CHARIS SHALOM

I wrote the below back in 2007 and have found it is great to read it again and again.

Barry Austin, a YWAM Missionary of 40 years, shared with our group about ten “one anothers” found in scripture as he discussed the dynamics of relationships, and he noted there were many more in scripture. In light of my last post on commands that I seem to treat as suggestions, I thought it would be interesting to find all the “one anothers” in scripture. I was especially interested given my desire to see more unity in the Body of Christ, a topic I’ve written on frequently.

After you put all the one anothers together in one place it seems that the Christianity presented in the bible is on leave of absence – an LOA. I pray that we who follow Jesus will stop taking an LOA from our main job – being ambassadors of Christ - and start doing what we are told – to LOA, that is, to love one another.

Here’s the list of “one anothers,” all of which are part of our job description:

1. LOVE ONE ANOTHER John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

2. BE DEVOTED TO ONE ANOTHER Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.

3. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER Romans 12:16
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
(Notice that the context of the verse would imply that being proud and conceited is contrary to being harmonious.)

4. LOVE ONE ANOTHER Romans 13:8
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.

5. STOP PASSING JUDGMENT ON ONE ANOTHER Romans 14:13
Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother’s way.

6. TEACH ONE ANOTHER Romans 15:13-14
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I myself am convinced, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to instruct one another.

7. GREET ONE ANOTHER Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20; 2 Corinthians 13:12; 1 Peter 5:14
Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings. (This is one of those times that even the most literal of readers of scripture would suggest that the verse isn’t normative, but is cultural. To look at the principle behind the verse, or what it would be saying to the original author and reader, we can deduce that we should be friendly to one another. What is interesting to think about is how hard it is to get close enough to kiss anyone we are at odds with. If you think of the worst church or family battle you have ever been in, and then thought about greeting someone who opposed you with a holy kiss, you can quickly see that there is something wrong in the battle itself.)

8. AGREE WITH ONE ANOTHER 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? . . . For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

9. SERVE ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE Galatians 5:13
You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.

10. BE HUMBLE AND GENTLE AND BEAR WITH ONE ANOTHER Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

11. BE KIND AND COMPASSIONATE TO ONE ANOTHER – FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

12. SPEAK AND SING TO ONE ANOTHER Ephesians 5:19
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord,

13. SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER Ephesians 5:21
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

14. BEAR WITH AND FORGIVE ONE ANOTHER Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

15. TEACH AND ADMONISH ONE ANOTHER Colossians 3:16
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

16. ENCOURAGE AND EDIFY ONE ANOTHER 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

17. SUBMIT, DON’T SLANDER, BE PEACEABLE AND CONSIDERATE, AND SHOW TRUE HUMILITY TO ONE ANOTHER Titus 1:1-2

18. DEVOTE YOURSELF TO DOING GOOD TO ONE ANOTHER – Titus 1:8
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

19. AVOID ARGUING AND QUARRELING ABOUT THE LAW WITH ONE ANOTHER – Titus 1:9-11
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him. You may be sure that such a man is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

20. ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER Hebrews 3:13
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.

21. SPUR ONE ANOTHER ON TO LOVE AND GOOD WORKS Hebrews 10:24
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

22. MEET WITH AND ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER Hebrews 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

23. DO NOT SLANDER AND SPEAK AGAINST ONE ANOTHER James 4:11
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it.

24. LOVE ONE ANOTHER 1 Peter 1:22
Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

25. LIVE IN HARMONY WITH ONE ANOTHER, BEING SYMPATHETIC, LOVING, COMPASSIONATE AND HUMBLE 1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.

26. OFFER HOSPITALITY TO ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT GRUMBLING 1 Peter 4:9
Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

27. CLOTHE YOURSELVES WITH HUMILITY TOWARD ONE ANOTHER 1 Peter 5:5
Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”

28. FELLOWSHIP WITH ONE ANOTHER (by walking in the light) 1 John 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

29. LOVE ONE ANOTHER, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, LOVE ONE ANOTHER, LOVE ONE ANOTHER…. 1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:23; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 4:11-12; 2 John 1:5

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another.

