Failed Resolutions

The year is turning to a new number and my new year resolutions are still avoiding paper.

I've written resolutions, thought them, planned them, and left many lying unattended. They gather dust on the desk of procrastination. Ink clearer than follow through.

Guilt snaps at my heels and I feel like I've failed. Good intentions waves as 2011 leaves.

I take myself and fumbled follow-through to my Lord. After all, He knew the outcome before I did. Knew the challenges I would face and the strength I would need. He knows the thoughts and intents of my heart and loves me as much as in 2010 or any year of perceived success.

How does my Lord see my heart? How does HE evaluate my actions?
Will I let Him instruct me from both perceived failure and success? Will I embrace Love patiently drawing me close, melting away guilt and put downs?

Dearest Lord, please help me and my friends wisely assess the year.

Help us see with Your eyes. Gain sight in Your light. Help us accept the things we cannot change, give us courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference. (From Reinhold Niebuhr) We pray this in Your name, O Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remember Me

On several occasions, my Sittu (Lebanese grandmother) would say, "Remember me when I am gone."

She listened to our disappointments, gave us sound advice, and lived what she taught. She was creative, wise, and knew how to stretch food for yet another dinner guest. She had definite ideas how things were to be done, and she could measure a person's character at a glance.

Her time management taught us "Never go empty handed to the kitchen," and included planning the number of rows a day to complete so her crochet projects could be finished on time. She completed beautiful, warm blankets for her twenty grandchildren and their babies.

Generous love evoked our admiration and an unconscious desire to be like her. It was easy to remember her after she left for heaven.

Some of Jesus' last words to his disciples were "Do this in remembrance of me." The Last Supper, representing his death for us and our hope of being reunited by the resurrection, helps us remember Him.

Because of who Jesus was and what He did, we remember with deep gratitude.

Then as Jesus' generous love evokes more of our own, as He builds His character into us, we remember.

For His sake. For our sake. And also for the sake of the world He loved.

Song of Life, Song of Death

 

Still fingering the passage of my mother from this life to the one her Lord Jesus promised, I don't have too many words.

But my cousin, Elizabeth A. Mitchell, another writer and speaker, wrote a beautiful piece on her blog.  Her daughter-in-love labored to give birth to her first grandchild while my Mom labored to be birthed into her new life.

I couldn't have said it as well as Elizabeth, so here are her words from blog.journeyfortheheart.com

Journey for the Heart Devotional: Song of Life, Song of Death:

 “I have come that you may have life and have it to the full” John 10:10.


 Life and death walk hand in hand like comrades sharing a narrow path, pressed against each other, inhaling and exhaling the very same air.

This week I caught them both, peering at each other, thriving in the cramped confines of the same cubicle. A daughter of mine, grafted into my heart three years ago, labored to draw breath, battled to bear down, every ounce of her given to the grand cause of bringing her daughter into existence.

Before my eyes our miracle emerged, pale skinned, perfect lips, quivering cry. Then distinctly I heard the strains of a new song, for my granddaughter cried, and my heart plays still her first magical lullaby.


Seven days pass and I watched as death wrapped its arms around life, and life triumphed over death. As my aunt struggled for breath, she labored to leave the world behind and wrestled to reach the other side. Death bore down, but could not steal her away for the only part it grasped was her empty shell.


Beating within her heart was life that was made eternal by the Savior of her soul. We had watched our aunt live well, serving him whole-heartedly, and sharing him continuously. Now we witnessed as she emerged into life everlasting.


I watched two women make their way into their new world this week. The tiny one has just begun her days on earth. The wise one has just begun her forever in heaven. My prayer is that the first will imitate the footsteps of the second and choose to spend her years devoted to the one who is, “The way, the truth and the life” John 14:6.


Elizabeth A. Mitchell

Gentle Whisper

What would happen if the Lord were to "pass by" you?

Elijah, hunted by Jezebel, ran to the mouth of the cave and covered himself with his cloak. Moses, hiding in the desert, took off his shoes and covered his face. And you?

What do you do when you sense the Presence of the Almighty?

Are you able to be still and know the weight of His presence? Do you cover your head, your face? Do you drop to your knees or lie prostrate? Does awe snatch your breath? Does hope return when you hear the gentle whisper above your swirling circumstances?

Beyond tornado and hurricane, flood and grief, that gentle whisper speaks. Our eardrums have to tune out the noises so our heartstrings can reverberate with God's sound.

Then years beyond we discover the Lord did not merely pass by with the weight of His presence. He stayed. And taught us music only learned as we listen beyond crisis for the gentle whisper.

For Your Consideration:

Prayerfully read 1 Kings 19:11-15 and Psalm 46

What is making it hard for you to tune out the demands and listen for God's gentle whisper.

If you could do that, what might God say to you?

Longings

Sometimes I become aware that I long for more. Friendship. Intimacy. Money. Health. Influence. More mountains or beach.

These desires come unexpected and pull me like dark chocolate while dieting.

Wishing the sunset would stay still for another half hour.... That the colors would keep kaliedoscoping but not fade.... Wishing my Mom would get well, or my daughter would find her dream job....

Whatever our longings, there's always a desire for something more. I think it was G K Chesterton who suggested that our longings for fleeting pleasures to last are really longings for eternity for which our hearts were made.*

It was only recently I thought of another longing. God's. For us.

A heart that loves us and made us for intimacy wants to pour out the best for us. That amazing Person "longs to be gracious to [us]." Isaiah 30:18 (NKJV) describes the Deliverer as "waiting" for us to respond to His longing for meaningful relationship. No more broken promises.

Working together. Laughing together. Setting up the Kingdom of God together.

That quiets my heart.

For Your Consideration

Thoughtfully read Isaiah 30: 15-26.

Imagine the Lord of all power and personhood LONGING to be gracious to you. What would that look like?

How might God be longing for you? How will you respond?

*My research of quotes, Ravi Zacharias, C S Lewis and G K Chesterton, haven't yet unearthed the desired quote. If you are familiar with such a quote, please let me know.

Deep Cleaning

My carpets weren't in terrible shape but I knew I could stay ahead of the grunge by another deep cleaning. It had only been four months, so I was amazed how brown the water became.

 We think we are clean, but a day or just a couple hours spent deliberately asking for God's cleansing will often reveal dirt we didn’t know was there. 

The rhythm of regular Scripture reading, meditation, and obedience is as important for the soul as is regular vacuuming for carpets.
 
Additionally, periodic deep cleaning flushes out dirt entwined in the fibers.

Residual pride blended into the background… shame many moons old… worry unseen because of familiarity …. These are some of the surprises we might find when we submit ourselves to the Deep Cleaner.

The good news is that God loves to accommodate our desire to be holy when we present Him with humble hearts. He provides tools that clean thoroughly: it may be an eternal principle applied to a new spot or, perhaps, a clearer Light that reveals previously hidden spots. The Counselor reminds us of particular scriptures, offers life changing encounters, and encourages us to do what it takes to get clean.

It takes clearing our calendars, requesting the best the Holy Spirit offers, and-- not least -- humbling ourselves before Him.

So, Holy Spirit, we humbly prepare for and anticipate the relief of Your deep cleaning.

 For Your Consideration

Please make time to read these verses in context.

Those who cleanse themselves ... will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work (2 Timothy 2:21, NIV).

For this is what the high and exalted One says— he who lives forever, whose name is holy: “I live in a high and holy place, but also with the one who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah 57:15, NIV)

How might God be preparing you for some deep cleaning? What preparations do you need to make?

Soaring

 

Like a child flying a kite in a gust of wind, circumstances had me tugging at the string while my kite spiralled.

But a fresh study of Philippians chapter four accessed God's Spirit to show me how to harness and soar on the adverse wind.

It seemed too simple to make a difference -- like God's instructions that Naaman dip seven times in the Jordan river to rid himself of leprosy (2 Kings 5).

The simple choice of praising God in the midst of concerns got worry to work for, not against, me. It reminded me that my Creator cared and was powerful to intervene when I gave the situation to Him.  I started cooperating with the Master again instead of going it alone. It brought strength and a new perspective that used the resistance to climb higher. As I continued to praise, give God my concerns and expect His help, my kite steadied and climbed -- like an eagle.

I proved that worry depletes, but praise exhilarates.

Now I'm loving it as I look past what used to worry me into my Creator's eyes and experience Christ's peace.


For Your Consideration

Choose one of the following readings. Prayerfully read and listen for the Holy Spirit's revelation to you.

Philippians 4:6-8-- Replace worry with God's peace.
2 Kings 5: 1-15a-- An obstacle in executing simple instructions.
Isaiah 40: 27-31 -- All-knowing, God wants to renew us.

If you have forgotten God's power or lost sight of God's love, what renewed focus would help you mount up with wings as an eagle?

Has God given you some critical instruction that you might have dismissed as being inconsequential?