Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘God’

From God, Through Christ

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on May 17, 2010| 2 Comments »

Prepositions are funny things. They are so small and yet so full of meaning. They establish relationship between two things or people. Here is a verse that establishes God as the source (of all light) and the Christ as the prism through which that light shines.

I Corinthians 8:6
. . . yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.

Mike and I had a throwback experience yesterday and showed the old movie, Pollyanna with Hayley Mills, to our daughter. I’d forgotten about the lovely scenes with the prisms and how that simple act gave hope to a couple of grumpies.

But the symbol is perfect. We cannot actually see light. We see a reflection or, in the case of a prism, a refraction and a spectrum of color.

Jesus is our prism and through him, we see God.

Consider the phrase, “to live is Christ” [Philippians 1:21] and what that might mean in conjunction with the prism image. If we are in Christ and Christ is in us, then we, too, become a prism. The more transparent and translucent we can become, the more likely the Light can be seen in us, the spectrum of God’s love.

Over the years, I have wanted to manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit [I Cor 12:8-13], but today, I understand this essential manifestation must come first. Those other gifts are by-products of the Light, they are merely one color in the spectrum.

Oh God, may the spectrum of your Light shine through Christ and may I be a vessel clear enough, transparent enough, that others would be able to see You. Forgive me for covering myself with bushels [Matthew 5:14-15] and closed doors and closets.

You are my truth.

Read Full Post »

Love or Knowledge?

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2010| Leave a Comment »

If you had to choose, which would you rather have, love or knowledge? Should be a no-brainer. But I’ve been choosing knowledge more often than not. I can control knowledge. I cannot control love.

I Corinthians 8:1b-2
We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know.

Intellectually, I understand why love would be the best choice. This is what God has been teaching me over the last year. I know that. But, today, I see it with a clarity I’ve never seen before. Love tempers knowledge. Love takes knowledge into wisdom. Love takes me out of myself and into “other.”

In the realm of spiritual gifts, let’s say, there is the “word of knowledge,” but this word must be given in love or it becomes a weapon and a place of pride.

Love is universal. Knowledge is not.

Knowledge can grow in a field of love, but love is not a natural outgrowth of knowledge.

God is love [I John 4:8]. And it’s not that God isn’t knowledge, but that is not what drives the Holy Spirit.

I’m pretty smart. I have been given a a strong IQ and all that. I like to study. I love to read and learn. I enjoy building my knowledge base. I am intrigued by others who are smart. I can do knowledge all by myself.

But love cannot be practiced alone. Love is the essential ingredient to family, to koinonia, to community, to church, to peace.

May the mindfulness of the Holy Spirit keep me in a spirit of love this day.

Read Full Post »

Divided Devotion — A Reality

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 15, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I think most people want to be married, to be in a committed relationship and to build a family. This is the norm of our culture. But in that light, Paul says there will be divided devotion; it comes with the territory. I think it’s time to stop beating myself up on this issue of a divided heart.

I Corinthians 7:33-34a, 35
But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. . . . I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you [single people] may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.

Additional references to the idea of a “divided heart” might be Matthew 6:24 (two masters), James 4:8 (double-mindedness), Psalm 86:11 or Hosea 10:2. Bad, bad, bad, that’s all I read and the condemnation rains down upon me. Enough.

The undivided heart state is an amazing ideal, but I need to be more realistic about attaining single mindedness in this time of my life. If I only focus on the undivided heart scriptures, I lose sight of the other tasks God has placed before me: namely, my family.

Actually, my devotional practices are better than ever, single or married. My sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, my desire to please God, my trust in a sovereign God, all have grown in the past few years and continue to grow. I am studying the scriptures systematically and I am praying daily. I am seeking God’s will.

But much of my prayer time is on behalf of my husband and and particularly, my children, whose spiritual lives are quite unformed still. There have been so many missteps, so many truths I have not managed to share convincingly, so many outright failures. Our marriage, although laced with kindness and cooperation, is not particularly trusting or intimate. I need to reach a much deeper place of humility there.

And what of my other relationships? These too are an intrinsic part of loving God, that is, loving others. But don’t these relationships also take a piece of the heart? They take energy and time and thought. They require concern and devotion. They, too, divide the heart.

I wonder if it’s not a huge paradox. Maybe divided devotion for love actually comes together as ultimate devotion to God. After all, what is given (time, energy, love) to the “least of these” is given unto God [Matthew 25:40].

What if it’s not divided love that is a problem but mis-directed love: idol worship, loving without God, loving carnally, loving selfishly, or loving for gain.

Like a shady bookkeeper keeping double books, two complete sets–one the truth and one a complete fabrication–this divided devotion will fail. This double heart cannot live. Unfortunately, the black heart of deceit is strong and will prevail unless there is help, confession, and truth.

Read Full Post »

Our Place in Life

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 13, 2010| 2 Comments »

In many ways, this phrase just rubs me the wrong way. I want to put my hands on my hips and say, “MY place?” Who are you to say what my place is? But then, I take a breath, and think: isn’t it true . . . isn’t htere a moment in time in which we are touched by God? That’s the place we start.


I Corinthians 7:17a
Nevertheless, each one should retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him.

Whether I like it or not, I started out in a place in life: daughter of immigrants, relatively poor, gifted with some wit and bits of talent. When I recognized the Christ spirit within me, I was on quite a downhill spiral. I was actually losing place. I was falling into a different place, casting away my God-given talents.

So, my place in life is not just my class and race, it’s the entire package of who I am in a moment. It’s not that my place may not change, but it’s not for me to destroy what has been given.