It seems to me that if we started trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts and obeying these commands, we might just see God’s Kingdom come and His will being done. We might just see people believe the good news, as he prayed in John 17. We might just see people catching on to God’s love like never before.

My wife noted that it is hard to do many of these things if you aren’t willing to talk. It is also hard to do many of these things if your motives are to prove you are right and others are wrong. It is also very hard to do these things when we harbor anger in our hearts. And, when I think back to experiences I’ve had in church or in my family with fights and divisions, I realize that I was completely disobedient in all of these things. Given the environment one sees in many denominations these days, or just the fact that there are so many denominations in what is supposedly one Body in Christ, it sure makes me wonder whether those who are supposed to be representing Christ are on leave of absence…

This week our family is blessed to be a part of Grace Family Bible Week. A small church in Morval, England sponsors this week of celebration in Jesus Christ on their lovely grounds, just two miles from the English Channel. Hundreds of people from across England attend, many camping out for the entire week. John Gillespie, the pastor, leads the week, teaching each night at 7:30 p.m.

This year’s theme is “For Such a Time as This,” straight from the book of Esther. John has pointed consistently to the Providence of God, noting that Providence is how God moves in the daily, even dull humdrum of life. But as we come alive to the reality of how God works each day, “hallowing the humdrum and glorifying the grind,” we can come alive, celebrating the reality of God’s great power and love for us. Whereas we may feel like most days “begin with a yawn and end with a sigh,” the presence of our loving creator awakens us to a life of joy and celebration. “If God can work when times are at their worst, like in the days of Esther, how much more can we know that He is working today, after the Cross.”

So many in America only hear that the church in England is nearly dead, but I can testify that here in this one corner of Cornwall there is a church seeking to glorify the Lord in all that it does. Its ministry is reaching families and other pastors across England, encouraging many to persevere and see revival in this country. Please join John Gillespie, his family and church in praying for England, that it will be awakened again to the freedom they can find in Christ. And pray for laborers to be raised up in England, and to come to England, to serve this great country in the love of the Father.

It’s interesting. We spend a lot of time and effort considering what we are called to. Am I called to be a pastor? Am I called to be a doctor? Am I called to work in Chicago? Am I called to Africa? And, often, whatever we begin to believe we are called to becomes the thing that consumes most of our time. We will spend 50 hours a week at a job site and additional time commuting to it, thinking about it, and using our blackberries or iPhones answering messages and texts related to it.

Meanwhile, those of us who call ourselves Christians, or followers of Jesus, will say that our priorities are God first, family second, and then our jobs. But our lives will involve at least 50-70 hours a week around our job, 50 hours a week of sleeping, and then we might have a little time after our hobbies, commutes, eating and whatever else we do to spend time talking with, and listening to, our family and God.

Micah 6:8 tells us what God requires of us. In other words, that little verse in the middle of a rarely read minor prophet tells us what should be a focus of our lives. It says we are to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. We busy ourselves with amassing personal fortunes, making sure we have a robust retirement, yet God simply asks that we focus on relationships. We are to see that people are treated justly and that those who are in need receive mercy. He says to remember who we are, His created sons and daughters, and walk humbly with Him. Jesus reminds us that the most important commands are to love Him and love others. Everything God asks of us involves relationships and people, not things and occupations.

So, perhaps we have much of our lives upside down. Those things that consume our time and pull us away from relationship should diminish. Whatever enables and facilitates family and relationship should increase. And, whereas God often says much about how we are to love one another generally, he also specifically tells husbands to love their wives and wives to respect their husbands. He tells us over and over to raise up godly children by teaching them the Word. He tells us that those who would be leaders in the Church must be men and women whose children are believers and of good character.

It seems to me we should spend less time worrying about a specific call to any one job or place and much more time ensuring that we are looking after our call to be husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and brothers or sisters. We should make sure that our lives demonstrate a priority toward relationship and working justice throughout our community and world.

I can say without any doubt that I am Bryan Riley, called to be the husband of Tara Riley, and called to be the daddy to Tanner, Keaton and Regan and any other children with which I am blessed. If the other things I spend my time on in some way defeat my ability to fulfill those callings, I should put those things away.

