Obsession

'Of all the commandments, which is the most important?''The most important one,' answered Jesus, 'is this: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."’

--Mark 12:28(b)-30 (NIV84) 

On Saturday, Avi (my ten-year-old son) suddenly remarked "I'm so excited for tomorrow!"  At first I genuinely had no idea what he could be excited about, and then I remembered that the next day was Mother's Day.  I wondered whether he could truly be anticipating Mother's Day, so I asked him what he was excited about, half-expecting him to say there was going to be an Adventure Time marathon on Cartoon Network. Exasperated, he reminded me: "Tomorrow's Mother's Day!"  


I don't know how it is that my ten-year-old boy still loves to do nice things for me.  He genuinely looks forward to Mother's Day every year and always concerns himself with whether I'm spending the day relaxing and enjoying myself.  I always look forward to extra hugs and affection, not out of obligation, but out of real love. Yesterday afternoon I started cleaning a few leftovers out of the refrigerator and he came over and told me I needed to stop it. "You always work, work, work.  You should just sit down and relax today." I relented, and he smiled and sat down with me.


Do we delight in loving God this way?  Or is it a grudging show of honor, out of obligation?  And before you answer that, you owe it to yourself to really think and answer honestly.  The commandment that Jesus highlights as most important (originally set out in Deuteronomy 6:4) sets an all-consuming standard. To love God with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength?  I would have nothing left. I would be completely spent, exhausted from all that love.

"As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?"

--Psalm 42:1-2 

Do we wait impatiently for prayer times, anxious to steal away and spend time with the most consuming love of our lives?  Are we desperate for God?  
God doesn't want our stingy affection. He doesn't want us to serve Him out of guilt, out of self-seeking motives, or out of fear. He doesn't want our leftover time, money, or love. "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God."  (Deuteronomy 4:24 NIV).  He wants the first of it, the next part, and all the rest too. Love for Him should and will progressively consume us, and we will only be satisfied by spending more and more time with Him and by doing things that delight Him. We do these things not to earn His favor, but because our love for Him simply compels us. We obey Him and serve Him not out of obligation but because we are conformed more to His likeness as we are consumed by our ravenous, desperate love for Him. We are changed until nothing else matters except God.

Is this obsession?  Well, yes.  But this is how we were created.  God hard-wired us to be obsessed with Him, "that we might be for the praise of His glory," in order to bring the nations to Christ.  Ephesians 1:12, Matthew 28:19-20. He devised the plan and then created us with a yearning to fulfill it.  I follow His plan, not because it is perfect, but because I love God so much that it's an obsession, and I can't imagine doing anything else.

In His Service,
Stephanie

Praise

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory." (Ephesians 1:11-12, NIV)

I've had moments where I've thought to myself, "What's with all this praising?  Why does God command us to praise and worship Him all the time?  Isn't He kind of an egomaniac?" But at the same time, I've had moments of sublime, profound joy during worship and at times of praising God. I knew it was the right thing to do. I felt sure that the questions I had were the whisperings of the enemy, because they sounded just like doubts planted by one who would try to place himself above the Almighty.  I knew what the right answer was, I just hadn't worked out why.


Well, I've finally worked it out, at least to my own satisfaction, with the help of a book and the Holy Spirit, so I'm sharing in this blog entry.  Praise the Lord! 


The rules that apply to people don't apply to God, because God is God and we're not.  I know, sounds ridiculous, right?  But take a minute and really absorb that sentence if you haven't, and a lot of other significant truths will start to flow out that will be profound.  


Pride is a sin for people, and one of the reasons is that whatever we're being proud about is a lie.  Pride is thinking highly of yourself when it's not warranted.  "I don't need help, I can do this all on my own," or, "I'm smarter than anyone I know," or, "I'm the most good-looking person in the room."  None of those things is true.  


However, God really is perfect.  He doesn't have to be humble about anything, because to be humble would be not only untrue (which is impossible for God), but it would be idolatry.  Nothing is better or more powerful or more truthful or more loving, or...(you get the idea) than God.  He's not boasting, He's just being God.


So what do we like to do when we find something great, even when it's an imperfect great thing? In the words of C.S. Lewis, "[W]e delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation." (C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms). Think about something as minor as a delicious piece of cheesecake, for example. "Oh, this is so good!  I've never had anything this great! You have to try it!  Here, have a bite." 


Unfortunately, you might be reading this and thinking you don't like cheesecake. Or cheesecake might be pretty good but not the best thing you can think of. That's because no matter what we praise that's been made by people, it's not going to be perfect. That's why praising God is so much better. Nobody can disagree about Him. He really is the best. Perfect, in fact. All the time.


