...

 

Throughout his life David believed, truly believed, that the spiritual world, though invisible to him, was every bit as real as the 'natural' world of swords and spears and caves and thrones. His psalms, his worship, form a conscious effort to reorient his own daily life to the reality of the supernatural world just beyond him. Now, centuries later, we can use those very same thoughts and prayers as steps of faith, a path to lead us from our obsession with ourselves to the actual presence of our God. ..

 

And here's the concluding thought:

 

[David understood that worship is] the central activity in life, not something to get over in order to resume other activity . As C.S Lewis has said: ideally, being a practicing Christian "means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God" [for context/clarification].

 

Hmmm...you really oughta read that last paragraph again 'cause it's loaded with some serious beef:

 

Worship is the central activity in life, not something to get over in order to resume other activity.

 

Do I live that?!?   How 'bout this one:

 

Being a practicing Christian 'means that every single act and feeling, every experience, whether pleasant or unpleasant, must be referred to God.'

 

How many angst-laden times have I flailed through, how many circumstances have you failed to correctly understand, because of our failure to turn the things we're not supposed to handle alone over to The Only One who can actually fully comprehend and manage them?

 

Also loved this thought ('cause I need it--'course I'm sure it's just me as usual :-)

 

We can use those very same thoughts and prayers as steps of faith, a path to lead us from our obsession with ourselves to the actual presence of our God.

 

You've been prayed for today...

 

 

 

Focusing on "Godly Significance" Or Its Counterfeit?

Hey, Y'all,

Ran across this thought in an e-mail from Promise Keepers; hadn't reviewed their "7 Promises" (which are listed at the end) in a while and I was reminded once again that these are indeed worthy aspirations, irrespective of gender--see if you don't agree. But first, the RST...

"As a former pilot of a C-130, a large 4 engine turbo-prop, I flew around the world in various weather conditions. I remember one particular descent I had through a cloud deck at about 5,000 feet. Once we penetrated, it was beautiful underneath. Feeling good and seeing the runway straight ahead, I made my call: 'Center, this is Joyce 48, I am descending to 5,000 feet, have the runway in sight and request tower frequency.' The reply came back promptly: 'Roger, clear to go to tower, turn right 90 degrees.' I replied, 'Roger, going to tower, have runway in sight.' The controller came back immediately and said, 'You have the wrong runway, turn right 90 degrees, now.' Oops!! If I had landed on the wrong runway, I doubtless would have lost my wings!

"How many of us men find ourselves heading toward 'the wrong runway' in our lives by focusing on fleeting 'success' instead of Godly significance? The 7 Promises identify areas of a man's life that are paramount benchmarks for that life of significance--you might consider them an integrity-focused summary of 'Biblical manhood.'"

A Promise Keeper strives to keep these 7 Promises:

PROMISE 1
A Promise Keeper is committed to honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, and obedience to God's Word, through the power and work of the Holy Spirit.
PROMISE 2
A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs Brothers to help him keep his promises.
PROMISE 3
A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity.
PROMISE 4
A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families with love, protection, and Biblical values.
PROMISE 5
A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor and by actively giving his time and resources.
PROMISE 6
A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of Biblical unity.
PROMISE 7
A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world by being obedient to the Great Commandment (Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20).

So...are you a promise keeper?

You've been prayed for today...

In The Game?

Hey, Y'all,

Ran across this thought from PurposeDrivenLife.com which cracked me up and runs right alongside what we discussed last week in church: what good is your religion if it doesn't speak to you and your life, right here and now? What good is a religion that doesn't encourage me to become "God's instrument" --- an agent of change for Good and Peace and Justice and Mercy, in this world, right now?

"'But make sure that you don't get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God.'
Romans 13:11 MSG

"Several years ago, a movie called 'Hoosiers' told the story of a small-town basketball team that miraculously made it to the state championship. During the intense game, the team's coach sent a player from the bench into the game, but before going out on the court the boy, a devout Christian, knelt to pray. As he continued to pray, delaying the game on the court, finally, the coach leaned down and said, 'Son, The Lord wants you out on the court now.'


"Are some of us like that -- still praying for God to strengthen us for the game -- when God wants us to get right into the thick of things here and now, having already promised us that that He will be our strength? Are you? Am I?"

You've been prayed for today...

Don't Ask If Unwilling

Hey, Y'all,

Just a quick thought today (sometimes they are more verbose, and other times they're more compact, but they do seem to find their mark)...so here it is:

"Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps
if you aren't willing to move your feet."

Brings to mind a passage we've been talking about recently (and frequently) in the Men's Group--James 1:22-25. The punch line goes like this: "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says." Here's what the whole passage sounds like:

"But don't just listen to God's word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don't obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don't forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it."

So, unsatisfied with where you are? Ready for a better way? Ask Him for help working it out. Just don't be surprised if it entails some adjustment on your part (you are looking for a better way, right?). Yep, lovin' those pithy statements...

"Don't ask the Lord to guide your footsteps
if you aren't willing to move your feet."

"You can't stay where you are and walk with God."

"God does meet you where you are,
but He loves you entirely too much to leave you there."

You've been prayed for today...

Follow-Up To "Christ Plus Nothing" -- The Other Side Of The Coin

Hey, Y'all,

Today's RST is a follow-up to the last one and can be viewed as the other side of the same coin. I had a great e-mail conversation with our brother Tom B. earlier--and interestingly it was essentially a continuation of the discussion we had in men's group on Tuesday night (funny coincidence, huh...and yeah, and these are actually Random Spiritual Thoughts too :-)

So here's what we were talking about: it is a fact that real spirituality is truly "graduate-level" stuff, no simplistic cliched answers will satisfy real searching, and real searching--reading and thinking and praying (and living life in general)--seem to bring on more "speedbumps" and things to wrestle with (or temporarily step over) in the belief that God will clear things up when--and if--He wants me to understand whatever it was...all of which is a good thing! God is God, so there ought to be things I can't comprehend right away (or ever)--hence, well, faith :-)

Tom points out that Paul does say in Ephesians 2:8 that "we are saved by grace through faith" because salvation is a gift--which is what the last RST was trying to convey: (1) there is nothing you can do to make yourself more worthy of God's love and forgiveness--which are gifts from a Loved One, and (2) you're only kidding yourself when you try to earn salvation (Isaiah very eloquently says that even "our righteous acts are like filthy rags")--again, it's a true gift, by definition not something you deserve or earn.

However, Tom also reminds us, "James clearly states 'faith without works is dead.' Don't let your readers fall into the trap of not making Jesus the Lord of your life. When He is Lord, then you want to be like Him, which means you will have Christ-like works, but they are spawned from love, not obligation. How do we know this? Because Jesus Himself said that 'by their fruits you will recognize them' (Matthew 7:20). There is a huge difference, James states it so well that there is no doubt in my mind." [Great passage--check it out--James 2:14-26].

Thanks Tom, that's the good stuff :-) and I agree wholeheartedly that relating to Him as Savior and submitting to Him as Lord are both crucial components of "The Walk." I also agree that often it seems the 'salvation' aspect of the relationship is emphasized without talking about how that moment must become a long-term transformational experience in order for it to really, truly take root and thrive.

"You can't stay where you are and walk with God," is a quote that has always rung true for me, and it reminds me of another one: "God meets us where we are, but He loves us too much to leave us there." But I have to thank Tom S. for the one that brings it home: "It's by faith alone, but true faith is never alone."

So there it is: salvation is by grace, through faith, which without good Godly works is obviously dead--our "fruits" demonstrate irrefutably what spirit is on the throne of our hearts and producing those visible actions (and Galatians 5 doesn't mince words in that regard--check it out, it's a great read, and clears it all up if you're a little fuzzy on it).

You've each been prayed for today...