Mission Faithwalk

                    I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, (Isaiah 45:5)   The exercise for today has to do with examining our lives and being honest about how things went when we tried to be in control in comparison to how they went when God was in control. One of the big things about trying to be in control is that there are stress and anxiety. Am I making the right choices? I am making the right choices, but what if they don’t cooperate? Am I doing good enough? How do I get God and everyone else to cooperate? Am I even doing the right thing? Why can’t they see it? When I am trying to be in control, it’s often my emotions that are in the lead. Sometimes, my will gets involved – on overdrive. I can keep going for a long time, but burn out eventually. Once I lose focus, I’m done for. When I am going it alone, it’s not unusual for me to feel abandoned. On the other hand, when I sensed God

  But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (II Peter 3:8-9)   It’s 6:42 am. I’ve been up for almost 45 minutes, and I haven’t finished my breakfast, haven’t taken the dog for a walk, and I’m just starting to tinker with tomorrow’s blog post. Frustration is already creeping in – and I don’t even have to go to work today, or tomorrow. But I’m bound up in time. A good day is one in which I get all my chores and errands run no later than 2 pm and can spend the rest of the day doing more important things, so I look at the clock a lot, and waste time fussing about how late it is. And then there’s God. He isn’t bound by time. One way to look at it is that He lives outside of time, and can step into time as He chooses, so He can re

  If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. (Roman 12:18)   One of the assignments for this week is to look back over social interactions experienced over the past three days. Choose the most memorable and consider what it says about who we are. I thought four and began describing them before I went to work. What they proved was that I can’t or don’t follow directions well. At work, however, something happened that threw those less memorable and significant events out the window. Many years ago, someone with whom I’d been best friends had ended our friendship and told me never to contact her again. As I said, I’m not very good at following directions, so I have sent her a standard birthday blessing each year, and once in a while, I comment on something she shared on Facebook because it came across my feed. Every now and again, I’ve wondered what would happen when we met again, and today, it happened. I was busy, so it was brief, but we were bo

                 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 strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)   Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. (Leviticus 19:18)     Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.   Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.   It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. L

                 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)   Like most people, I’ve walked through some valleys that seemed “darkest.” There have been times when what kept me going was the fact that my dog needed me. Now, understand, I know a couple people who have broken their backs recently, and one is likely to be paralyzed until he reaches heaven’s door. I know people who have lost spouses. I know someone who quite probably drank himself to death. I know there are people living in horrific conditions while – by comparison – I live in the lap of luxury. I know of people who seem to have it all, but the media records their descent into misery. This passage isn’t an invitation to a contest. You have probably walked through a darkest valley. I have walked through them. While it may sound pathetic that my dog is what kept me going, I believe God used Honey in that way. It wasn’t tha

                 Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them . (Deuteronomy 4:9)   “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12)   Today’s exercise deals with family, and while it’s not overtly based on the assumption of parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren, that’s how it feels to me. It asks what I can do in the context of my family to spread the practice of living in awareness of His presence and listening to His voice. The problem is that my family is – for the most part – a thousand miles away. We aren’t major parts of each other’s support system. I can’t turn off the stove and go help them, nor can they drop what they’re doing and come to help me. And while my church family is closer, they all have lives and fam

                 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Romans 8:29)   The exercise for today is to list things to do that you know are Christlike. Of course, once you list them, you’re supposed to practice them, because that’s how we can contribute to becoming conformed to the image of his Son. The first things that come to mind are the things I listed yesterday that God wants me to do: to love, trust, follow, talk to, enjoy (rejoice!), and thank God; to love others and be gracious and generous to them; to love myself (properly), to die to myself daily, and to procrastinate procrastinating. But to stop there would be cheating. Here are a few other ideas: Love (and therefore Jesus) is patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, doesn’t dishonor others, is not self-seeking, is not easily angered, keeps no record of wrongs, does not delight in evil but rejoices wi

                      I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:10-11)   Today’s exercise dovetails nicely with a verse from two days ago. The challenge is to begin the next several mornings building the habit of asking God how He would like you to spend the day, and then to act on whatever directions you receive as you go through your day. I know people who have been told to “Turn left,” “go there,” or “talk to that person.” Such are quite possible. But it seems to me that when I ask God how he would like me to spend the day, the answers are different: Love Me Trust Me Follow Me Talk to Me Obey Me Thank Me Love others Be generous Be gracious Tell the truth Love yourself (properly) Enjoy (Rejoice!) Die to yourself And, as the day has gone on, another: Procrastinate procrastinating. Put Scripturally, it’s “Do not withhold good from those to whom i

                 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded . (James 4:8)   The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. (Psalm 145:18) Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast . (Psalm 139:7-10)   When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” (Genesis 28:16)   When and where do you feel close, or closest, to God? How do you feel at these times? These questions summarize the exercise for today. It’s suggested that we should keep a journal so that we can note what we notice quickly. But I know myself. I have to work today, and I have chores to do, and

                " Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find;  knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 6:33)   Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’ (Matthew 22:37) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13)   I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands . (Psalm 119:10)             So begins my first day of getting my life back. There’s lots of reading, meditation, work, exercise, and writing to be done, and as usual, I’m both looking forward to it and dreading it. I’m hoping for big, positive changes, and resisting them. One of my brilliant ideas of yesterday is to begin to work through some exercises in a study guide to Renovation of the Heart and the first one has to do with the idea that Christian spiritual formation is a two-party task. It requires both God’s grace and work o

                 All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”                He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.                The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.”  So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.  There he went into a cave and spent the night. (I Kings 19:5-9)   Today’s a sabbath day, and I’m taking a necessary break from Psalm 119 because today is also today. Yesterday was the end of my last 40-hour week at my job, at least for now. My full-time job has become a part-time job. I knew this day was coming and I’m celebrating because “I made it!” but it’s one of those artificial but significant changes in my life. Today is my time to be “fed by angels” in preparatio

                 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. (Psalm 119:10)   Heads. Tails. Two sides of a coin. I seek you with all of my heart. Do not let me stray from your commands. They sound like contradictions. I can and will do it myself. Do it for me. Arrogance and humility. So, what does “seeking with all our hearts” mean? First, it does not mean that our emotions are the key. In the language of the Bible, the heart is the seat of the will, the bowels are the seat of the emotions. This means that our seeking is not only done when we feel like it. It’s not only done when things are going our way. Sometimes, it is done in opposition to our feelings. Secondly, it does not mean that we are guaranteed success. Seeking does not equal finding – at least not in the next thirty seconds. Failure does not excuse us from continuing to seek. And what of the second part of the verse? Does God’s not letting us stray mean that we don’t need to seek? No. Do

                  How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word. (Psalm 119:9)   Purity has a bad reputation, and that’s probably because it’s not fun. It’s seen as saying no to all sorts of things that “no one in their right mind” would want to say no to. Sometimes, it requires us to say yes to things we want to say no to, but others insist that we say, “Yes.” Effectively, purity requires that we choose a way of looking at the universe and ourselves and sticking with it even when it’s not convenient or pleasant to do so. But C.S. Lewis’ claim comes to mind. He said that our problem is that we settle for other things instead of stretching ourselves to get what we truly long for. People like Tiger Woods also come to mind. They set their hearts of becoming something great, like a great golfer. And at first, he did all that was necessary, not letting other things get in the way. He became a great golfer. Then his game slipped because he sta

                 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me . (Psalm 119:8)   For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” (Galatians 3:10-11)   There’s a scene in Star Wars: A New Hope in which Luke shoots one of the imperials ships, and shouts to Han about it. Han responds with “Don’t get cocky.” That’s a good approximation of my reaction to “I will obey your decrees.” As I’ve listened to young folks with their dreams about how they “will get rich,” I think something similar. Mind you, I’ve been there, but now I’m old and while I may dream, I’m not brash enough to proclaim “I will…” Some people might think I’m being too hard on the psalmist, but when faced with a list of those commandments, those people usually fall back on “we live by gr