Catherine Greene, a friend and an excellent creative thinker who makes films at the University of the Nations, wrote and directed this original short film. I was honored to play a role in it and hope you enjoy it!

I discovered this hidden gem in Zechariah 10:7:

The Ephraimites will become like mighty men, and their hearts will be glad as with wine. Their children will see it and be joyful; their hearts will rejoice in the Lord.

In short, when a father is glad, his children will be filled with joy and will rejoice in God. Although it doesn’t say it in this verse, I’m certain from experience that the converse is also true. When I am depressed, my children hurt, too.

We dads need to remember that our calling is to be husbands and fathers long before we are called to let anything else impair our ability to perfect the callings of family.

In March of 2007 we readied ourselves for the adventure of a lifetime. We were leaving pretty much everything we knew to head to the United Kingdom for a six-month training course for missions. We had long flights in front of us and we were going to a place and culture we had never before been – The King’s Lodge in Nuneaton, England, a small working man’s town in the center of England.

As my wife, Tara, boarded the flight from New Jersey to Birmingham, England, she whispered a quick prayer that she would meet someone who would become a lasting relationship. Of course, as we were travelling with a 3-, 5- and 8- year old, that prayer quickly got lost in the shuffle of situating, settling, and satisfying our three kids. As Tara would now say, she didn’t even really notice the 70+ year old man sitting between the window and our then 3-year old daughter, Regan.

When you travel with young children and have flights that last more than five hours you always hope that your seat mates are the types that appreciate children. But, instead of having the appearance of being a grandmotherly or babysitter type, David seemed not excited at the prospect of a tired three-year old companion.

So, even though Tara had already forgotten her quick prayer, God had not. And, somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean, a relationship was being forged, the conversation beginning with the apologies of a tired mommy for the squirming of Regan who seemed unable to keep from bumping David.

Over the next two years, we spent many days and hours with David. He helped us wade through the English culture, which surprised us because it was so different from our own. He even came to The King’s Lodge to see us graduate from our Discipleship Training School. We visited Shakespeare’s birthplace and learned so many things about British culture from David. He was very proud of his country, and he loved teaching us everything from how to read street signs to the history of the railway in England. He loved trains and had visited train stations all over the world. He even took us to ride on one of the remaining steam engines.

David was truly a gentleman. He never fully embraced our children, but he was a man who had never had children of his own and even his one living relative, his brother, had also never had children. His wife was an invalid. Even though he didn’t know how to relate to our kids, we loved him and he loved us and he definitely warmed to the kids’ charms over time.

In the course of our relationship we learned that David seriously doubted that any “god” could allow the hate that causes things like the Crusades and the battles between the Catholics and the Protestants across Ireland and even in his country. His family had been French Huegenots and had suffered horrible violence from Catholics. So, we spent many hours talking about God and His love for a rebellious people. I don’t know if he ever resolved his personal doubts, but I know we shared tears together in those conversations.

We only recently learned of David’s death last November 25th. He never had internet in his home and would often travel to his local library to read this blog. He didn’t use email and we only communicated by written letter (post) or over the phone. It was when we called him on his birthday and discovered that the phone had been disconnected that we wrote and asked for a reply from anyone who received the letter. Shortly after that an attorney wrote to inform us of the news.

We miss David. And we looked forward to seeing him again during this trip to the UK. I hope he met God in his final days. His battle against cancer ended his life on this earth, but may his life continue on in the warmth of God’s love forever. He was truly a lovely man and a wonderful friend. I hope to see him again some day.

I wonder how often these types of thoughts pass through minds:

I really hate this job. Does it really matter? What good am I doing in the world?

***

I can’t change jobs. I’d have to go back to school. Who would hire me? I don’t know what I want to do.

***

She never respects my decisions. She doesn’t really care about me. But I’m stuck.

***

I have no idea what I want to do. How am I supposed to pick a major? I can’t even decide what I want to eat for dinner.

Thoughts of hopelessness. The feeling that you are trapped. The belief that you have no choices. While those exact words may not go through you head, do you have repeated patterns of thought that reflect the belief that you are imprisoned in your life?

Riches.

They can be lost. Proof? Look at what the “economic collapse” of recent months and years has done to some portfolios.

Homes.

They can be lost. To fire. To bankruptcy. To divorce.

Jobs.

They can be lost. Businesses fail. Layoffs happen. People make mistakes and get fired.

TV Shows.

They can be Lost and come to an end.

Even though all of these things can be lost, we often give them a higher priority than the things we have that can never be lost. And, as a result, we nearly lose the “un-loseable” – or, at least, we ruin it.

When I have a child, I become a dad and I have a son or a daughter. A child who becomes my son will always be my son. No matter what happens, and no matter how lousy of a dad I am, I will always be that son’s daddy and he will always be my son. Even after my time on this earth is done, I will still be that son’s daddy.

It seems that we should truly invest into the things we cannot lose. If you knew that a stock was a 100% sure thing – that it would never lose value and only increase in value – wouldn’t you put a lot into it? Wouldn’t the same be true for a business? A job?

Well, let’s take that mentality to our families and children. It is totally up to us to increase our family’s “value” and beauty, but no matter what we do we will always have it. It only makes sense to put more of our time and effort into being a dad than it does into a job, a home, a hobby, or a business.

In fact, it seems to show how lost we are when we don’t make being a dad or mom a priority over such things as jobs and hobbies. Some might even say we are “losing it” to make such bad investments of our lives.

We are trillions in debt. Every day the networks accost us with news of potential economic calamity.

Countries are torn with war, terrorism, and other forms of violence.

Some people are addicted to drugs and alcohol, which often leads to more bad decisions and deeper debt or poverty. Often the people who suffer the most from addictions are the children of those who are addicted. And ultimately those children often face similar decisions regarding addictive substances. It’s a tragic cycle that needs to be broken.

Government offers itself as an answer to many of these problems. Ironically, the answer often involves more violence.

And the way to participate in government? Raise millions of dollars to run expensive campaigns to get elected and then continue to raise millions of dollars from people who have expectations of what their donations will accomplish. The majority of this money then gets spent by the campaigner and goes to broadcasting companies, advertising executives, and political thinkers.

Who gives money? Those with money. Who gets the money? Those with money.

What happens to the impoverished addict? The homeless children? Those who have no money and little hope of having money? Even if the government offers them small pittance of money, what does it offer in the way of solutions for their addictive behaviors?

This isn’t an attack on Republicans or Democrats, as they are equally opportunistic in this fashion, but I just saw this article about a fundraiser for Senator Barbara Boxer in California, with President Obama, where the entry fee was $17,600. For that money, the guests ate caviar and quail eggs, kobe beef ribs, and buckwheat crepes with almond ice cream.

That single meal’s cost was more than what many individuals live in a year – even in America. It’s over 100 times more than what many individuals live on in other countries. In fact, according to the Global Rich List $17,600 as an annual income makes an individual richer than 89% of the world. If you took $17,600 as a daily income (given the fact the donors could spend this on a single meal), then you would qualify as richer than all but .001% of the world.

According to the Global Rich List just $2400 could buy schooling for an entire GENERATION of school children in an Angolan village.

Anyway, setting all that aside, I guess I’m concerned we’ve lost our way. The American political system clearly isn’t designed to solve the problems of poverty, addiction, discipline, or conflict. And how many $1000 or $17,600 dinners will it take for an average citizen to stand up and say “Enough.” And I don’t just mean American citizen. I mean any one of us anywhere. It should break our heart than any human being, created in God’s image, anywhere in the world dies today because they have no food. Besides, thinking of a few privileged individuals eating caviar costing more money than it would take to educate or feed an entire Angolan village doesn’t just give me a heart ache – it gives me a tummy ache, too.

I never tire of thinking about the Lord’s prayer. There are so many things about it that are remarkable, and I was just now thinking about two of those and thought I’d jot them down here.

First, the prayer is short (which is also why I would like to keep this post short). In just a few words (59 in the original language), Jesus provides them the “manner” to pray. I’ve already exceeded 59 words here.

I know I pray all too little (meaning that I all too often just do things without walking by faith and dependence on God), but given Jesus’ brevity, I have to think that I should spend more time listening to God and less time talking to Him (or just to myself).

Second, the entire prayer is prayed in the plural first voice. “Our Father,” “our daily bread,” “deliver us….” The prayer directs us to our community of faith. The prayer walks in the reality of the Church and not the individual. I’ve always felt a bit funny that one of the key points of the prayer was for daily food when I’ve never truly lacked it, but if I instead begin looking for the daily bread of the entire body (and giving myself to being the answer to that prayer), my prayers will begin to change me (and hopefully change the level of hunger in this world).

Enough. Selah. Amen. Shalom.

God is.

God created and creates.

God created you and me.

God designed each one of us.

God knows exactly how each one of us works. He knows what fuel we need, what fulfills us, and how we can operate at our optimum efficiency. Just as the maker of a computer knows exactly what is good or bad for his creation, so God knows how to keep our bodies, souls, and minds purring.

Here’s one of the places where He tells us how to live:

12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:12-17

Those scriptures were read at my wedding. And, what I realize even more today than I did then, is that I am called to these things. If what I am doing is compassionate, then it is right. If what I am doing is kind, then it is good. If what I am doing is loving, then I am whole and will be perfect just as my Father is perfect. If the things I do and how I live is not loving, humble, kind, patient, gentle, and compassionate, then I am not doing the right things and my body, my heart, my soul, my mind will all suffer for it. Not only will I hurt others, but I will be doing something that is unloving to myself.

I was built by a loving Creator to be loving. I was designed to live humbly and to do acts of kindness gently. When I fail to be patient, I not only hurt my creator, but I also hurt others and myself. Oh that I might live as God designed me to live!

Oh to have the heart of simplicity and passionate love for God that leads this to be my prayer!

“[T]he proof of your spiritual maturity is not how ‘pure’ you are but awareness of your impurity. The very awareness opens the door to grace.”

“The spiritual games we play, many of which begin with the best of motives, can perversely lead us away from God, because they lead us away from grace. Repentance, not proper behavior or even holiness, is the doorway to grace. And the opposite of sin is grace, not virtue.”

(Excerpts taken from “What’s So Amazing About Grace?“)

Some of these words seems shocking, especially to one like myself who grew up feasting on the diet of legalism. But the more I realize the truth of being poor in spirit, that my righteousness is still like soiled diapers before God’s, and that I cannot earn my place with God (rather He must give it to me by His grace), the more I truly live. I can’t do this thing called eternal life, but I can rest in the grace of my heavenly Father and receive it.

Mmmmm, that fruit sure looks good.

I think I will take a bite. And I’d also love to give some to you. I understand why Eve wanted to share.

I don’t know what God was thinking, putting that tree’s fruit off limits. I mean, just look at its fruit! They are huge and juicy, the kind of fruit that just melts in your mouth and runs down your chin onto your shirt.

The fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil begs to be eaten, daring us to judge and compare one another.

I was driving out of a parking lot yesterday and I saw two men sitting at a table smoking. Neither looked very clean or healthy and I thought to myself, “Why are you smoking?”

In about two seconds God spoke many things to me. He is definitely capable of communicating more information than I can process.

First, God pointed out the irony of the situation. I was driving out of a parking lot with my knees holding onto the steering wheel while I spooned frozen yogurt into my mouth, frozen yogurt mixed with Reese’s, pecans, and M&Ms. I might be quick to think poorly of a cigarette habit, but never mind the way I use chocolate and ice cream as comfort.

Then, He got really serious. As I argued a bit about the habit and addictive issue of nicotine and its destructive nature to one’s health, he revealed something to me. Addictions aren’t always just an addiction to an action; addictions can also involve avoidance or inaction.

What do I mean? Well, I realized I am currently addicted to avoiding exercise. I may not smoke, but I also don’t exercise regularly. I may not have a drug addiction, but I also don’t find myself fasting and praying regularly.

Wow. Judge not lest ye be judged. That is where I found myself yesterday at 2:00 p.m. with a frozen yogurt treat in my hand.

I just thought I’d share.

He loves me.

Why? How? Doesn’t He know? Of course He knows…

He loves me still.

Knowing my whoring after all sorts of other gods, not the least of which is me, He died for me.

He hearts me. His heart burst for me. And I can now live because He purifies my heart and tabernacles in my heart.