Here's the point:  God made us.  He could have wired us any way He wanted.  He hard-wired us to derive pleasure from praising the things we love, and to derive perfect pleasure from praising Him who is perfect.  We were created "for the praise of His glory," and just to make it all even better, He set it up so we would be soul-satisfied by praising His glory, because He loves us.  


It's perfect. Don't you agree?


In His service,
Stephanie

News

"'Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.' His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ."

--Acts 5:38-42 

Today at church the sermon was about getting outside our comfort zones.  It made me start thinking about a class I went to last summer where a seminary student intern we had on staff made the point that when we share the "good news," it has to be good, and it has to be news.


Somehow I connected these two thoughts today, and I realized we'll never really have news, not good enough to be front-page material anyway, if we fail to abandon our comfy chairs and our fuzzy slippers and follow the direction of the Spirit regardless of where it takes us.  We're not here to be comfortable.  We're not here to watch TV and play Angry Birds.  We're here to share the good news about what Jesus has done for us with everyone we possibly can.  Anything less is disobedience by inertia.  


What has God done in your life lately that would qualify as a personal testimony to the the redeeming power of Jesus' death and resurrection?  If you can't think of anything, you're too comfortable.  You're not living.  God has no opportunities to do amazing things in your life because you're not willing to be uncomfortable and then trust Him to show up.  "I was saved and then I went home and sat in my living room for the next 10 years" is neither news, nor is it good.  "I was saved, and then I was never the same again.  Let me tell you about it."  That sounds like the start of some stop-the-presses, dramatic news that deserves to be told.  


I've heard people ask, "What do you want to be doing when Jesus comes back?"  I've thought about that question dozens of times, until tonight, when I threw it out the window and decided the real question is: "What do you want to be doing now, while Jesus is watching your every move from His seat at the right hand of the Father in heaven?"  Do you want to be a newsmaker? Or would you rather sit in your chair at home and watch the news other people are making instead?


In His service,


Stephanie

Body

For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body–whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free–and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.... If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

--1 Cor. 12:16, 26-27 (NIV)

There are certain types of disorders where a person's immune system, instead of attacking viruses and bacteria and the like, malfunctions and starts attacking the body's own tissues instead.  Some of these disorders can be so severe that they can lead to death if untreated, with the body slowly self-destructing.


In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul goes on at length developing the analogy of the body of Christ to the human body.  He makes the point that, as in the human body where each organ, gland and system has a particular function, each of us has a particular role in the body of Christ, whether it's prophecy, administration, pastoring, or something else.  If part of the body of Christ gives up and goes home, we fail.  If part of the human body gives up, we die (or at least become seriously sick).


But what if we start acting like a renegade immune system in the human body example above?  What if we in the body of Christ put on our armor of God every day, but instead of going out and fighting against the real enemy, we get confused start attacking each other?  Gossip, dissension, stubbornness, disrespect. There's nothing the enemy would rather see.  If we waste our energy and time fighting among ourselves, the enemy has us doing his job for him.  He doesn't have to work at doing damage to God's children, we're handling that quite well on our own.  And all the time we spend fighting the wrong enemy is time taken away from working for our King.


Tomorrow, when you put on your armor and get ready for a day of battle, spend a moment asking for help from the Spirit to build up the unity of the body of Christ instead of fighting other parts of the body and tearing it down.  Pray for protection for the body of Christ. 


In His service,


Stephanie

Dad

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-–children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." --John 1:12-13 (NIV) 

Do we really behave every day as children of God?  


I've been struck at odd times lately that if we all treated God as head of the family instead of an ethereal father, we might do things a bit differently.  We usually think about God as if He's far, far away, but He's always right here with us.  He's here on the couch with me as I type this.  He's there where you are reading this.  He's everywhere, in fact. 


Does He really seem real to us?  What if I prayed to Him as if He were sitting right across from me on the fireplace hearth instead of away in the heavens?


If we had a loving, always-available, perfect father who longed to spend time with us every day, would we ever go days, weeks, months, or even years treating him the way we sometimes treat God?  Let's face it. We ignore Him.  We're ungrateful.  We constantly ask for things we don't really need.  And we complain when He gives us the things He knows we should have.  I think we do the things we do because sometimes it's hard to think of God as our Dad, and it's hard to think of ourselves as His kids.


We're in a family.  Our siblings are our brothers and sisters in the Church.  The head of the household is God.  We might elbow each other at the dinner table from time to time, but otherwise this is the best family in the universe.  Rejoice and have a heart-to-heart talk with Dad.


In His service,
Stephanie

     

My Ministry Pogo Stick

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  

 --Ephesians 3:17-19 (NIV)

Our team retreat has been rescheduled to Friday, so my thoughts have returned to composing a succinct statement of my ministry burden or passion.  


First, I don't really even like calling it a burden, because it makes my calling sound like drudgery, like ankle weights.  I picture myself hauling a ball-and-chain through a mud bog. But when I think about my calling, I feel the opposite sensation.  I feel like I'm jumping up and down on a pogo stick.  Anyone who's attended one of the orientation weeks I've facilitated could probably say I seem like I'm jumping up and down on a pogo stick for most of the week.  I have so much fun (and coffee) I'm full of enthusiasm and energy (and caffeine).  So I think I'd really rather call it a ministry pogo stick.


So I can say that if I could state my calling, or my passion, or my pogo stick in terms of my favorite questions to ask people, it would come out something like this:


"What do you think God is trying to teach you/show you in this situation?"
or
"How is God working on you right now?"


These questions have tons of variations and always lead to other questions, but these are really the main areas that I just love to talk about/read about/think about/pray about, etc.  


What these two questions really lead to is how God is pushing the person (almost always a woman, so we'll say it's a "she") to become a little more like the person God wants her to be in whatever area He's working on--right?  So if there's some way I can ask a question or point to a certain passage of the Bible or pray for the person, in order to help the person through the process of growth, which is almost always painful (let's be honest), that's worth everything.  That is really something worth giving my life for.  


So I think what I really get excited about is helping other Christians in the process of maturing, obeying, and determining God's calling and plan for their lives.  


Reading that makes me feel like I'm jumping up and down on a pogo stick.


In His service,
Stephanie

Thanks.

As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, 'Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!' 'Martha, Martha,' the Lord answered, 'you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.' 

--Luke 10:38-42 (NIV)

As we head into Thanksgiving and my head fills with things to do, I start thinking about Mary and Martha.  When I read these verses, I have so many questions as I see the scene unfold in my head.  I first have to wonder what took place before Jesus arrived.  All we know from the text is that Martha opened her home to Jesus and the disciples.  How much notice did she have that they were coming?  Doesn’t the word “preparation” imply that Martha should have been finished with whatever she was doing by the time her guests arrived?  Why wasn’t she?  On the other hand, if she had no advance warning and Jesus dropped in unannounced, what did she think Jesus and the disciples were expecting?  An elaborate banquet?  Unlikely.

Later in the story, I picture Jesus sitting in one room of the house, teaching the disciples, Mary, and anyone else who was able to be there.  The room is quiet, and the people are listening intently to Jesus’ every word.  I picture Martha in the kitchen, hustling around and becoming angrier by the second.  

Why didn’t Mary choose to help Martha in the kitchen? Jesus says she made a better choice instead.  I also wonder what Jesus was preaching about.  We’ll never know, and neither will Martha.  An opportunity lost forever.  

Eventually, Martha reaches her limit.  I picture her flinging down a rag (did they have rags back then?), pushing a lock of hair out of her face with an exasperated sigh, and charging into the room where Jesus is teaching.  She accuses Jesus of not caring about her, insinuates that it’s Mary’s fault that she’s stuck in the kitchen, and demands that Jesus tell Mary to help in the kitchen.  

Whoa!  Martha has some nerve to interrupt the Lord of the Universe (who is also her guest, by the way) to make demands of Him, accuse Him of not loving her, and complain about the work she has to do to in order to have Him as a guest in her home.  

More importantly, what about the things she doesn’t complain about? She doesn’t say a word about missing out on spending time with Jesus.  She doesn’t seem to be bothered by not hearing His teaching.

Jesus’ response is gentle, calming and understanding, yet offers a rebuke at the same time.  He says she is worried and upset about “many things.”  Since He knows all of her thoughts, I wonder what things He means?  No doubt Martha knows.  

He directs her that “only one thing is needed.”  This “one thing” is the answer to Martha’s immediate situation and to all situations--stop and spend time with the only One who matters.  He goes on to tell Martha that “Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”  What Mary has learned will never be taken from her, and Jesus Himself will never be taken from her either.

Here’s my biggest question about this story: After Jesus responds to Martha, what does she do?  Does she listen to Jesus, realize He’s right, and humbly take a seat at his feet?  Or does she roll her eyes, huff back to the kitchen, and finish working by herself?  

This Thanksgiving, when you’re faced with the choice of checking items off of your to-do list, or spending time with the only One who matters, choose what is better.  It will not be taken away from you.

With Thanks,

Stephanie