            I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws . (Psalm 119:7)   Learn is the first key word in this passage, at least today. The book I’ve been reading with my Sunday School class for the past 13 weeks is Renovation of the Heart . It’s all about learning, which involves gaining information and putting it to use. It’s not enough to read God’s righteous laws. It’s not even enough to memorize them. The whole point is to build them into our lives. And if we return to the ideas presented over the past few days, it makes perfect sense to praise God as we learn His righteous laws, because it is as we learn to live in the way we are designed to live, our lives must improve, even if our circumstances don’t. One reason for this is that when we understand how things are supposed to work, we’re better able to understand that something is wrong, and possibly what is wrong. The second key word in this passage is upright . How often do we praise with an u

You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed. Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees! Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.  (Psalm 119:4-6)           To play off of what I wrote yesterday about the blessing of opening doors the way they open, today’s passage is the way life tends to go, at least for some of us. We walk up to the door and push or pull, and nothing happens. We try again. We peer along the gap between the door and door frame, trying to see if the door is locked, and look all around, including at the store hours, wondering why the door won’t open. We try again before we finally see the instructions under the hours, or near the handle saying to do what we haven’t done and work with the laws of physics, pulling or pushing in the direction that will open the door. All the while, we are hoping that no one has seen us, but as nature would have it, we’re pretty sure that we’ve made it all the more obvious because our

                      Blessed are those who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart— they do no wrong  but follow his ways. (Psalm 119:2-3)   Have you ever tried to go somewhere north of you by refusing to travel north? Or to bake something by putting it in the refrigerator? How about opening a window you haven’t unlocked?  I’ve seen people insist on going up a down escalator. Here are two you probably have tried: pulling a door that says “push” or pushing a door that says “pull to open” and turning on an electrical device that isn’t plugged in. And then there’s the one I saw happened – messing with wires without turning off the circuit at the box. That’s a mistake I doubt he repeated (yes, he survived.) We’re back to the idea of keeping The Law, and the silliness of insisting that something work the way we want it when that’s not the way it’s designed to work. And we all do it, whether it’s whining about the fact that there are too many calories or carbs in that piece

            Blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord . (Psalm 119:1)   I was reminded yesterday morning of a “homework assignment” to read and meditate on a verse of Psalm 119 per day. Gulp. I don’t know if I’m going to make you suffer through that. Maybe a verse or two, depending on the text itself. The Law is the theme of the chapter, so it would be wise to begin by defining it. What is The Law ? For some, it’s the Ten Commandments. For others, it’s every single, itty, bitty, legal and cultural commandment ever mentioned in the Bible, taken out of context and slammed onto everyone. There are even some who have added hundreds of additional rules and regulations. Whenever I think of the Law, I think of the episode from West Wing in which the president nails an egotistical conservative woman with minutiae from the Law. For instance, should we refuse to eat pork or ham? Should we not eat shrimp? Should we wear clothing that is only made

                 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging... He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” (Psalm 46:1-3 &10)               “Where was God when…?”             It’s a question often asked when something bad happens because we expect that any real god would do something spectacular (or at least minorly spectacular) like parting the Red Sea or making our meager supply of cooking oil to last years. I’m as guilty as anyone in this regard. At the very least, we want God to show up “personally” so to speak, and not involving some agency like a human being or a building.             The truth is that God is in the disaster not destroying the world. He is with the rescue workers and volunteers that h

               Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)   One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:6-8     Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Castro, Dahmer, Vic, the Sandy Hook Shooter or any of his various clones, Depp, Heard, Trump, Obama, Biden, Weinstein, Putin, child molesters, hunters, those who abuse animals, human traffickers, drug dealers, pimps, gangs, Blacks, Whites, religionists, atheists, rich, poor, your parents, your siblings, your neighbors, the one who raped you (or someone you love), or killed someone

                      “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.   The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” (Matthew 7:24-27)   The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom. Though it cost all you have, get understanding . (Proverbs 4:7)   One of the bits of jargon I’ve been hearing lately is “single-use.” People are advocating against using any piece of plastic (or anything else) that is designed to be used and thrown away. It’s supposed to be thriftier and better for the environment, though they don’t seem to take into account the impact o