Do everything without grumbling or complaining...

May 12:
Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 2:14-16
‘Do everything readily and cheerfully—no bickering, no second-guessing allowed! Go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society. Provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God. Carry the light-giving Message into the night so I’ll have good cause to be proud of you on the day that Christ returns. You’ll be living proof that I didn’t go to all this work for nothing.’

I love that these were the verses that I read this morning. It’s perfect timing really since today is Mother’s Day. My mom loves the first part of these verses & I can’t tell you how many times she recited them to us over the years… “Do everything without grumbling & complaining”… this is the paraphrased Linda Miller version of course. She despised whining & I think it was her subtle, spiritual way of telling us to “suck it up”. I have to admit that at the time, we found it quite annoying but now I can see the wisdom in her desire to encourage us to look at the bright side of things, to focus on finding a solution & not dwell on the difficulties of the moment. Think about it for a minute. It’s hard to be around someone who complains & whines all the time. It’s those that choose to focus on the positive that bring light & encouragement to a dark moment. What a great reminder that the way we respond to life’s challenges can influence the world for Jesus. How do we want to be remembered? 

“The cynics, they can only speak of the dark, of the obvious, and this is not hard. For all it’s supposed sophistication, it’s cynicism that’s simplistic. In a fallen world, how profound is to see the cracks?
The sages and prophets, the disciples and revolutionaries, they are the ones up on the ramparts, up on the wall pointing to the dawn of the new Kingdom coming, pointing to the light that breaks through all things broken, pointing to redemption always rising and to the Blazing God who never sleeps.” - Ann Voskamp

Praying for you...

May 11:

Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 2:12-13

‘What I’m getting at, friends, is that you should simply keep on doing what you’ve done from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I’m separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God’s energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.’

These few verses remind me so much of our dear friends Dave & April Yeager. Some of my most precious memories were made around their kitchen table over pizza on Friday nights. We studied the Bible, prayed together, played endless card games with our kids, discussed theology & apologetics, we laughed together & cried together. 

I very often long for those Friday nights. I miss them. Although we live in different states now, Chuck & I pray for them every day as they continue to follow Jesus & the passion He has placed in their hearts for missions. The very thought of them warms my heart. 

“In friendship...we think we have chosen our peers. In reality a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another...the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting--any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking no chances. A secret master of ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends, "Ye have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The friendship is not a reward for our discriminating and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each of us the beauties of others.”  - C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Humility... really...

May 10: 
Living a Life that Matters…
Philippians 2:5-11

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion.
Because of that obedience, God lifted him high and honored him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth—even those long ago dead and buried—will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that he is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father.

Every wonder what it means to be humble? Webster's Dictionary explains it like this... 

hum·ble

adjective \ˈhəm-bəl also chiefly Southern ˈəm-\

hum·bler hum·blest

1

: not proud or haughty : not arrogant or assertive

2

: reflecting, expressing, or offered in a spirit of deference or submission <a humble apology>

3

a : ranking low in a hierarchy or scale : insignificant, unpretentious

b : not costly or luxurious <a humble contraption>

— hum·ble·ness noun

— hum·bly adverb

 

 This kind of humility is almost unheard of  in our culture. Love of self is at an all-time high. It’s amazing to me how we can always seem to find the time & money to entertain, educate, feed & pamper ourselves & yet struggle to find the same kind of energy to put priority on the things of God.
How can we show God we love him? We can follow the example of Jesus & truly empty ourselves… We can offer to Him our lives in full… our time, our finances, our plans, our possessions.  

I love this song by Ginny Owens. 

  http://youtu.be/HdYXyxVazL0

All I want to do, is give this life to You
All I want to do, is give this life to You
All I want to do, is give this life to You
And let Your will be done, until it's all I want to do.

How does doubt slip in, so silently?
And why does condemnation come so naturally?
Why do I still get the best of me?
Loving so little and living so selfishly?

When all I want to do, is give this life to You.
All I want to do is give this life to You.
All I want to do is give this life to You,
and let Your will be done until it's all I want to do.

What have I been given by Your grace?
Will I come to understand this mystery I embrace?
Make of me a new creation now,
Fill me with all you are and be all I am some how.

Cuz all I want to do is give this life to You.
All I want to do is give this life to You.
All I want to do is give this life to You
And let Your will be done, until it's all I want to do.

Faith so fragile
Reaching for Your hand

All I want to do, is give this life to You.
All I want to do, is give this life to You.
All I want to do, is give this life to You,
and let your will be done, til it's all I want to do.
And let your will be done, til it's all I want to do.
-Ginny Owens

mmm… my soul longs for this...
Lord, may we be humble enough to surrender our lives to You… completely...




"Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble." -Andrew Murray

Love well...

May 9: 

Live a Life that Matters… 

Philippians 2:1-4 

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with ‘the Church’. Or rather what She has become. I know this revelation may appear shocking; especially since I am a daughter of a pastor, the wife of a pastor & the mother of a pastor. But please hear me out…

I love when the Body of Christ works together. I am moved to tears when the Bride of Christ loves enough to be intimate. When She disciples. When she reaches out in compassion with no thought for Herself. When She gives… till it hurts. When She makes decisions based on what God has called Her to. 

What I ‘hate’, is when we make Her into our own image... to fit into our culture. When we treat Her like a business. I find myself pulling my hair out when She is preferential, irrelevant, judgmental or stuffy. It is my prayer always, for those of us in leadership, that we tread carefully… for there is no place here for competition, manipulation, backbiting, selfishness or grabs for power. We must be wary of getting so caught up in the programs & policies that we miss out on what makes the Church so precious to Jesus. We miss out on the power of prayer, the simplicity of worship, the sweet communion of souls living in unity & the beauty of seeing lives transformed by the Gospel.  

Oh Lord, may I, may We, may your Church, your Bride be beautiful to you… 

"We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies, more sermons, more programs, classes, training, conferences, information, more feasting for us. At some point, the church stopped living the bible and decided just to study it, culling the feast parts and whitewashing the fast parts. We are addicted to the buffet, skillfully discarding the costly discipleship required after consuming. The feast is supposed to sustain the fast, but we go back for seconds and thirds and fourths, stuffed to the brim and fat with inactivity." -Jen Hatmaker, 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

Let's get dirty...

May 8:

Living a Life that Matters…

Philippians 1:27-30

Meanwhile, live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ. Let nothing in your conduct hang on whether I come or not. Your conduct must be the same whether I show up to see things for myself or hear of it from a distance. Stand united, singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God. There’s far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There’s also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You’re involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

In our country we rarely need to be courageous… we rarely get our hands dirty... or suffer for the cause of Christ. We’ve even created an environment within the walls of our churches where we don’t have to be brave in sharing our faith. Instead we bring our friends & family to a church service or event that will ‘minister’ to them. Now please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not knocking the importance of our local church. I’m just wondering… if we truly stood ‘united, singular in vision’ to take the same amount of time we spend inside the church walls to share the gospel of Jesus on the outside… what a different view those on the outside might have of the Church.

Let's get out there! 

& do work! 

 "The tests of the Christian life; though outwardly not so terrible, are even more likely to overcome us than those of the fiery age. We have to bear the sneer of the world-that is little. It's the soft words; its oily speeches & its hypocrisy are far worse. Our danger is that we grown rich & proud; give in to the fashions of this present world & lose our faith. Or if wealth is not the trial, worldly care causes difficulty... the devil cares little witch it is, as long as he destroys our love for & confidence in Christ. We must be awake now, for we walk on dangerous ground. We are most likely to fall asleep to our undoing unless our faith in Jesus is a reality & our love for Him a fervent flame." -Charles Spurgeon