{Five Minute Friday | Control}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {CONTROL}.

Ready? GO.

This word, control, could take me in several different directions. I've been sitting with this one since the prompt opened, just waiting. 

I've never been one who appreciates big surprises, good or bad (unless it's a puppy or a birthday party, ahem). Because of control. Or lack of control. Control is a fickle companion, giving the illusion of stability and predictability, and for some of us, those things equate to safety. When you remove the illusion of control, the deepest parts of me start to squirm. That's why I love my planners and notebooks and lists and schedules. When things are under control, there is order. Here's the thing: When I have a death grip on control, I may be restricting the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. And even more than that, I become a slave to what I can see and touch, leaving little room to exercise faith. That stings a little bit. Complete surrender to life in the Spirit is something the Lord and I have been working through in Scripture and prayer. Complete, as in whole, not partial. Total, as in entirety, in all areas. How often do we fail to be in control, as in self-control, when we are certainly meant to be? That's a fruit of the Spirit. And, how often do we get confused about where our responsibility ends, and God's work begins? That comes from life in the Spirit, allowing Him to guide us and order our steps. Paul said it best in Romans when he wrote, "...letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace." Yeah, that's what I want. 

Besides, my having control over a situation or circumstance doesn't guarantee stability or security. The hope that anchors my soul is found only in Christ. That kind of hope HOLDS. It cannot be shaken. 

Stop.

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{One Word 2017}

Confession: this isn’t what I planned to write about today. I didn’t even plan on having a word this year. We are already half-way through January after all. I'm feeling a little late to the party! But, I’ve learned when I can’t brush something aside, for one reason or other, the Lord is trying to get me to pay attention. That’s what happened here.

Have you ever existed in a space where the constant need to strive, or earn, or prove ruled? It’s a space that doesn’t allow for just being. It’s not life-giving and at the root is the need for acceptance or approval. It’s not always that you’re striving or trying to prove something to God, but to the people around you because everything they are doing or saying tells you that they don’t get you.

During the last year, we landed right in the middle of a situation like this. We moved to a new church to be part of the leadership team, and some things were happening that just plain knocked us off-center. We walked into a situation where proving yourself and your intentions before being fully in were just normal. At the very least, there was always a suspicion of motives and a pattern of assuming the worst of people right out of the gate. It was one of the hardest spots I’d ever been in, especially in the context of a church community. The desire to please people pulled me in one direction while the burden to speak truth into the situation weighed heavily on me. When we made the decision to walk away, we tried to leave well. Even then, people made assumptions and spoke poorly of us. I wrestled with the need to defend myself, explain myself, and set the record straight, but ultimately I realized that need was rooted in the same pattern of thinking I was trying to leave behind. I apparently didn't leave it completely behind. I carried the need to prove myself — my worth, my heart, my intentions — out of there with me. That’s what the enemy does. He attaches lies to these hard situations, we believe them, and it wreaks havoc in our minds.  It’s a hard pattern of thinking to break. The Lord started pressing on my heart - challenging me, stripping away this pattern of thinking, renewing my mind.

Here’s the thing: We don’t have anything to prove.

We’ve been asked to love God — heart, soul, mind, strength — and to love people.

We’ve been invited to follow Jesus, to live our lives connected to Him, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us and refine us, ultimately making us more like Jesus.

We’ve been charged to know the Word and do what it says.

We’ve been urged to have faith.

These things, we do.

Then, there’s this:

We are loved.
We are forgiven.
We are chosen.
We are accepted.
We are valuable.
We are called.
We have purpose.
We are HIS.

These things, we are.

We are these things because He said so. This space is one where we can just be, nothing to earn, nothing to prove, no striving.  How do we do that?

We believe what He says and RECEIVE it. And, there it is. That’s my One Word for this year. {R E C E I V E}. Yep, I'm working on receiving what He's already promised. Fully. Completely. In every area of my life. That's what I want and what I need. And, that's what He wants for me.

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{Five Minute Friday | Middle}

Well, hello there, friends. It's been a little while since I've written. That was by design - just taking a little rest. What better way to say hello after a break than with Five Minute Friday.

Five Minute Friday means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

The prompt is {MIDDLE}.

Ready? Go.

I'm not the kind of gal who wants to be somewhere in the middle. When I'm in, I'm all in. Otherwise, why bother? I suppose there are good things and not-so-good things about being an all-or-nothing kind of gal. Sometimes, it keeps me from starting. Sometimes, it means I have super-high (and super-unrealistic) expectations of myself. That's no fun, but hey, I'm working on it! It's just that I don't want to spend my days in a rut, you know, going through the motions in a kind of mindless, aimless way. That's kind of what it feels like in the middle to me. Do I begrudge the ordinary stuff? Absolutely not. Sometimes, the common, everyday tasks are where being all in matters most. Yeah, for sure. Here's the thing: Jesus gives meaning to whatever I'm doing. Scripture says to work with all our heart at whatever we find to do.  It says to do it as if you were doing it for Him. Whatever. We. Do. You know what that means? We don't have to compartmentalize our lives into "Jesus-stuff" and "everyday stuff." That changes things, doesn't it? That load of laundry? Do it for Him being thankful that you have running water, a washing machine, and clothes to wear. Gratitude and joy push you out of the middle into a place where you live intentionally and with purpose. In every moment. Yeah, what if we do that.

Stop.

{Five Minute Friday | Common}

It's Five Minute Friday. That means unplanned, unedited, straight-from-the-heart-to-the-paper writing. Yep, you just write whatever comes out based on a word you're given. If you have five minutes, you should give it a try!  Find out how here.

This week the prompt is {COMMON}.

Ready? GO.

My heart is heavy this week. I can't quite wrap my words around it. There's fear, uncertainty, outrage, and hatred. The division is deep and wide. It makes me sad.

It's common these days for people to feel despised, condemned, overlooked by fellow Americans, by brothers and sisters in Christ. I suppose it's not new. We have to pay attention.

We are in this together. Being in this together,  however,  doesn't mean we get to disregard what someone else may be feeling or thinking or experiencing. We have to listen. We have to try to understand.

Isn't it time we make it our responsibility to reach across the lines that so deeply divide and show the world what it means to love others and serve others despite race, economic status, gender, and sexual orientation? Can't we have some honest evaluation and look at where we are contributing to the problem rather than being part of the solution? You know, our hope was never meant to rest on a man or a political system. Only God can heal our land. I suppose He wants to use His church and the power of the gospel of Christ to do that. It's on us.

I can't pretend that I know what this kind of thing looks like in practical terms. But, I think it starts with listening. And when we listen, perhaps we can find common ground.

STOP.

{Neighbor | Day 18 of 31}

Ready? Go.

Seems like there’s a lot of disunity across evangelical circles these days. We live in a culture that feels entitled to have an opinion and hold that opinion up and affirm it above all others. Out loud. Often times on a social media platform. Sometimes at the expense of another by making derogatory comments and accusations. (Anyone else not enjoying this election year?)  It makes me sad. In Scripture, James talks about the fights and quarrels among us. He says they come from our desires at war within ourselves. (Interesting tidbit: the Greek word in the text for “desires” is hedone. Our modern word hedonism finds its root in that word. That says something, doesn’t it.) He also warns us against slanderous speech against a brother and sitting in judgment of him. He writes, “But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?”

Jesus had something to say about being a good neighbor. Take a look at this passage from the gospel of Mark. 

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." Mark 12: 28-31

This is a big deal. Jesus’s explanation tells us that the law can be summed up in these two commands (Matthew 22:40). James calls this the “royal law” and says we’re doing well if we get it right. I agree. Wholeheartedly. Here’s the thing: if you are loving God the way Jesus tells us to love Him, loving your neighbor as yourself will be a natural progression of that love. I’m not here to say that if we all just love each other all the other issues will go away. We’re human. I get it. But, I am saying that Scripture tells us that He’s given us everything we need to do what He’s asking us to do. We also have the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit that will go to work changing us so we can be Christians who represent and reflect God’s love well. 

I fear we love ourselves and our opinions more than anything else at times. I wonder sometimes if we don’t have too much of a “I’m just looking out for myself” mentality. Do we live in a space that says our thoughts and feelings are most important? Do we believe our security and stability is meant to be our first priority? This must be why James reminds us that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, and that if we will draw near to Him, He draws near to us. Those are two things I cannot imagine living without: God’s nearness and grace. James also gives us another bit of wisdom. He says to “humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you,” and “do not merely listen to the word . . . do what it says.” 

May I encourage you to join me in praying that God will help us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to be doers of the word, to love Him with all that we are, and to be a good neighbor by loving others well? Can we ask Him daily to guard our hearts from selfish pride, to help us recognize it in ourselves and repent? Ask Him to help us live the truth we say we believe. Can you imagine what might happen if as the collective body of Christ we focused all our energy on these things? I think it would blow our minds. 

STOP.