Paul writes that it’s the commands of God that must be followed, that being more essential than place. (For me, these are the two great commands of loving God and others.) When doing this, THEN, place may change.

Today, I am in a new “physical” space, in a workshop for writers. Today, I sense my place in time and Christ is about to take a turn.

Read Full Post »

A Case for Mediation

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

2000 years ago, mediation was advocated and encouraged, particularly among believers. And yet, where are we today? Courts are filled, lawyers plea bargain, guilty people go free, innocent people are executed, and those who should be a light in a dark place are silent and dull.

I Corinthians 6:5b
Can it be that there really is not one man among you who [in action is governed by piety and integrity and] is wise and competent enough to decide [the private grievances, disputes, and quarrels] between members of the brotherhood . . . [Amplified]

Where is the accumulated wisdom of the years? Why are believers of today seemingly less capable to handle disputes?

Part of the problem is that we are in too many silos (a business and information management term that refers to systems that cannot speak to each other). Our churches are silos. We are primarily divided by our denominational preferences. It is next to impossible to cross these arbitrary boundaries to create a trusted body of authority. Our efforts to date include organizations like the World Council of Churches which is disdained by most conservatives. In fact, as soon as the word “ecumenical” is brought up in conservative circles, the eyes glaze over. In many minds, ecumenical might as well be another word for “non-believer.” I know, I’ve been in that circle for your years (but no longer feeling quite so comfortable there).

Oh, there’s the National Council of Churches USA. While American churches don’t participate much in the World Council, denominationally, they are well represented at the NCC. Here they work in broad strokes: advocacy, resource building, communication, education initiatives, and academic research.

But nothing is really here for the resolution of disputes and grievances, nothing for mediation. That kind of authority would have to be given by the people. That kind of authority would require trust.

In our contemporary church, the doling out of “justice” has been handed over to Pilate. We are no different from the Jews of Jesus’s time.

Mediation is becoming more popular in the secular world. People are being trained in this process. Believers have a real opportunity to step up and embrace this trend and use it within the body. This is not necessarily a role for pastors, although it could be. More importantly, it’s a role for the faithful, those committed to truth, to God, to the Christ, to prayer, and to the Holy Spirit: these could build a forum for justice.

Read Full Post »

A Way of Life

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 27, 2010| Leave a Comment »

A popular phrase among the younger generation of believers is that they are following the “way of Jesus.” In essence, Paul asks for the same thing, but simply calls it a way of life . . . “the life.” On that way, we are transformed.

I Corinthians 4:16-17a
Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I am sending to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, . . .

This way is all about our responses: how we react to challenges along that path.

I’d like to say I do well in this regard, but that would really cause my Pinocchio nose to grow. It’s not that I don’t want to be on the way. I do. I can even say with confidence that I am on this way. I just don’t seem to be going in a straight line.

The way includes a lot of the “turn the other cheek” stuff. It includes accepting my current situation and making the best of it. In means “When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly.” [I Cor 4:12b-13a] We love.

There must be a moment of transcendence when things like persecution or even success no longer matter, when Spirit trumps 3-D.

But right now, all my cares and troubles and disappointments are causing tremendous stress. A woman friend I have know since I was three years old called me the other day. She told me she has stage 3 breast cancer. She’s fighting hard. The thing that makes her most angry, she said, was that she was so damn “healthy” up until then. She didn’t smoke or drink. She worked out regularly. She was happily married. She had a good job and a successful son. She had wealth and security. And yet, her life was filled with stress: staying on top of it all, doing the right thing at the right moment, working 7 days a week and long hours, juggling family and work, and racing from one thing to another. She believes the stress made her sick.

This is not the life. This is not the way.

Practicing the presence of God is an exchange: replacing the normal brain hi-jinks with Spirit.

Read Full Post »

God-Given Differences

Posted in Time Up to Pentecost, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on April 25, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Some things are absolutely the same in all of us: the spirit-spark and the potential for union with God, our essential humanness. Upon that foundation, there are God-given differences, or gifts that drive our responses. It is here that uniqueness is born.

I Corinthians 4:7a
For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive?

My journey is a combination of essential human spirit, God’s gifts, and my interpreted embellishments. The combination of these three make me unique, but the first two, the Godly gifts, give me the ability to walk, run, or leap through life. My human spirit has the potential for anything. It is resilient and full of hope. It is like an ember of fire, ready to ignite.

God’s gifts are varied. Sometimes, the gifts enhance and sometimes the gifts limit. They are the things we cannot control. We were born to whom we were born. Those parents and families were enhancements or limitations. We came into the world with our skin (whatever color), our senses (whatever combination), our body, our country, our era, etc., all gifts from God, depending on the individual.

And so, as we live and grow, we respond to these gifts. Some of us are challenged to overcome poverty while others are challenged to overcome wealth (after all, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God . . . ” [Matthew 19:24]). Some of us are challenged with poor health or disease while others are challenged with hard hearts and fear.

Each one has his or her own cross. Who am I to say that my cross is more difficult or easier than another. Some claim the wealthy have it easy, but then, don’t they still die and suffer like the rest of us? Others say those in good health glide through life, not knowing their hearts are broken by grief and betrayal.

The more I do on my own, the more difficult my life will be. The more I “kick against the goads” [Acts 26:14], the more challenging the journey. The more I denounce my circumstances, particularly the God-given ones, the less likely I’ll integrate them.

I cannot go back and change my past. But starting today, I can accept what was before and embrace a newly crafted future with God. This is part of the Redeemer contract. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” [II Corinthians 5:17]

Read Full Post »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »