Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘faith’

What is the Fruit Anyway?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , on August 17, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 15:5b, 8
“If a man [or woman] remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing…This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

The whole issue of the fruit metaphor has plagued me over the years. I got hung up on it when a well meaning friend pronounced fruit as the number of converts I brought into the Body of Christ. For him, the process of “harvesting fruit” (probably based on Matthew 9:37) was a frontal assault: bring the person through the “sinner’s prayer” or share the “4 Spiritual Laws” or whatever it takes to close the deal and get the person to “yes.” It reminds me of sales talk: get to the “ask.” [“Ask” in this context meaning to pop the question: do you want to buy this product or do you want to support this cause with a donation?]

First of all, let me say, I am not against drawing others to Christ, far from it. But I’m thinking differently these days about the way. I’m thinking it’s the fruit that actually draws a new believer, not the other way around. The fruit, like fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) or the description by James [3:17] of being wise, peace-loving, considerate, merciful and so forth, these are transforming energies. These fruits come from the heart. These are fruits of love. These are fruits that draw others to us. And when they are drawn to us, they are drawn to Christ.

Ezekiel says [47:12] “…every month they will bear [fruit], because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” This is our future. As the water/spirit of God flows through us, we offer the fruit of love and healing for wounds, both emotional and physical. We are in the restoration business. As we give of ourselves, we are giving life-changing fruit.

Doesn’t it make so much sense that God uses the idea of “feast” … the abundance of fruit … available to us all. And how foolish of us to miss such a feast.

Lord, mark the time for me today. Give me awareness that I might recognize the hunger of others. I don’t want to just “invite” them to the feast, I want to give them a taste of Christ’s fruit. Keep my heart tender, receptive and transparent.

Read Full Post »

Exposing Gentleness

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , on August 13, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Philippians 4:5a
“Let your gentleness be evident to all….” [Paul]

Exposing gentleness has always sounded dangerous to me. That’s why most people perceive me as having a “strong,” maybe even tough exterior. It’s a type of shield for my heart. I’m sure, even my dearest friends, wouldn’t choose “gentle” to describe me. But it is there.

I only expose my gentle self when I judge the circumstances are safe. For instance, I’m sure my pets would call me gentle most of the time, particularly one on one. Or is it that they gentle me? In any event, I respond to their unconditional love. But the heart cannot count on unconditional love from others. The gentle heart must give it.

One key to exposing the gentle heart is not responding like for like. I get sucked in emotionally to the flames of others when I want to be cool water.

Another key is trusting God to protect my heart. I think the revelation for me today is that a heart protected by God is like a “tempurpedic mattress” – it returns to its shape naturally. It’s not that the heart won’t be pushed or compressed, but it will bounce back.

In truth, the gentle heart is resilient and very strong. The gentle heart accepts people right were they are. The gentle heart places no expectations on others. The gentle heart is patient. The gentle heart is brave.

Oh, gentle heart, be brave today.

Read Full Post »

Symbiosis

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on August 9, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 14:11a
“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me;…”

Here’s the definition of symbiosis: any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship between two persons, groups, etc. Here are some synonyms: cooperation, collaboration, synergy, union, combined effort, alliance, harmony, unity.

This is one way of describing the relationship that Jesus had with the Father while He was on earth. This is the relationship that we can have as well.

What is preventing us from having this symbiotic experience? Probably it’s sin: control, self-motivation, personal preferences, personal power, self-interest, fear, distrust.

What does it take to experience symbiosis: trust, faith, risk, courage, confidence, love.

How many of us have “asked Jesus into our hearts,” or “asked Jesus to be the Lord of our lives” … [pick any one of these cliches]… and then we ask Jesus, the very Son of God who is in direct symbiosis with God the Father, we ask him to sit in a corner and wait until we really need him to ask him into the fray.

In a symbiotic relationship, both parties are working for a common purpose. They are still individual, but they are something new together as well. This is the “new creation.”

This is my mantra today: I am in Jesus and Jesus is in me. I am in the Father and the Father is in me. I am in the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is in me.

Read Full Post »

Starting a Fire

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , on August 1, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 12:49
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!…”

It takes energy to start a fire. That is, unless you have another fire to pass along.

But if you’re starting from scratch: you have to have a few essentials like kindling or some other fire-friendly fuel, a spark (from expended energy), and oxygen to keep it going. Those who saw the movie, Castaway, will remember how important and difficult it was for the hero to start a fire. He knew the basics in how to do it, but implementing his knowledge was harder than he had imagined.

