An Invitation I Can't Refuse

Jesus said, "Come to me all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest."

Anybody weary?  Life is a wonderful gift, but it can also be wearisome.  Things happen.  Hurt comes.  Mistakes and sins are committed and consequences follow.  Things that we have no control over go wrong.  Other people make choices that negatively impact us.  And, we get tired.  Or at least I do. 

Anybody burdened?  I wonder how many people will read this and say yes as they feel the weight of the world bearing down on their shoulders.  Its heavy.  It feels like it will never let up.  You can feel its weight physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.  Yes, that is a burden. 

If you relate to one or both of the above, then get this: You are exactly who Jesus is inviting...I know, right? He is inviting weary and burdened people?  Is he sure he does not want strong and joyful people?  He wants we whose shoulders are sagging and eyes are on the ground.  Yep...you and I are exactly who he has in mind.  He knows you have enough on you that he makes the invitation very simple...its just three words..."Come to me."  Get that...let it sink in...Jesus wants weary and burdened people like you and me to come to him right now. 

Why? He invites us to come so he can give us rest.   I don't know about you, but that is an invitation I cannot refuse. 

This Sunday we will be talking about the rest Jesus invites us to enter.  If you or someone you know is weary and burdened, I hope you will receive the invitation to come. 

I Am a Warrior

Mary Miller is a part of the Living Hope Church family.  As we have been studying Ephesians 6, which describes the armor of God we, the Church, are to put on to bring truth, justice, peace, salvation and God's Word to the world, Mary was inspired to write the following poem.  She gave me permission to share it with you.  I believe God will use her words to encourage you as he has me.  Thank you, Mary!

I Am a Warrior

I live life in a fallen world

I battle to not survive but thrive and I have

Though not unscathed

My scars remind me of what I have conquered

I am a leader

Hope, faith, love, humility and perseverance are my superpowers

Each time I venture out to do more, to be who God created me to be, I am in the battle zone

Yet I do not fight alone for my faith in Christ is my shield

The church and God’s angles are my army

We all follow His lead

This life is a hazardous journey and

Everywhere you turn there is a battle

I fall – I pick myself up

When I am broken He carries me; He heals me

The best part is I learn to be more like Him

I begin to anticipate and expect trouble, to expect pain, to expect chaos

To expect all that Christ experienced and warned me about

And in the battle, in Him I have peace

So I keep going

I keep moving forward

I am a warrior

I am strong

My strength comes not from my physical body but my heart

My desire to help others to become whole in Christ– to become fellow warriors

At times I feel weak but I know that is a lie from the enemy of my soul

For Christ is my strength and through Him I am armed for battle

I could not become a warrior until I was able to see His strength in me

I used to shrink back, to isolate, to hide

I grieved God’s heart when I believed that lie

The enemy doesn’t want me to know I am strong

He doesn’t want me to fulfill God’s will for my life

He doesn’t want the injustice of this world to stop

Or for me to rise up, speak up, give a voice to the warrior’s anthem

I will NOT give up

I will NOT quit

I am a warrior

I fight injustice

I fight for my heart and the hearts of others

And though I know life is not a Disney movie

I know how this ends and

I am on the winning team

By Mary Miller, June 2013

Sweet Release

Have you ever found yourself driving on the highway between orange barrels and a concrete wall in the middle of a hard rain that makes visibility seem barley possible while some other driver is is being reckless?  I have.  In that experience, I find myself gripping the steering wheel tightly, straining my eyes to see and praying that I stay alert and careful. I can feel all of my muscles tightening as I drive in those unfavorable conditions.  And then, just when I think I am wound so tight I can take no more, the construction ends, the rain stops and the crazy driver speeds away.  And when that happens, I can physically feel all my muscles begin to relax.  My grip loosens.  My breathing becomes soothing.  My eyes no longer feel strained.  O, yes, that is a sweet release of stress and tension. 

I have a feeling there are a whole lot of people walking around gripping the steering wheel of life in the same fashion. Most of us, don't even realize we are doing so, but those who know us best can sure see it. Strained, stressed, tense people have a way of being irritable, worried and even afraid.  Not exactly qualities that make life fun for the person gripping the wheel or those riding with them. 

On Sunday night, I experienced a sweet release from God.  I have been wrestling in prayer over a particular concern for several months.  On Sunday night, God revealed to me that I was gripping the steering wheel as though I was in the drivers seat.  He made it clear that even my prayers were my attempt to be in control.  I asked why I was doing that and he showed me it was fear-based.  With that truth I went to a place of prayer with many others and I let go of this particular steering wheel. I put it in his hands.  And God, in all his love and mercy, broke through all my callousness of fear. 

When I got up from prayer, I could physically feel months worth of gripping leave my body as I rested in his hands. 

May be you are feeling the same way as I was? Today I invite you to fall before him.  Ask him why you are gripping the wheel so tightly?  Put that which has you strained, stressed and afraid in his hands.  And then...this is so good...experience his sweet release.

"The Light is Not At the End of the Tunnel"

The other day I received a face book message from LH member, Vickie McBride.  (You may recall her name from a fundraiser we participated at El Rancho Grande this past winter.  Vickie has been fighting cancer.  She has made it through chemotherapy and surgeries and now she is enduring radiation.  Please continue pray for Vickie and her family).  In her face book message she shared a truth from God that she had received that has been carrying her through this process and she gave me permission to share it with you. 

She said, " HIS light is only a step in front of me and not at the "end of the tunnel"."  Isn't that an awesome truth from God?! 

Life really can become dark at times, can't it? As we have been studying in Ephesians 6:10 and following, "our struggle is not against flesh and blood..." It is not against what we can see, but unseen forces of darkness.  And these forces can make things seem so dark that it appears there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

Have you ever felt like that?  When I feel like that, I find myself saying things like, "Here we go again," or "This is never going to end" or "I just can't keep going" or "I give up."  It can be extremely overwhelming, scary and discouraging to not see any light at the end of the tunnel. 

However, God's word of hope to Vickie is for all of us.  It is straight form the Bible.  God never promised to be our light at the end of the tunnel.  He is not waiting at the end to see if we will make it.  No!  He promises to gives us light for each step we take.  He is walking just a step ahead of us, giving us exactly the light we need as we need it.  And when you are walking through a time of darkness, isn't that what is needed most--light for the next step, his nearness and his guidance?

I hope Vickie's word from God encourages you as much it did me.  Next, time I do not see light at the end of the tunnel, I am going to thank God and look at the next step before because that is where I will see HIS LIGHT! 

Sun Delay

Yesterday, I was driving to the office and heard the radio traffic reporter say that there were "sun delays" on 1-75.  Traffic was being slowed because the sun was so bright.  I thought to myself, I guess of all the reasons you could experience a traffic jam that sun delay has to be one of the better.

Since then I have been praying that God would interrupt my traffic pattern with his own "Son delay" (come one...you had to see that word pun coming...unless, of course, the sun was in your eyes and you couldn't see it...ha!  I'll be here all week!). 

What would change for the better in our lives, if we were forced to slow down because we God got in our eyes?  You might ask, how could i have this experience?  Jesus describes how to experience regular Son delays in Matthew 25.  Why not take some time to read that passage until His light begins to break through?

Too Big for 1, Just Right for All

I can remember a time, when occasionally, Seth would come clomping out into the room wearing my size 13 shoes.  He would say, "Look at me."  We would say, "Be careful," as he struggled to stay vertical in shoes in which he could more easily swim than run. 

Seth in my shoes is a good metaphor for our faith in Jesus Christ.  Some where along the way American individualism turned faith in Christ into a private, personal pursuit.  We read passages like Ephesians 6:10-20, which talks about putting on the armor of God and a lone soldier facing the elements and defending him/herself against the enemy comes to mind.  However, such a mind-set is not just an incorrect interpretation of that passage of Scripture, it is just plain ole bad theology.  To put it most bluntly, it is not even Christian or biblical thinking.

The truth is faith in Jesus Christ is too big for any individual Christian to wear alone.  When we walk around thinking its just me and Jesus, spiritually speaking, we look as silly and clumsy as a three year old in size 13 shoes.  Faith in Jesus is about putting on truth, justice, peace, faith, salvation and the word of God (see Eph. 6). Any one of those items are too big for us, but put them all together and there is no way we can stand let alone walk in a faith that is fitted for Jesus.

Therefore, Paul says in Ephesians 6 we must put this full armor of God on together so that "you" meaning "you all"; in other words, all of us toegtehr as the Body of Christ can take your stand against the devil's schemes.   That is why Baptism is so important.  Each person being baptized is putting on the full armor of God because baptism is what unites us with the Body of Christ.  The armor of God is too big for any one of us, but is just the right fit for us together as Jesus' Body.

Furthermore, that is why it is so important that the local Body of Christ make baptism services a priority.  This is not just about the one being baptized.  This is about us showing the one that they are now being fitted to the entire Body. Our presence this Sunday along with our worship and cheers gives witness to the reality that each one being baptized will never again be going it alone.  We make this journey to the summit together!

Please pray for those preparing to be baptized.  The Enemy fights any step we take with Jesus, especially one that overcomes the lie of individualism and accepts the truth that I am a part of the Body.  Thank you for those who plan to attend and support your brothers and sisters in Christ.  Your part on Sunday is as important as those being baptized.  Finally, for those of you who always choose not to come to baptism service, can I ask you a question?  This time instead of relying on whatever reason you use to opt out of a baptism service, will you at least take the time to pray and ask God to search your heart on this?  After all, faith in Jesus is too big for one, but just right for all and that is not just truth for some, but for us all.

Our Refuge

In a week of treacherous tornadoes, the word refuge comes to mind.  Our hearts break for those who could not find safe refuge from the storm and for those who found refuge during the storm, but now need a source of refuge as they pick up the pieces in the aftermath.  Thank you for the way you have been lifting the victims up in prayer and for considering supporting Nazarene Compassionate Ministries disaster relief fund (see the link on my or Living Hope's face book page).

The word refuge is common place language in the book of Psalms in the Bible.  The psalmists were the original advocates of what it means to be real in our faith.  Their prayers are raw and uncensored not in arrogance, but in openness. They teach us that the more open we are with God, the more open we are to receive from God. 

For instance, Psalm 31(http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+31&version=NIV) is a tremendously real prayer (I hope you will take a moment to read it.  You can copy and paste the link into your browser if that would be handy). In this prayer the Psalmist is praying about his enemies.  We all have enemies in this life.  Our enemy may be a tornado or a disease or our past or a person.  Enemies come in all shapes and sizes in this life.  What is the name of your present enemy?

If you can identify your enemy by name, then in Psalm 31, you will very likely find someone who understands what you are feeling as you deal with this enemy. Here are some of the phrases that jump out at me..."My strength fails...my eyes grow weak in sorrow...consumed by anguish...forgotten...I am like broken pottery..."  Isn't that how our enemies leave us feeling?  Don't you think tornado victims this week would find solidarity in such language? 

Yes, the Psalmist is very open with God about how his enemy is impacting him personally.  I wonder if the reason some of us sometimes feel like our prayers are not connecting is because we are not connecting with how we really feel.  For example, I wonder if we pray about our enemies in the way we think God wants us to, rather than simply being honest about what is truly on our heart and mind.  The Psalmist gives us permission to tell God what is really going on inside of us; after all, he already knows any how.  The only way we can pray wrong is if we are not real and open before the Father.  So, go ahead, take Psalm 31's cue and tell God what your enemy is really doing to you deep down where no one but the Father can see and understand.  

But then, and this is vital, let your openness with God allow you to be open to God.  As he lets God in on his inner most true thoughts and feelings about his enemy, the Psalmist discovers that God is willing to show up there.  Yes!  Isn't that awesome?!  God wants us to open up so we can be open to him where we are hurting the most.  And once God is allowed into those raw, sensitive wounds, he reveals himself as Refuge.  Read Psalm 31 for yourself.  His discovery of God as Refuge in the face of his enemy is powerful.  It is so powerful that by end of his prayer, he shouts,
22"In my alarm I said,
    “I am cut off from your sight!”
Yet you heard my cry  for mercy
    when I called to you for help.

²³ Love the Lord, all his faithful people!
    The Lord preserves those who are true to him,
    but the proud he pays back in full.
²⁴ Be strong and take heart,
    all you who hope in the Lord."

 

Whether your enemy is a tornado or something or someone entirely different, God wants all of us to know that he wants to be our Refuge.