A Heavy Heart

Friday was a day of broken heartedness with the events from Connecticut. We cried on and off in our home most of Friday afternoon and held our girls so close. I know if we didn't have the girls we would've felt grief for the families but having kids, it hit closer to home.

I cried while I watched pictures flash on the screen, listened to a piece of President Obama and watched him cry for the families, when the girls woke up from their naps and then cried again while Daniel and I were talking later that night. It was a hard afternoon.

Thankfully, I find hope in Jesus Christ. Hope amongst the pain and grief. I pray that everyone affected find it too. He's there, waiting on us to find Him, waiting on us to talk to Him. It makes the pain a little easier to bear but the grief for the little ones and their families is still heavy on my heart. And I know it will be for awhile and that's okay. I can cry out to God and know He's there, there's comfort in that. We'll never know why it happened, never know why that young man was so angry he felt he needed to   take the lives of innocent people.

I pray we learn from this experience. Are we doing enough as a community to help prevent this in the future? It's hard to say we're learning when it seems someone is shooting up a school at least once a year or someone is taking their own life because kids are cruel to them. What else can we do? What aren't we doing for our kids that we need to be doing? I hope we take a good hard look and keep this day fresh in our minds so we can be compassionate to those who have a need. We need to see their need and not turn away from it because it seems too hard, too daunting. Intervene and save a lives, not just one but possibly many.

I know I can't save the world and save x amount of children. I do know that I when I see a need I step in and do what I can. In the future the girls will bring home friends that may not come from a loving environment. I know that we can provide one for them. We can be a shelter in their storms of life. I hope that when they walk into our home they know Jesus is a part of our lives and see Him acted out in our lives. I pray that they can talk to us and we can listen and pray with them and for them. I pray we can stop the cycle of hate and neglect in our home, one kid at a time. And even if it only ends up being one child, so be it. Because of that one child how many others can live to see another day and grow up and live the lives their parents imagined for them?

Love starts with Jesus. I can't love others without loving and knowing Him first.

Love in Action

18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. (My italics)

Now here's a verse that I think everyone would agree with. It's very easy to tell someone, "I love you." It's slightly more challenging to actually show someone, "I love you."

Why is that? Because love in action requires putting another's interests ahead of our own. Words can be empty and hollow. Actions can't be. They have to be planned out and then carried out. Words can be picked out of thin air. Actions develop in the heart. Love in action means love in the heart.

For instance, love in action could mean emptying the dishwasher without being prompted (something I could do more of). It could mean getting the baby ready for bed and sitting with her while your wife has some time to herself. Love in action means figuring out what makes your friend/spouse/whoever feel most loved. This book and its other iterations give great insight into the basic ways people both give and receive love.

The bottom line is that we must show love to those we love. The words that come out of our mouth must line up with our actions. If there's a disconnect, the meaning of those words or actions loses value.

Let us not forget the example of love: "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him."

Have a great day!

-D

10,000 Reasons

This is the chorus to one the more recent worship songs written by Matt Redman. It has quickly become one of my favorites. One, the lyrics are awesome. Two, it's easy to play on the guitar.

Bless the Lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I worship Your holy name

Anyway, we sang this at church this past Sunday. Our worship leader paused after the chorus to say a few words. The name of the song is actually called "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)", based in part on the below second verse.

You're rich in love and You're slow to anger
Your name is great and Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness I will keep on singing
10,000 reasons for my heart to find

So our worship pastors asks people to call out some reason to bless or praise the Lord. People call out various answers. His love. His grace. His mercy. The idea was to get us all focused on reason to praise and sing to the Lord. 


That prompted some thought from me that afternoon. 10,000 reasons. That's a lot. That's the first thing I thought. Then I thought about this question - could I actually think of 10,000 reasons? Do I have that many reasons to be thankful and praise the Lord? What if I listed one reason each day until I have reached 10,000 reasons? That would take about 27 years and about 4 months (yes, I did the math). If I listed 2 reasons per day, that would take 13 years and 7 months.

Psalm 146:1-2 says, "Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live." (Italics mine.)

I will leave you with this challenege. Come up with a list of 10,000 reasons. Start on it today. Add 1 or 2 each day until you get to 10,000 or your time on earth is done.

Have a great day!

-D

But God

I snapped this picture on my phone some time ago walking across a little skybridge between the parking garage and my office building.

Life is not easy. Let's be honest - it sucks sometimes. There are a lot of times that are not any fun. That's just reality. Life can throw a lot of gray clouds rain storms hurricanes at us. Storms that shake us and leave us wondering if there is an end in sight. Life has peaks and valleys, but it also has cliffs from which we free fall and keep falling. I know. I've been there. To keep hoping for a bottom that hasn't come yet? It sucks.
The Psalmist in Psalm 73:26 says, "My heart and flesh may fail..." Translation? "I'm defeated. I'm falling. And I'm waiting to hit the bottom." Sound familiar? Stress, worry, money, job, relationships. You name it. Anything can send us free falling.

The Psalmist doesn't stop at, "My heart and flesh may fail..." Our stories don't end at "I'm defeated." The free fall doesn't go on and on.

"... but God..." is what the Psalmist writes. Two words. Six letters. Infinite power. "But God." We don't even have to read the rest of the verse. "But God." Translation? "It's over." The free fall will end. The light is coming. The blue skies are coming.

"... but God is the strength of my heart, my portion forever." Yeah, life may suck right now. Yes, the valley is dark and deep. But God is. And that is all we need.

There's a song by Matt Maher called "Alive Again"...

I woke up in darkness
surrounded by silence
oh where, where have I gone?
I woke to reality
losing its grip on me
oh where, where have I gone?
Cause I can see the light
before I see the sunrise
You called and you shouted
broke through my deafness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!
You shattered my darkness
washed away my blindness
now I’m breathing in
and breathing out
I’m alive again!

The skies will clear. The storms will end. Hold onto that glimmer of light that creeps over the horizon, because the darkness will be shattered.

-D

Discernment and Insight

Proverbs 16:21-22 (NIV)
21 The wise in heart are called discerning, and pleasant words promote instruction.
22 Understanding is a fountain of life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools.

One of the general themes in Proverbs is to live a righteous life. Many verses detail the advantages of living such a life - Proverbs 11:5-6 for example.

As I read these verses, I really thought about those two qualities: discernment and understanding (or insight as the HCSB translates it). What is discernment? What is insight? And how do these two help in living a righteous life?

Discernment: As I think about discernment, I think about the ability to look at a situation both at and beyond the surface to make the right decision. A discerning heart has the ability to know what to say or do in that situation. Not only does a discerning person know what to say/do, he also knows when and how to say/do it. When this person speaks, people listen, because his words are measured to reflect what he wants to say and what the Bible says. Correction and instruction are most successful when the words are chosen carefully and said with the correct feeling or emotion given the situation and person. The wise in heart have this discernment, and as such, others will listen to the words they speak. The wise person has influence because he can communicate effectively and bring others along.

Insight/Understanding: Insight, to me, is having additional knowledge beyond what is basically known. Why are color commentators for sports (generally) ex-players? They have insight. They have knowledge of the sport beyond what the average person knows. To have insight is to have more knowledge or experience. To have that extra bit of information makes a big difference. Why is it a fountain of life for those who have it? Because extra knowledge gives you an edge. In the context of the spiritual life, having insight guards us from making bad decisions. You gain insight by gaining more knowledge, which for us comes from more time spent with God. Insight is our fountain of life because we have the spiritual knowledge to avoid the pitfalls of life that the fool falls into over and over.

That leads to some questions to chew on. Do I possess a discerning spirit? Does my fountain of life flow from understanding? Do I value discernment and understanding? Do I recognize that to live a righteous life and be transformed I must possess discernment and insight? In what areas of my life am I weak in discernment and insight? Am I working to strengthen those areas under the Word of God?
Have a great day! 

-D

He Alone

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I will not be shaken.


"He alone..."


David in two words has made a huge statement of faith. He's not relying on his riches or his power or his armies. He's relying on God alone as a stronghold. (He certainly wouldn't be relying on the stock markets today.) If anyone had reason up to then to rely on things he had done or accumulated, David was the guy.


"He alone..." But David doesn't do that. And with good reason. If David couldn't see God as his rock, salvation, and stronghold, then I'm not sure who could. His route to the kingship was, shall we say, a little difficult, having spent time running from Saul. David had to wait for his moment to become king. He had to rest in the promise God made to him.


So what does it mean to have God as our rock and stronghold? It means we have stability. It means our current mood/status does not depend on what the economy is doing, what leaders are in charge, or _______. Temporal, material things don't shake us, because we have to place our trust and faith in the eternal Creator. And when we do let things get to us and face stress, anxiety, conflict, etc, we can climb back to our rock quickly.


In verse 8, David gives us advice on making God or rock and stronghold. "Trust in Him at times... pour out your hearts before Him."


"He alone..."


-D

Priority Time

"How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your word." -Psalm 119:9 (HCSB)


My wife previously blogged about a study I was working on and then leading a small group through at our church on Wednesday nights last fall. For one of my first posts here, I thought I would give some background and overview of why this topic is so important to me.


For those of us who strive to follow God and Christ, there is no doubt that reading the Bible might be the most important thing we can do. The verse in Psalms I've noted at the first of the post shows us the importance of it. Some of you may refer to this as a quiet time or devotion time. I prefer to call it a priority time, because studying the Bible and meditating on it needs to be a priority. It wasn't always that way for me, however.


It was the fall of 2006. Things were happening in my life that, well, did not make me a happy person. My wife now jokingly refers to this as my "angry period." In any case, I was not happy with a lot of things or a lot of people. Something had to change. I knew I could not keep going up and down this emotional and spiritual roller coaster. I made the conscious decision to open my Bible and spend time each day (hopefully) reading and studying. I started with the book of Romans and began studying and taking notes in a notebook on what I read, thought, felt, and prayed. I would love to tell you that things changed quickly, but that would not be the case. Still on the roller coaster and still angry, bitter, and sad, I struggled with consistency, would read for a couple of days, and then miss the next five. That all changed when I came across these words in Romans 12:2 - "Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Message received.


If I wanted to get off the roller coaster, if I wanted to not be angry, if I wanted to go beyond the faith I currently had, then I had to renew my mind. I had to read God's Word, study it, learn it, and let it soak throughout my mind, heart, and soul. Since that point, I know I have changed. Do I still have the setbacks? Well, yes, that's part of being human. But from where I was 6 years ago to where I am now is no comparison.


So what is a priority time? For me, it is a daily, unhurried time to read the Word of God to know the God of the Word. What unhurried means is that if you have 20 minutes, you don't read a whole chapter but rather a few verses. You don't rush through a passage. You take your time. (I have spent 45 minutes sometimes on just one verse.) You break down verses, rewrite them in your own words, and consult commentaries if needed for additional insight. You highlight, circle, or underline important words. You pray over what you've read. And for me, I journal over what I've read, because I want to be able to go back over what I've studied, what I've seen, and where I've grown. I want to look back at what I prayed. The notebooks I've filled up are records of my journey of faith. They contain my story. And when I feel the time is right, I will give those journals to my girls as proof that Dad strived to be a godly father and husband. I want them to see the verses I prayed over them. I want them to see my struggles but also see that there is freedom and power that can only come from the Giver of life.


Everyone will read and study the Bible differently and at his or her own pace, but what we cannot forget is how important it is. The life and values I want my girls to live must be valued and lived out in my own life. That means I've got to learn as much as I can. I've got to grow, because if I don't, they won't. If I want them to discover the potential of a life intersected with and changed by faith, then I better discover it myself.


With that, I wish you a great weekend!


-D


To check out an entire sermon series on this topic, I'll point you here. When preparing for the series I did last fall, this was a great resource.