Day 20

Be Still:  Dear Father, please help us to see Your larger picture in our lives.  Increase our trust in You.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 16:1-11

¹"All this I have told you so that you will not go astray. ²They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. ³They will do such things because they have not known the Father or me. ⁴I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you.

⁵"Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, 'Where are you going?' ⁶Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.

⁷But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. ⁸When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: ⁹in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; ¹⁰in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; ¹¹and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.”

Be Stretched:  Jesus said it was for the disciples’ good that He was going away so the Holy Spirit would be sent.  As Christians we have been promised the Holy Spirit lives in us.  Spend time today meditating on the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Do you sense His presence in your life?  If so, in what ways?  If not, why do you think that is?  Have you ever been convicted of sin in your life by the Holy Spirit?  Pray to the Counselor, inviting Him to be an active part of your life.  Ask Him to give you the strength to face, and in His power, defeat, anything that is keeping you from living in Jesus.   

Protection and the Narrow Way

I have a friend who is a missionary in very difficult circumstances.  In her latest email she talked about a book she’s been studying for Lent.  It is about the narrow way Jesus has called His followers to take.  How sometimes well-intentioned people try to talk us out of the difficult path laid out before us. 

That got me thinking.  I’ve been very blessed because even those concerned about my moving to the D.R. have been supportive.  Sure, there are questions about safety – how secure will my home be, how about medical care, will I be all alone, etc., but I’ve not had anyone tell me they think I should not go. 

I think about how I respond to others facing their own narrow ways.  I am often quick to pray relief from pain, removal of bad circumstances.  Are those prayers wrong?  Maybe not wrong, but I think they are often misguided.  I think about Jesus’ beautiful prayer in John 17.  He prayed for His disciples, then – and now.  He prayed for our protection, but not in the way we might pray.  He did not pray that His Father would take us out of the world, but that He would protect us from the evil one. 

We know that the evil one, Satan, is sneaky and hateful and doesn’t play fair.  What if the seemingly safe and comfortable place is actually the most hazardous?  What if the best way to be safeguarded from him is to stay in circumstances and places which from the outside seem perilous?  What if God’s protection looks like just the opposite of our notion of it?  After all, if we are following Jesus, it means things are going to be difficult.  Crosses, losing lives, being hated…   

You know, I think we need to go even further back to wrestle with understanding God’s “protection”.  I know I tend to think of protection as a saving from all harm and pain and discomfort and things I don’t like.  I don’t think that’s really what Jesus is saying.  God protects us at the most fundamental, essential level.  We are hid in Christ, and nothing that happens to us can separate us from Him.  This doesn’t mean really awful things won’t happen.  We live in a broken place, and Satan is trying to get at us. 

We cause a lot of harm by teaching and preaching this false idea that God wants to remove us from anything that causes us pain or trouble.  Am I being loving if I’m praying God removes someone from a difficult situation?  What if that "narrow way" is very place which is the safest?  This is not easy, and it’s not something I’m very comfortable with. 

There I go again!  I have to confess to an obsession with being comfortable.  I don’t like grappling with things that make me stretch out past my tidy understanding of God.  I don’t like the idea of facing dangers and persecutions.  Shoot, I don’t even like the fact that it’s kind of cold out right now! 

I don’t know how I got the notion that God’s top priority is my comfort level with things.  Jesus didn’t do much (Any!) teaching on living a comfortable, easy, pain-free life.  My "safest" place, the place where there is protection for what truly matters – my eternal soul – is on the narrow way.  The way which is so difficult that if I do not have the constant power and presence of the Holy Spirit, I will never survive.

Thank you, Jesus, that You did not leave Your path to the cross.  Father, keep me in Your will, on the path to which You have called me.  Help me to remember You will be my constant Guide and Strength.  Give me courage to pray for the narrow way; for myself, for all those who follow You.  Yours is the only way to true safety.  Teach me to find my only comfort, my only protection in Your perfect will. 

Day 19

Be Still:  Dear Father, please help us to remember that our true citizenship is in Heaven.  May we live as if we believe it is true.  In Jesus’ name, through the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 15:18-27

¹⁸"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. ¹⁹If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. ²¹They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

^23”He who hates me hates my Father as well. ²⁴If I had not done among them what no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen these miracles, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: 'They hated me without reason.'

²⁶"When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. ²⁷And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”

Be Stretched:  It’s not very comfortable to read that followers of Jesus will be hated.  Do you ever feel hated for your faith?  Do you think there is a problem if we are not being hated for Jesus’ sake?  Spend time today inviting the Holy Spirit to help you wrestle with this difficult topic.  Then, spend time in prayer for our brothers- and sisters-in-Christ who are currently undergoing persecution for His name’s sake.

My Little Lent

We are in the middle of Lent, the 40 days before Easter.  It is a time of preparation, when we remember Jesus turning to Jerusalem to be arrested, tortured and killed.  It is a time for us to look at our own lives, confessing that Jesus is the only way we can be saved.  In this season we often give things up to help us remember in a small way the immense sacrifice of Christ.  It can be a solemn time of inward looking. 

At the same time this larger Lenten season is happening, I am in the midst of my own time of preparation.  I have just over 40 days before I leave my job as Church Administrator, and around 50 before I start mission training.  As I have been trying to think of all the things I need to show my staff about my job, as I look at things at home, trying to figure out what to throw out, what to try and sell, what to store and what to ship, I am often overwhelmed. 

I have to admit it sometimes goes beyond that to near panic.  I’ve got to think about what I’ll need for 3 weeks in Colorado, then what to take for 3 months in Guatemala, and then what I’ll need in the D.R.  (I’m not heading back to the US in between Guat and DR so what I’m sending needs to be sent before the end of June.)  And, stuff with my job is even more complicated.  I do an odd variety of things, and a lot of what I do isn’t easily written out.  What key things I am forgetting that will cause all kinds of problems when I’m gone?

Keeping busy with all of these thoughts has actually helped me ignore one of the most overwhelming parts of the whole thing – leaving all those I love here.  I know, I truly know, this is God’s next call on my life.  But, that doesn’t mean it’s not going to be incredibly difficult to say goodbye.  I’m finding myself getting teary at the oddest times.  Little bits of grief creeping in.

As I have been going through this season of my own preparation, I find myself thinking about Jesus and His preparation for His final earthly days.  How did He feel knowing He was leaving His ministry of healing and teaching?  Did He have days when He felt overwhelmed by all that still needed to be done?  Did He look at His disciples and worry about leaving them?  Feel sorrow at not being able to hang out with them?  Did part of Him long to stay?  How did He prioritize all the pulls on Him time?  How did He begin to spiritually prepare for the grueling days ahead?

I feel rather presumptuous to be comparing my “little Lent” in any way to Jesus!  The tiny things I am experiencing are not worthy to be mentioned with His!  On the other hand, as a Christ-follower, I can in some small way identify with Him.   I am preparing for new things, I am leaving my present tasks, I am needing to trust that God will provide for those I am leaving behind. 

This is difficult for me!  But, I take comfort in the fact that since Jesus was fully human, He probably did experience some of my feelings of sorrow and concern.  Because He was also fully God, I can look at His final days to learn how to cope with my own.  Reading the Gospel accounts of Jesus before His death and resurrection, I am challenged and encouraged.  Jesus continued to look to His Father, knowing that if He was obedient to Him, the rest would be okay.  Not easy, not simple, not without pain, but it would be within the Father’s will.  Increase my trust in You, I pray! 

Day 18

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you for choosing us.  Please help us to remain in Your love, so that we can glorify You by bearing fruit.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 15:9-17

⁹"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. ¹¹I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹²My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

^13”Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

^16”You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

^17”This is my command: Love each other.”

Be Stretched:  What does it mean to remain in Jesus’ love?  How will you do so today?  What does it mean to have complete joy?  How can you live in that joy today?  Do you consider Jesus a friend?  If so, how does that make you feel?  If not, why not?  Pray that Jesus will meet you wherever you are, and help you to move closer to friendship with Him.

Day 17

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you for Jesus, the Vine.  Thank you that You love us enough to prune us, even though it can be painful.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 15:1-8

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”

Be Stretched:  What did Jesus mean when He said branches that bear fruit are pruned?  Have you experienced any ‘pruning’ in the past year?  Spend some time pondering how it felt at the time.  What does it mean to be fruitful?  Reflect on how your pruning may be bearing fruit.  How does it feel to read that you can do nothing apart from Jesus?  Take time to confess to our loving Father those times when you have tried to ‘go it alone’.  Ask Him to help you to remain in Him, bearing much fruit.

The Widow's Mite

This week I was once again confronted with my difficulty in giving up my schedule.  I’ve shared how annoyed I was by Nate and John interrupting me – even though it turned out to be a beautiful gift from God.  The worst part is, they knew I was annoyed.  I didn’t fake it nearly as well as I had thought, and they knew.  They knew, and were still kind and took time to bless me.  Could it get worse?  Umm... yep.

This weekend I’ve been wrestling with how I stumble and stumble and stumble here.  Then, to add to my discomfort, I found something I wrote back in 2007 about this same issue.  Ugh!  Re-reading it was a humbling experience.  It was also a reminder that if I do not take up my cross daily, surrendering myself to Jesus, transformation is not going to be possible.  I am utterly dependent on God.  I cannot even be pleasant without His help!

Even if you are not struggling with my ‘mite’, I pray reading this will help encourage you to continue to surrender your own struggles to our loving, pursuing Father.  He is so good to us, and even though we fall over and over, He is with us when we cry out.  And, He will continue to work in us!  

The Widow’s Mite

My struggle with needing to control my schedule is a long one.  A few years back during my quiet time the phrase “widow’s mite of time” suddenly popped into my head.  I looked up the story and read with fresh eyes how the widow gave “out of her poverty”. 

Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a fraction of a penny.  Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on."  Mark 12:41-44

I thought about how I often feel that I have a ‘widow’s mite’ of time.  Like so many people these days, it seems a busy schedule keeps me running all day and many evenings, too.  The little bit of free time I get is my ‘me time’, typically curled up at home with a book.  I’m ashamed to say that interruptions to my carefully scheduled day annoy me.  Even worse, I’m ashamed to admit that I treat my ‘me time’ as sacrosanct and tend to resent even legitimate intrusions.

Read the last line of the widow’s story again:  “but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”  What if, for me, to “put in everything”, means being willing to give God my schedule, and even my precious ‘me time’?  Giving them to Him to use as He pleases.  Being willing to completely put them aside to spend time with someone who desperately needs to experience God’s love through this earthen vessel.  This is hard.  Frankly, I’d much rather write out a check. 

Why do I need to give from my poverty?  Perhaps I need to be emptied, poured out, so that God can truly fill me.  Faith is a lot more critical, a lot more vital, when I am surrendering something that I don’t have much of.  It is easy to throw in ‘large amounts’ of my ‘wealth’, whatever that happens to be. 

The idea of giving up control over something I barely have a grip on is decidedly uncomfortable.  It is easy for me to justify continuing to hold tight – after all, I have lots of important things to accomplish, and I need to take time to rest and rejuvenate!  But, I keep going back to Jesus’ statement that the widow gave “all she had to live on”.  No caveats or conditions, she just ‘put in everything’.

Friends, I want to know – not just say I believe, but know deep down that I can trust God with my ‘widow’s mite’.  I want to be like the lilies and the birds and trust that God will give all good things to me when I seek first His kingdom (Matt. 6:26-33).  I want to be like the widow herself and just walk up and hand it all over to God’s good care.  I’m not there yet.  It’s downright scary for me to seriously consider letting go of my schedule and ‘me time’. 

Through the Spirit I am praying for the courage to ‘put in everything’.  I have to believe that if I surrender in poverty, God will meet all my needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19).  With God’s help, I want to live in that faith – sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see (Heb. 11:1). 

Third Sunday in Lent

Be Still:  Dear Father, may we turn to You and only You for our peace.  Please help us not to be troubled and afraid.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 14:22-31

²²Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, "But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?"

²³Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.

²⁵"All this I have spoken while still with you. ²⁶But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. ²⁷Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

²⁸"You heard me say, 'I am going away and I am coming back to you.' If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. ²⁹I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. ³⁰I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, ³¹but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave.”

Be Stretched:  Jesus said, ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid’.  “Let” in this context means “allow”.  What are you allowing to trouble you?  Of what things are you afraid?  Invite the Holy Spirit to help you think of tangible ways to not allow your heart to become troubled or afraid.  Jesus said He gives us peace, but not like the world.  What is the difference?  Pray that you would be surrounded by Jesus’ peace today and each day.

Day 16

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you that because Jesus lives, we also can live.  Please help our lives reflect this wonderful truth.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 14:11-21

¹¹“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. ¹²I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. ¹⁴You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.

¹⁵"If you love me, you will obey what I command. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— ¹⁷the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. ¹⁹Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.

²⁰On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ²¹Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

Be Stretched:  Jesus said that we show our love by obeying His commands.  This can be challenging!  But, we are not alone in this.  We have the Holy Spirit living in us.  Does your life reflect that power and presence?  Pray that, through His power, the Holy Spirit will move in you to renew your connection to Him.  Then, in His strength, show your love by obeying Jesus’ commands.

Undone & Restored

Yesterday afternoon I was sitting in my office at the church typing an email to a committee chair.  With less than two months left before I leave my job, there are plans to be made and issues to be discussed.  The rest of the office staff had gone home for the day, locking the doors behind them.  The door downstairs buzzed.  I experienced an instant flash of annoyance.  Since it was after hours, I would have to grab my keys and head down to the first floor to let whoever it was in. 

We have a camera on the door.  Through the monitor I could see two guys I did not recognize.  I pushed our ancient little intercom - “Yes, may I help you?”  “Yeah, we’d like to come in.”  “Why?”  “We want to see your big stained glass window.”  More annoyance.  This meant not just running downstairs but also turning on Sanctuary lights.  I was in the middle of Very Important Things!  Swallowing my irritation, I told them I’d be down in a couple of minutes.  Secretly I was hoping they’d get sick of waiting and just go away.  I finished up my email, attached the files, hit Send, grabbed my keys and headed down. 

I opened the door to two college-aged young men with big smiles on friendly faces.  I invited them in, explaining that the office closes at 4, so I was by myself.  (You know, subtly hinting at my huge sacrifice in opening the door for them.)  We went into the Sanctuary.  Our church has a beautiful worship space.  Dark wood pews, high vaulted ceiling, amazing pipe organ, a large gold-colored cross front and center, and the stained glass they had come to see.  The windows are gorgeous, with colors that change depending on the time of day and the weather outside.  

I turned the lights on and shared the little I knew about them.  By now my irritation was long gone.   I didn’t know if these two young men were believers or not, but they had taken time to enter the House of God.  This was a holy time.

One of them asked to use the restroom and as he did, I chatted with the other.  I asked what he was studying and when he said International Studies I told him about my upcoming move to the D.R.  The other joined us and we talked more.  Turns out these two young men, named Nate and John, are absolutely believers.  How incredible to hear their love for Jesus as they spoke!  (They are plugged in with JMU-IV.  If you’ve read earlier posts, you know three IV young ladies took suitcases down to Jarabacoa over Spring Break for me.  Love these ‘God connections’!)  

As I shared, and they shared, I marveled at God’s goodness in prompting them to stop by the church.  They said they hadn’t really known why they felt led to come.  Suddenly John asked, “Can we pray for you?”  Yes, of course!  Standing in the hallway, these two new brothers in Christ laid hands on me and prayed.  In his prayer John thanked God for my hospitality.  The words stung.  I had been horrible, not hospitable! 

I remember someone once talking about a sermon which left him “at once undone and restored”.  That was my experience yesterday.  I was undone in being confronted once again with my impatience, my inflexibility and my irritability.  I was restored by how God used two ‘random’ young Christ-followers to remind me of His care.   The beauty of God was on display, in stark contrast to my own ugliness.  I was filled with sorrow and joy.  I am so unworthy to be called His child.  I spit in His face day after day.  And yet, Jesus died for me.  He died for all of us, even as we were spitting and cursing and turning away.  What joy to be called His children, not because of our worthiness, but because of His. 

Earlier that day I had lunch with a friend and we had talked about hearing God.  I told her I don’t believe God gives us just one chance to hear, and if we miss it, well, that’s just too bad.  I believe God is patient with us, and can use everything, even our wandering, for our good and His glory.  Of course, it doesn’t mean it is not sometimes painful!  But God works in us and through us, “prone to wander” though we are.

It was humbling to walk smack into that truth just a few hours later!  My pathetic attitude did not keep God from giving me this unexpected gift.  There I was, being silly, selfish me, and God still poured out this extravagant blessing.  It could have been even richer had I started with an open heart.  Oh, my, do I still have a long way to go!!  

Today I am rejoicing that God is not dependent on me earning His gifts.  I am rejoicing that He is continuing to give me opportunities to learn more about Him, despite my own short-comings.  I am rejoicing in His unearned, unexpected and yes, extravagant gifts - including two new friends.  I am rejoicing that while God allows me to be undone, He also restores.  All glory to Him!

Day 15

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you that Jesus will return one day and bring us to the place He is preparing for us even now.  Thank you that He is the way to You.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 14:1-10

¹"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. ²In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. ⁴You know the way to the place where I am going."

⁵Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" ⁶Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him." ⁸Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us."

⁹Jesus answered: "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? ¹⁰Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.”

Be Stretched:  Do you ever think about Heaven?  What we’ll do there for… forever?!  Today think about the Father’s house and the room Jesus is preparing for you.  What does it mean to you that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life.  This is a bold statement and a foundation of our faith.  Do you believe it?  Why or why not?  Pray that the Holy Spirit would open your eyes to help you see the truth.

Day 14

Be Still:  Dear Father, we want to love like Jesus does, but it can be so difficult.  Please increase Your love in us.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 13:31-38

³¹When he was gone, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of Man glorified and God is glorified in him. ³²If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.

³³"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

³⁶Simon Peter asked him, "Lord, where are you going?"  Jesus replied, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later."

³⁷Peter asked, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you."  ³⁸Then Jesus answered, "Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!”

Be Stretched:  Jesus commanded us to love as He does.  Do you find loving others hard or easy?  When people look at we who claim to follow Christ, what do they see?  Are we known for our love of each other?  If not, why not?  Spend time today in prayer and honest reflection considering what it means to love as Jesus does. 

Day 13

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you that You are both all-knowing and all-loving.  Thank you that Jesus chose to allow Judas to betray Him to redeem us.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 13:22-30

²²His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. ²³One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. ²⁴Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, "Ask him which one he means."

²⁵Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, "Lord, who is it?"

²⁶Jesus answered, "It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish." Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. ²⁷As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him.

"What you are about to do, do quickly," Jesus told him, ²⁸but no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. ²⁹Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the Feast, or to give something to the poor. ³⁰As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.

Be Stretched:  Has someone you loved ever betrayed you?  Imagine knowing ahead of time that it was going to happen.  How would you have responded?  Judas had been a part of Jesus’ closest circle for three years, and yet he had plotted to betray Him.  Jesus knew it was going to happen, yet He allowed Judas to leave.  Spend some time pondering the depth of Jesus’ love for you.  Then pray for the strength to begin the process of forgiving anyone who has betrayed you.

Floors & A-Panes

Do you remember those commercials from a few years ago showing adults doing goofy things, and then the shot widens to reveal a child with them? (Those of you who know my love for Star Wars won’t be surprised to hear my favorite was the dad on the front lawn jumping around in a bathrobe waving a makeshift lightsaber and making ‘wong-shu’ sounds.)

Picture the scene:

A woman in her 40's sits on the floor of the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.  Sits cross-legged on industrial blue carpet hiding the dirt from thousands of feet that have walked there.  Sits in the check-in line, repeating, “Yes, that’s an airplane.  Yes, we’re in an airport.”  Five, Ten, Fifteen times.  Her rather large black purse is next to her, full of grown up things like credit cards, cell phone, pens and calendar. 

People stepped around her, wheeling their suitcases up to the self check-in machines.  From down on the floor they look very tall, their faces very far away.  Every once in a while someone says something to her, but most folks just glance and pass on by, hurrying to get to their gate.

The shot widens to include an adorable two-and-a half year old looking at an airport coloring book…

As you’ve no doubt already guessed, I was the woman on the floor.  With me was my very adorable nephew Liam.  One of the nice Delta workers brought him the coloring book and while my brother checked them in, I sat down to hang out with Liam.  He’s at the age when he likes to ask the same questions over and over.  “Ees dat a-pane?  We in a-po?”

I don’t know who first told me that the best way to relate to a child is to first get down on his level.  Whoever it was, was brilliant!  My first response when I meet a little kid is to kneel down so they can see me better.  How distant the voices of ‘big people’ must be to little ones.  Craning to look up, up, up, the faces start to get distorted by the angle.  (And yes, I realize I am blessed that at 43 I can still easily sit crossed-legged on a floor!)  To keep him from worrying that his dad was not there, I sat with Liam as folks hurried past.  I didn’t even mind answering the same question countless times. 

In a small way, this time with Liam reminded me of how Jesus came close to us.  He did not leave us to crane and strain to glimpse Him.  He did not choose to remain aloof, far out of reach.  Instead, He came down and sat with us.  Sat not on a nicely carpeted floor, but in our muck and mess.  Came and experienced the world from our viewpoint.  Patiently taught His followers, even though their understanding was little better than a child’s.  Showed them how much He loved them by becoming one of them.

I am coming to believe we cannot really show others Jesus until we sit with them in their messes.  After all, Jesus did not just show up, die, and arise, all in three days.  Instead, He spent 33 years living with fallen humans.  To me that says something about how we are to encounter others.  We need to see and experience the world from their perspectives.  And not just in safe and fun places like an airport floor.  No, our call is to step out and sit down in places where alone we cannot get up the courage to go.  Through the Holy Spirit’s power we are to go to the broken places, to shattered people who are dirty and despised and rejected.  

In those places and to those lost little ones we can share the Good News.  The Good News is we serve a God who has lived in our broken world, and been tried and tempted as we have.  He meets us right where we are and then goes with us from that place, moving in us, so we can leave our childish ways and grow in Him.  More than that, the Good News is Jesus did not just come to experience a slice of our lives and then return to His Home.  Instead, He came to live our destiny.   Without Him coming near, our destiny was death.  By becoming sin for us, Jesus took on that death, defeating it once and for all. 

The truth is, each one of us is sitting in a mess apart from Jesus.  Sure, some of our lives seem tidier than others, but we're all stuck in the muck, unable to save ourselves.  Jesus alone has defeated death’s stranglehold on us.  His sin-free sacrifice redeems us.  What news to share!  That’s news worth getting down onto the ‘floor’ of another's life to share.  That’s news worth a little discomfort and dirt on our pants, isn’t it?

Day 12

Be Still:  Dear Father, please help us to have humility and to serve others for Your glory.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 13:12-21

¹²When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. ¹³"You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. ¹⁴Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. ¹⁵I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ¹⁶I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

¹⁸"I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill the scripture: 'He who shares my bread has lifted up his heel against me.'

¹⁹"I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am He. ²⁰I tell you the truth, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me."  ²¹After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, "I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray me."

Be Stretched:  Jesus set an example for how we are to live.  He then said since we now know these things, we will be blessed if we do them.  Pray that He will help you not only to know, but also to do, what He has shown.  Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind someone that you can serve in Christian love today.  Then, do it!

Day 11

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you for Jesus’ example of love.  Please help us to love others sacrificially.  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  John 13:1-11

¹It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

²The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. ³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; ⁴so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. ⁵After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"  ⁷Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."  ⁸"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."  ⁹"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

¹⁰Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." ¹¹For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

Be Stretched:  Are there things about Jesus and what He is doing in your life that you do not understand?  Peter had spent three years with Jesus, and there were still things that confused and surprised him!  Spend some time talking honestly with our loving Father about things you do not understand.  Then, ask for the Holy Spirit’s help to trust that one day we will understand, if not here, then in Heaven with Him.

Second Sunday in Lent

Be Still:  Dear Father, thank you that through Jesus one day we will eat and drink at Your table in Your kingdom.  We rejoice in this promise!  In Jesus’ name, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen

Be Strengthened:  Luke 22:28-38

²⁸“You are those who have stood by me in my trials. ²⁹And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, ³⁰so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

³¹"Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. ³²But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers."  ³³But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death."  ³⁴Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."

³⁵Then Jesus asked them, "When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?" "Nothing," they answered. ³⁶He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷It is written: 'And he was numbered with the transgressors'; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment."  ³⁸The disciples said, "See, Lord, here are two swords." "That is enough," he replied.

Be Stretched:  Have you ever fallen away and denied Jesus?  If so, confess it today.  Be comforted that Jesus is praying for us, as He did for Peter.  Are there ways you can use your experience of turning back to help strengthen others?  Pray that the Holy Spirit would open ways to do so.  Be assured that in Jesus you lack nothing.

Home

I'm sitting at my Dad's place in Grand Rapids, Michigan, waiting for a friend to pick me up.  I went to college here, so in some ways, GR is 'home'.  My sister and her daughter and my brother and his son have been here, too.  It's the first time in many years that we three kids have all been together.  It was way past due, but even more important since the next 12 - 18 months are going to be a bit crazy with me moving out of the country.

  

Some of my friends from college still live in the area, as well as a lot of our extended family.  Last night we got to see some of our cousins and some of their kids.  What a joy to see how God has been at work in all of their lives.  It is a comfort to recall that even though I've been rather remiss in keeping touch, our loving Father is not!  It's also got me thinking about the word 'Home'.  

Whenever anyone asks me "Where are you from?" I take a deep breath before I start to answer.  I was born in Lethbridge, Alberta, but we lived in a little town called Nobleford, then we moved to Toronto, Ontario, then to Calgary, Alberta.  I went to college in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and my family moved to Long Island my freshman year.  I got married and moved to Greenwood, South Carolina, then Greenville, NC, now Harrisonburg.  But... where's home?  Well, right now it's here, but then it will be the D.R.  

For some who've always lived in one place, I think it can be disconcerting to find that I don't have 'roots'.  It's not a good or a bad thing to have moved a lot (and, compared to some of my friends who add one or two other continents, mine is a short-list!) it's just different.  Sometimes I envy those who have lived in the same place, whose kids walk the same streets they did, who attend the same church, school, etc.  Home for them is tied to a place, and there are days when feeling rootless and floating is not comfortable.  

I've always been a bit on the 'outside' of every place I've lived.  With American parents, we were always a bit different than our Canadian friends.  As a 'Yankee' in the south, I didn't quite fit in.  Now, I'll be living as a 'gringa' in the D.R.  Sometimes I do wish I was part of that 'permanent' group.  Those for whom, "It's where the old Lowe's was" is a meaningful direction!  But, I also know that being slightly on the outside has allowed me to connect with those who don't quite fit, either.  

I pray as I step into yet another place where "Usted sabe, donde la tienda vieja fue" is of no help to me, I will be able to use that displaced feeling to connect with others who are seeking connection.  Because, truthfully, none of us are really home.  We're all outsiders, because our citizenship is in Heaven.  Until we get there, nothing is going to completely feel 'right'.  

That's not a reason for dismay, it's actually hopeful.  It means when we feel out of place, we're not weird or mixed up.  It's natural and appropriate to feel slightly 'off'.  Sitting here at my Dad's is home in a way because this is where family is right now.  As we all head out to go back to our other homes (Kari to Boston, Mike to Long Island, me to Harrisonburg) we'll still be part of each other.  More than our little family, we'll also still be part of the bigger family of believers.  

Some day, we'll all get to go Home. And for my family, that will also mean being reunited with our Mom who is already there.  I'm looking forward to that day, when she'll get to show me around the place!  And together we'll worship Jesus!  Hooray!  Until then, I pray even in my discomfort and displacement, I see echoes of that Home.  That I'll help point others to our Father, who is preparing a place for us where we will finally be where we are longing to be.  Home.