This morning I was up before the crack of dawn to enjoy my daily cup of coffee and quiet time when I heard a rustling from the bedroom. Just a moment later Oak popped his three year old head around the corner and stumbled to the couch, interrupting what will likely be the only private moment of my day.
Typically I give the kids a drink of milk and send them back to bed at this point, but this morning Oak showed me a lesson on Sonship I really needed. My heart melted when he tottered onto the couch, cuddled really close and muttered softly, "I want to be with you." This sweet, intimate utterance defines the heart I want for God; this is the type of authentic devotion that pleases the Lord. It would be wonderful if more often, in the midst of the bedlam of my life, I could wake me up with a child's love and mumble softly to the Lord, "I want to be with you."
The changes God accomplishes often hit me like this, from a different and unexpected angle. The Lord usually goes deeper and touches a more hidden miscreant thought, motive, feeling...than what I can anticipate. And the soft muttering gathers more of my attention than the noise of my intentions.
Of course Oak stayed up with me for a while.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Faith expressing itself through love
Fill in the blank: My spiritual life would really take off if I would _______________.
The answer is "believe in the One he has sent." (John 6: 28-29). My spiritual life is a matter of belief (faith) and love, not a matter of doing things for God or others. The things I do for God and others are a matter of "faith expressing itself through love." (Gal. 5:6). Just as I would not add sensuality to my faith and expect God to be pleased or my faith to increase, so I cannot add good deeds to my faith.
The way this works out for me right now has to do with 2 specific areas:
1. We have made it our goal to get out of debt. While I know that this is God's will for us and that there is a practical "how to do this" side of things, what really matters is how this process is motivated by my faith, not my economic skills.
2. In the next few months I am going to be working with my local school to see about getting Abe back in our district, but I have a number of 'gripes' that need addressed. I feel like fighting this battle without "love" for the administrators at the school, but I know my heart must be right in order to advocate for my kids the way God would want for me to.
As I'm working through these (and a myriad of other issues) pray that my heart will be one that "BELIEVES" in a manner that is expressed by "LOVE."
The answer is "believe in the One he has sent." (John 6: 28-29). My spiritual life is a matter of belief (faith) and love, not a matter of doing things for God or others. The things I do for God and others are a matter of "faith expressing itself through love." (Gal. 5:6). Just as I would not add sensuality to my faith and expect God to be pleased or my faith to increase, so I cannot add good deeds to my faith.
The way this works out for me right now has to do with 2 specific areas:
1. We have made it our goal to get out of debt. While I know that this is God's will for us and that there is a practical "how to do this" side of things, what really matters is how this process is motivated by my faith, not my economic skills.
2. In the next few months I am going to be working with my local school to see about getting Abe back in our district, but I have a number of 'gripes' that need addressed. I feel like fighting this battle without "love" for the administrators at the school, but I know my heart must be right in order to advocate for my kids the way God would want for me to.
As I'm working through these (and a myriad of other issues) pray that my heart will be one that "BELIEVES" in a manner that is expressed by "LOVE."
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