The easiest method, of course, is to have a small fire already going and you simply touch that fire to the new “environment” until it catches. Jesus tells us that He is this starter fire. We just need to prepare the kindling and provide the oxygen. Unfortunately, most of us want to control the flame. Burn here, Lord, but not there. And please, don’t burn up all my “stuff.” And, oh, please don’t let the fire hurt me. In fact, why don’t we just set aside a special area for your fire, Jesus? In that way, you can just burn and burn and it won’t hurt anything or anybody. It will be orderly and controlled. It will be on my terms.

One of my favorite worship songs is “Refiner’s Fire,” because I know the fire is essential to my faith and growth, like a forest that must occasionally experience a burn for new life to spring up. But I fear the fire at the same time. I fear that all my personal wants and desires being consumed by His Fire. I fear the loss of control. I fear that His refining fire will not leave all that is pure and holy and strong, but instead, only ashes will remain.

O Lord, have mercy on me. Forgive my fears. Start the real fire… not the fireplace version.

Read Full Post »

Endless Future

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 31, 2009| Leave a Comment »

Luke 1:48-49
[Mary said] “… for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name.”

From now on… those are deep words for anyone who is trying to figure out today. From now on, I will look at the rest of my differently. From now on, I will invite tomorrow into my life. From now on, I will expect God, who is holy, to continue to do great things for me. From now on…

We cannot walk our own future. We can make plans and we can anticipate problems and we can lay a strong foundation, but in the end, the future is a God thing and anything can happen.

The greatest preparation we can make for the future is to accept what the future brings and “work it.” There is richness in the now if we accept it as a gift from our future.

Read Full Post »

Who Sent You?

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , , , , , on July 30, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 12:44-45
Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me.”

We are all ambassadors for someone or something. We may not even realize it but it is true. People meet us or talk with us and sooner or later, they associate us with others. It could be that we end up representing our workplace, our nationality, our family, our religious affiliation, our political party, our church, our town, our state, our school, and so on. In the end, we do not enter any situation alone.

So, how are we doing? Are we good representatives? Are we authentic?

Jesus reminded people all the time that he was sent. He wanted them to see/hear/feel the One who sent him. He wanted people to remember. Do we? Or do we try to hide our affiliations (for whatever reason)?

My old friend, Tom, who ultimately introduced me to the things of God some 30 years ago, tried to hide his affiliation with Christ Jesus and all kinds of wrong assumptions were made about him. He hid his faith because he was afraid no one would like him. But they didn’t like him anyway… because he was hiding.

People around us can sense “hiding.” They may not know what we are hiding, but they know it’s something and it makes us seem untrustworthy and even suspect.

There is an old saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger.” But of course, we all know, in ancient times, that is exactly what happened. If the message was “bad news,” the messenger would suffer. Is our message “bad news” or is it our “telling” of the story (through words & behaviors) that distorts the truth? As a follower of Christ, we are asked to be true to the message and the One who sends it.

Read Full Post »

Hiding in Plain Sight

Posted in Ordinary Time, tagged , , on July 29, 2009| Leave a Comment »

John 12:36b
When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.

I couldn’t help but wonder what this hiding would look like. It certainly wasn’t “hide and seek.” It’s not like he hid behind a column and peeked out to make sure no one saw him before he bolted out the back door. And where were the disciples? Did he say, “I’ll meet you back at the ranch,” and then disappeared from them as well? Why did John even bother to mention this small fact?

The basics are that Jesus walked away and once he had entered the crowd, he became unnoticeable. His appearance was ordinary. He could melt into a crowd. He was there but no one recognized him.

When I was younger in my faith, I used to pray that Jesus would manifest before me. I wanted a supernatural vision so I could ask Him, “What is it exactly you want me to do? Speak plainly.” I sounded just like the people in the temple. And what did I expect his manifestation would look like: white robe and sandals?

We do not see Jesus because we have created our own mental model of what it means to see Jesus.

In His days of walking on the earth, He walked among the poor, destitute, and blatantly sinful. Isn’t it logical that He would do the same today? In Matthew 18:20, Jesus is quoted as saying, “…where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” And in Matthew 28:20, He is quoted again as saying, “…And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Jesus is here now. Look!

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »