Breaking Out of Spiritual Poverty

So in our last post we began talking about the abundant resource of God's grace and the ways in which we use it to enter into a redeemed life, now here on earth...before we die.  We talked about grace being two-fold.  It is a means of forgiveness and an abundant resource for living a life characterized by Christ.




Paul says in Romans 6:20

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!

This means we might need to consider how we may be returning to our personal places of spiritual poverty and how we may be guarding the door to our internal slum. To live under the first grace (forgiveness of sins) and not the second grace (abundant resources from heaven) is just like getting a job and returning to the slums (see the previous posts)  - we have the resources but make little or no use of them, or we see opportunity for help but we don't trust it enough to let it in.  We are impoverished by sin and bound to its sway.   I mean after all, “We are only human - right?” We can't help ourselves!  ...or can we?


Could it be that we lack a vision for anything better and simply choose not to give holiness much effort?  If grace is in scarce supply who can blame us?  …But it isn't...When we seek to be like Jesus without, well..JESUS, then it becomes a very frustrating, discouraging, laborious process.  And sadly, many Christian circles, though well intended, have done just that.  Which is why many of you, like me, have at times resorted to giving up and resigning to the fact that we are imperfect people (true) and live at the mercy of a perfect God (also true), and if we're lucky He might like us. 

IF we are uncertain if God likes us or not, then it stands to reason we would guard the door to our heart (our inward "slum").  We hide our sin or avoid spiritual conversations or feedback because we aren't sure it's safe.  We may see an opportunity for restoration on the horizon but it feels threatening so we say, “Keep out!” Sometimes we can remain stuck in a mindset that does not have room for grace which means there’s isn't any room for love either….scarcity (see previous post)

 The life we are invited into is more than a botched collection of years filled with eraser marks era-tagged with forgiveness.   The life we are called into is HIS – Christ CAME.  He dared to darken the door of our impoverished ways, make a home among the sewage with us, and offered us a way out.  We are loved out of the slums.  

 And over time, as we make His love our new home, we are able to live our life in responsive obedience to Him.  We become His conduit for love towards others.  It often requires His grace-fuel to energize us into action. But, surprisingly, it is not burdensome.  We discover the unforced rhythms of grace as we watch Christ and begin to work with Him and find ourselves yoked to the one whose ways are not without struggle but whose presence makes the journey easy and light.  This, my friends, is the gospel!  We are forever, and always WITH him and He is forever and always WITH us.  God is forever wooing us out of our impoverished ways and into the riches of His good and loving Kingdom...because He likes us...Abundance!

SO here are a few questions (and it is as much for me as it is for anyone else):

What areas of your life are still impoverished?

How might you be operating from a viewpoint of scarcity instead of abundance?

How might you be returning to the slums? 

In what way do you desire to experience God’s love or restoration right where you are?

AND… here’s a tough one…. How might you be guarding the slums of your heart, preventing that love and restoration from coming in?


What are some things you can do to make some changes today?

Grace: An Endless Resource

So...In the previous post we brought up the idea of life caught up in the spiritual slums versus life outside of it. BUT how does life with God, outside of the slums happen?  How do we begin to take steps to move from a sin-bound life to a God-pervaded, free life?...I suppose it has something to do with grace.

Grace brings us to God in the first place...Grace means "While we were still in a state of wandering, Christ laid down his life to bring us back into friendship with Him" (Rom 5:8).  And it is his kindness that woos us to turn his direction and follow (Rom 2:4).  Grace is what strengthens us to live as his disciple (Heb. 13:9) Grace is afforded to us endlessly and never runs out (Lam 3:22-23)!  Who wouldn't want to live like that?

I wonder if part of the problem is perspective.  Maybe it has something to do with understanding grace from a viewpoint of scarcity instead of abundance.  Isn't that why so many returned to the slum? Do I treat God's grace as if there is a limited supply? Do I just assume that I cashed in a "One-time use only" coupon when I believed in Him for the first time and lack the vision of anything more? Or do I run to the well of grace knowing the waters never run dry?  Abundance means "limitless supply".  Does this mean we keep sinning (wandering) so grace may abound?  Of course not and the apostle Paul agrees. (Rom 6:1).  Grace says, "I know you are messed up, but I love you and have not desire to leave you this way!"   According to scripture (Eph. 3:20-21) God, through grace, has offered Heaven’s endless resources to us, and if we want to follow the models and teachings of Jesus we will seek his help!  We will burn grace-fuel like a 747 burns jet-fuel!...and God is never the more glad!

I guess sometimes I forget that grace isn't limited to  yesterday's forgiveness.  It is also for today as I live in responsive obedience, allowing God's energy to work in me for the good. That grace never runs out. 

God's spirit empowers us to companion with Him and live like Him (John 14).   When we are at a point of saying, "God the only way I can do this is if you do it through me", That's grace!  And we discover that his ways are actually NOT burdensome (1 John 5:3)! By grace, God’s ongoing presence comes to us, all the time, awake or asleep, in pain and suffering and in seasons of joy and celebration...and in losing our life for His, in His grace God pulls us out of our poverty-stricken ways and says, I am sufficient and I know the plans I have for you and they are not for evil. They are to give you a future and a hope.” Jer 29:11

More on this next time....

Poverty of the Mind

There's something I've been thinking about lately and it has caused me to reconsider my perspective on the way in which I approach how I live my life day to day.  To explain what I mean I need to give a little background. 


While taking a trip recently to an area of the world where poverty runs rampant and there has been extensive efforts towards relief and development, I was struck but a conversation my husband shared with one of the development workers.  She mentioned that even though many of the people she works with now have jobs and could readily leave the slum life, many  have remained there and seem to instinctively choose to live in cardboard houses, sleep on dirt floors alongside steams of sewage, and rarely set foot outside the despairing reality in which they live – many don’t seem to fully understand what is available to them. They’ve been given the resources and now come home at the end of the day having earned wages tucked neatly in their back pocket, but they do not know how to make use of it. 

 

I found myself asking, "Then what's the point of it?" She then made a distinction between economic poverty and emotional poverty.  What they were learning is that it is much easier to transition them out of economic poverty because it involves dealing with issues that are more concrete, like skill building and the marketing of goods and trades. These are things they can engage and grow in.  However, helping them shift their thinking from one of scarcity to one of resource or abundance is much more difficult and will take longer.   

On top of that, even though many had the resources to leave the slum and find a different kind of life, most not only didn’t do it, but also took to guarding the slum’s boundaries so that even those who wanted to help could not get in.  They were held captive by the poverty of their mind because they did not have a vision for anything different.

Now here's where some ponderings come in to play.  I wonder if we do not have a similar perspective to those in the slums.  Figuratively speaking we have built our spiritual internal home in ways that can reflect an internal slum and we find ourselves impoverished.  At some point we have been introduced to God and have taken on some of the “skills” by way of Bible study, church attendance, etc…these are the concrete ideas that were easy for us to embrace early on and they are indeed the necessary place to begin and thereby grow – as was skill building and job acquiring for those in the slum.  But I wonder if we have stopped there? 

 

It seems we have resources but don’t really know how to use them and so we return to a "slum-way" of living.  For example, we have learned from studying our Bible that in our anger we ought not sin, and yet we may be accustom to “heart-sewage” in the form of yelling to get our point across.  We have had plenty of devotionals or heard motivational Christian speakers talk about the pain of slander yet we can often turn to gossiping to sooth our insecurity.  We know that we are uniquely created in God's image, chosen and dearly loved, but we may find ourselves accepting on-going mistreatment from someone and we allow that mistreatment to define us.  We have heard from the very beginning that there is a "God-shaped hole in our heart that only he can fill"  yet we set aside our self-worth in order to be “loved” by someone else and it never satisfies….The list is can go on - right?   The truth of it is, we want to move forward but sometimes we can't, and instead we return to the slums and find ourselves caught in a cycle of sin from which we cannot break free.  On top of that, we often guard the door of our internal soul-slum space while our own fear and pride/shame keep others at arms length and prevent anyone from really getting in and bringing help - including God. 


Sometimes (Now don't shoot me here) we are held captive by the poverty of our mind and we simply lack the vision for anything different.  Just like there was a good life just across town, outside the slums for so many in those impoverished areas; there is a rich, abundant, beautiful life in our midst as well.  Living in the ongoing presence of God's love and participating in HIs Kingdom as a child of the King is what we are made for.  It is life outside of the slums and it begins now...right here...


....But how do we get there? 



This is part one of a two -part post...tune in next time for thoughts on how we can begin to grow a vision for living outside the slum.

 

Sight-Seeing

Recently I was in London touring around a bit with a few friends and classmates.  It struck me as kind of funny that none of us had taken along a tour map of the city.  We'd been there several days but had spent much of our time in classes.  It left us with a false sense of confidence as to our abilities to know the city, and it did not take long to realize the error of our ways, but we did not seem to care much about it.  As we encountered various structures or landmarks one of us would quip, “Wow!  That’s cool….I wonder what it is?  I bet it’s something really cool.”  Then we would laugh and go about our walk through town.  Now you could very well be thinking, “These people are crazy!  Why didn’t they just stop to find out?”  Great question to which I have no good answer except that it is making for good material in this blog post. 

We must have encountered a dozen sights that were completely missed on us because of our ignorance.   We had no idea of their story or significance.  At one point I noticed large, imposing arches along the path. As we weaved in and out of them I looked at the other’s and said, “What is this?  It seems significant.  I bet this is something really big and we just can’t tell because we’re too close.”  In keeping with the touring trend for the day, we shrugged our shoulders and kept walking, but the structure never seemed to end.  As we crossed the street we took a look back at where we had been and realized the building we were encountering was the Royal Court of Justice and the structure was MASSIVE!  We were surprised by its all-consuming presence that seemed to silently posture itself among the mundane.

That's when it struck me that God’s Kingdom can be similar.  It is often postured in the ordinary.   We may encounter something that feels significant, maybe a shared moment when heaven seems to come in and introduce itself, a small movement among a group of people, or a glimpse of tender care given to someone in need, and something resonates within us that suggest this “thing”... this “moment” seems significant.  We wonder if it is part of something bigger but we can’t quite bring it into view because what we are experiencing is only a small part of the whole picture.  We are, in that moment, experiencing a piece of God’s Kingdom – It’s His “Kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven”.  Our little home called Earth is bathed in God all the time!  We cannot escape it but sometimes we can sure miss it.

Just a few blocks before The Royal Court of Justice we encountered a Romanian Orthodox Church and our experience of that was entirely different than everything else, because we decided to step in and take a peek.   We became part of the service, we were up close with the people in the church, we could hear the music and watch families as they tended to children or walked over to light a candle for prayer.  We understood it just a bit more because we paused long enough to come in closer and encounter the stories held within its walls.

My point in sharing this with you is to bring thought to ways in which we may encounter the Kingdom of God and not even know it because we are unaware it’s “sights”.   Could it be that opportunities to participate in God’s Kingdom are missed on us because we are ignorant of its characteristics?  We spend plenty of time learning about God but less time stepping into the cathedral of his presence and discovering the subtle nuances of his way or the vast spance of his loving purpose and provision.  We tend to say, “Oh that’s cool.  I wonder what it is.  But because we are busy we may not take the time to step closer, peek in, discover its significance and find the treasure of the story held within. God invites us into the story, to become participants in His Kingdom. 

  I was in London studying what it means to be a better student, friend and follower of Jesus and participate in life with Him.  But I find I cannot do that if I do not know what I am looking for.  Jesus’ ministry was devoted to showing those who were interested the sights of the Kingdom.  Matthew chapter 5-7 is packed full of just that!  So is the Levitical Law – Both are a picture of God’s good kingdom and how it could be experienced and expressed among his children. 

So my challenge is this.  Slow down…take in the little moments and look for God in them – He’s there...and you don't want to miss it!  If you’re like me and in need of a map to explain the sights (frankly, we are ALL in need of the map.)  then let's spend time in Matthew 5-7…let's spend the rest of our life reading it…taking it in, getting close, and using it as our guide to discover the good and beautiful sights of God’s Kingdom.  You never know, we may just find ourselves living it in ways we never expected J

 

 

 

 

The "Not-So-Flowery" with - God Life

My daughter and I LOVE word pictures...in fact we actually think in pictures - I know some of you do too.  Sometimes I have to translate my thoughts from pictures to words.  However, I was in a conversation yesterday and it caused me to consider how 'flowery' speech can sometimes come across as insincere or hard to follow so here is a rewrite of yesterday's blog post...


Have you ever come to a point in your spiritual life when you find yourself thinking, "Is this all there is?....There's has to be more than this when it comes to my relationship with God."  Something just seems like it is missing and your are not sure what.

That's what happens when God invites us to go beyond what we have known and experienced a deeper, abiding relationship with Him.  We feel a frustration with the status-quo, disappointment, boredom,  or a longing for “more” (Whatever “more” may be.)  I know all of us at some point can relate to what I'm saying.  Perhaps what has been harder to identify are the wrestlings that come along as we choose to respond to God's invite.

Sometimes our choice to follow God has required us to release unhealthy relationships with others and that's hard.  Personally, It's also hard to step out into the unknown and trust the future to someone other than myself.  It doesn’t matter if this person is God or not, the plain truth of the matter is, I hate to give up control! Which brings up the next wrestling, responding to God’s invitation means letting go of things that we may love.    Sometimes we can fear the loss is so great that the journey to follow is not worth it, or the wooing of comfort and familiarity is far too appealing and we’d rather not mess with a good thing....are you getting my drift ? :)  We want God...but sometimes we don't what ALL of God.  We like the part that implies blessing but would rather skip over the part that says, "Deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow me."  And yet, in the laying down of our life for his, we discover a life with God that promises to be full, rich, and utterly satisfying.  What does it look like to intend our life God’s direction and set sail on a sea of discovery with Him?


It is often when we reach a point of discontentment, boredom, or are made aware of an injustice in the world in which we live, that we are disrupted to a point of wanting something to be different.  Frankly, if it’s up to me, I will almost always choose the comfort of predictability over the disruption of the unknown any day of the week!  I guess God knows that so He allows my life to be disrupted, which means I am dislodged from my place of complacency and can more readily choose to step out towards living life conversationally side-by-side with Him in His Kingdom…something each of us are made for and we will itch and ache for it until we find it.  It’s strange how we think that pursuing a dynamic relationship with the God and Creator of the universe will lead to less …not more.

To respond to God’s invitation to follow him more intentionally means we must face the reality that not all of our relationships will share the same sentiment.  In fact, we may be put in a position where we have to choose to either follow God or remain moored to the broken systems of relating that have characterized some of our friendships thus far.  Letting go can be a painful process!  We grieve the loss and wish in some strange way that things could be as they were.  Yet we cannot deny the fact that we are being drawn to something new and it is impacting those we are in relationship with.  As we change, our way of relating changes, conversations change, what we preoccupy our mind with changes, and it opens up a new world creating new interests within us.

 

As we move toward this "new world", There is the whole “packing for the trip of your life and not sure what to bring” scenario.  I am always befuddled when it comes to packing.  I either pack too little or too much.  Strangely, much like to forgetting to pack underwear, I can leave behind some of the most critical items for the journey like, mercy, justice, or love...you know, just the basic character qualities a child of the Good-King God is characterized by...nothing big.   But if you need inward sarcasm, impatience, or temper-tantrums...I just might be your girl sometimes!  It's basically like packing a prom dress for a nature hike. 

SO...So this with-God life means I will seek to put on or "wear" the character of Christ.  I will pay attention to the things I DID pack and let them go as needed.  Once I packed for a trip and brought along a huge coat which would have been great if the weather was 30 degrees below zero, but it wasn’t and I ended up carting that thing around everywhere.  It was such a hindrance!  There are things we often want to keep in our with-God journey that may be weighing us down and entangling us in a system of broken or false dependence.  Like trusting God and my bank account.  Or choosing to follow Christ so long as it does not mar my image or reputation…you get my drift. 

The funny thing is that when we give up the things we thought we needed, we discover they were never really needed in the first place.  The less caught up we are in all of it, the freer we become, and we can learn to abide with God in such a way that we actually find our life is expanded, fuller & richer!  We companion with Him and his presence is far better than any “end result” we thought status, money, or posh comfort could ever bring. 

So I guess that about sums up in plain, not-so-flowery speech, what the previous posts said...I would love to hear your thoughts in response...

Out to Sea...A glimpse into the with-God Life

The man stood anxiously with one foot on the wooded dock and the other on the boat’s deck.  The ropes, now untied, were creating distance between the vessel and the dock.  His body strained to bridge the gap.  “Please come.” He said, his hand extended to those not yet in the boat.  “We can’t wait much longer, its moving away from the shore.”  Unsure of the boat’s destination and hesitant to leave the comfort of the warm dock many chose to remain back.    After all, why give up the comfort of the poised reality one comes to know as their familiar life?  Still, some found themselves compelled off the dock and drawn to this mysterious vessel. 

            God calls.  He comes to each of us and extends the invitation to join Him in his Kingdom world... He woos us out of the comfortably predictable and invites us into a journey with Him (Gen 12:1-9, Mk 1:3)... Drawing us out to sea, he whispers his invitation as reality collides with our ideals.  This disruption itches its way out through our spiritual skin and we become dissatisfied with the status-quo.  We are convinced that something must change.  So while the profiles of those on the dock fade and we weep over the distance the sea creates, we have no choice but to turn and set sail with those who have found themselves, like us, on these unexpected waters responding to this God-call. 

            It is a fierce invitation as we, his image-bearers, join in holding the sails and become seafarers with Him.  As the mist blankets our face, vision may grow dim but we find The Captain is sure, so we sail on.  Along the way, as The Captain sails with us, we discover we may have over-packed for the journey and we let go of things once held dear, now unneeded.  They are "the things that have so easily entangled" us (Heb. 12:1-2).  We see more clearly, the tethering nature of our earthly treasures and how they once moored us to the dock and kept us from setting out to sea with the good Captain.  To cling to such idols seems foolish now as the shadow of fear dissipates in the light of His love.    

         

We gain our sea-legs on this with-God voyage, and it steadies our perspective. We notice changes in us and around us. (Gal. 5) Conversations seem different.  What preoccupied us in the past has lost its appeal.  New thoughts and ideas occupy our mind.  Our heart is being re-informed toward Truth. (2 Cor. 5:17; Rom 12:1-2)  We are often surprised by who we find ourselves sailing with and there is unexpected joy as we companion together.  The things that typically divide friendships fade as we set aside our differences and find fellowship in the grace of Christ.  Status is mute, but the color of our stories creates a palate of paint by which the Creator may unfold this Meta-God story on the canvas of the sails of this ship. (1 Cor. 12)   

            We know we are a part of something…But what?   Could it be that we have encountered the fellowship of believers found common in the way of Christ?  Is it possible that the very thing for which we have previously grappled by way of status, materialism, and comfort…was actually found when their mechanisms were laid to rest and we risked it all by going out on an unknown sea with The Captain who set their waters in place? (Luke 9:24)

            This vessel, seemingly bound for the unknown, has brought us into the known -the riches of His Glorious Presence and the love that resides there within.  Perhaps it is all about sailing with The Captain, at sea, and the destination is simply... HIM. 


This prayer is attributed to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu adapted from an original prayer by Sir Francis Drake.


Disturb us, O Lord
when we are too well-pleased with ourselves 
when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, 
because we sailed too close to the shore.


Disturb us, O Lord
when with the abundance of things we possess, 
we have lost our thirst for the water of life 



when, having fallen in love with time, 
we have ceased to dream of eternity 
and in our efforts to build a new earth, 
we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.


Stir us, O Lord
to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas 
where storms show Thy mastery, 
where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.


In the name of Him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes 
and invited the brave to follow.


Amen

 

Skin On the Floor

“Mommy Cookie Monster’s skin is on the floor!”  Said the worried little girl.

“What do you mean?” asked the mother

“He’s just lying there on the floor all flat with nothing in him.  Is he dead?” The girl asked

“Oh no sweetie, That's all he's got...He needs someone inside of him to bring him to life.” The mother explained.

A mom of a preschooler shared this story a few years ago.  Her 2 ½ year old daughter had found her brother’s costume tossed on the floor the day after Halloween. ...so what's my point in sharing this story?... 

A while back, my daughter and I were noticing how depleted and worn we felt and there appeared to be no end in sight.  Recalling the mom's story, I simply said to her, “Sometimes, it just feels like we’re skin on the floor and that’s about all we’ve got.”  With a sideways smile she responded, “Yep…that is about sums it up, mom.” Seasons like that seem to show up in the soul on occasion, leaving us feeling somewhat empty.  Those are often the days when we wake up wondering if we have what it takes to do the next 24 hours and hope somehow to find Heaven's breath in us because all of the sudden we are keenly aware that we need something MORE than ourselves inside of us to bring us to life.  They are the days that remind us that God is God and we are not.

 Sometimes we are just "skin on the floor" and  I bet that God prefers it that way - not because he is cruel or enjoys watching us suffer, but because he knows what it takes for us to finally surrender to his better ways and find the life we are looking for.   How else would we ever notice our total need for Him and openly receive what He has to offer? Trading our life for His (Luke 17:33) isn't all that attractive when things are going along nicely and we feel confident in our own resources. After all, who needs "Heaven's breath" when we are breathing just fine on our own?  To the degree that I believe I am competent is often the degree to which I believe I do not need God.  ...Ouch!

Coming to the end of our personal (without-God) capacity, postures our heart so we can finally say, “Lord, I need your grace right now, to do what I know I must and to live in the way you have called me to live.  My flesh is weak, its worn, and fails often, but your Spirit in me holds heaven’s resources at its fingertips.   That is my only hope – it’s what I am banking on!  And it is more than enough... it is the promise of Christ!  You are Immanuel – God WITH me!  Carry me, move me, become my words and act through me.  I am skin on the floor, I lay myself down to be fully inhabited by you.” 

I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD"  Ezekiel 37
Just like that abandoned costume, when we abandon ourselves and become “Skin on the floor” God has all the room He needs to bring us to life. “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule." (Matt 5:3)  And just like the boy, when God is allowed to “wear” us, His resources become ours and we move and act like him with energy, strength and love we never knew we had.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me. – Gal 2:20