Amazing grace.

Unfailing love.

Brokenness.

Unleashed to live. To love. To know love. To be love. To live love. To live loved. Love.

As I fell asleep last night I had the sense that God was revealing something to me about prayer. I’ve written many times about prayer and about hearing His voice. Some of those writings can be found by clicking here.

Here is what I’m thinking. And understand, I’m just thinking out loud and I am not saying this is all gospel truth. But I think prayer is hearing God’s voice and speaking it out.

That’s it.

Prayer is hearing God’s voice and speaking it out by faith.

Prayer is not telling God what to do.

Here’s what I mean. When we are sensitive to His Spirit, His voice, we then can pray in His name and see our prayers answered.

Let me share a story from Tara’s life to illustrate this.

We left our “normal” American lives in 2006 and came to volunteer at the world’s largest Youth With A Mission base, the University of the Nations Kona. YWAM teaches that we can hear God’s voice. Having Southern Baptist backgrounds this language was very new to us. And, for Tara, it was a hard pill to swallow.

One day she found herself having a quiet time with the Lord at the ocean’s shore. As she breathed in the ocean spray and her heart was moved by the rhythm of the waves, she had a righteous anger rising in her. She cried out to the Lord “If you really speak, then how would I know it?”

At that very moment, she heard what she thought was a huge truck coming right at her. She looked around and then the ground started moving. It was 7:07 a.m. on October 15, 2006. At that moment a 6.9 earthquake struck Kona and rumbled for nearly a minute.

Now, did she make the earthquake happen?

Or did God answer her prayer (and her prayer alone) and decide the way to answer it was to shake the earth tremendously, affecting thousands of people?

Here’s what I think happened. She was asking God to help her hear His voice. He answered that prayer by giving her that prayer right at the moment He was about to shake the earth in Kona so that she could see that she, by faith, could hear His voice and speak it out. Her prayer was changing her and giving her faith to hear His voice.

Let’s imagine some other examples. Sometimes people pray and another person is healed of an illness. Sometimes someone prays and a person is not healed of an illness. The mystery of this often challenges the faith of those praying and the ones being prayed for. We don’t always see what the Lord is doing and it makes it difficult to understand.

What if one part of what is happening is that when a visible, physical healing happens it is simply what God was doing in His divine plan and will. And, He was speaking out that creative act. The one praying in His will heard that spoken word and joined in it. The one praying spoke it out, too, with God. As the two spoke together, it was done. And, ultimately, the one changed was the one praying, because the one praying had the faith to speak out what they he or she was hearing from the Lord.

I don’t know. God’s ways are great mysteries. They are higher than my own. And who am I to describe the indescribable? But I just wonder if praying in God’s name – or praying in His will – or hearing His voice and following it – is simply praying the very words He is praying. Think about what Jesus said in John 12:44-50:

Then Jesus cried out, “When a man believes in me, he does not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When he looks at me, he sees the one who sent me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

“As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”

This is why, I believe, we need to be listening for God’s voice constantly, making every step and breath a prayer and, by faith, aligning our very thoughts and heartbeat with the thoughts and heartbeat of the Father. We must speak out only what He is speaking. In that place we will see heaven rent and God here – His Kingdom will come through us to earth. And in that place we will be eternally changed.

I find I magnify myself and my problems to the point where God seems small or nonexistent in my life. I will get caught up in the fact that I was prideful or got upset because someone else is succeeding. Or I will dwell on my fleshy desires and the times I notice that someone is attractive. I will see where I haven’t accomplished all my God-given hopes and dreams and feel frustrated. And the more I live in that place I find it more and more difficult to rest in the Lord. Even when I’m no longer struggling any specific sin or failure I’m grieving, I enter into a place of fixing my eyes on me rather than on Jesus.

This isn’t a new problem or something that I face alone. One of the oldest Psalms written, Psalm 90, expresses so well this age-old-walk-down-the-idolatry-of-self road. Listen carefully to the wisdom God gave Moses as He prayed.

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.”

4 For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death;
they are like the new grass of the morning-

6 though in the morning it springs up new,
by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.

8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.

9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.

10 The length of our days is seventy years—
or eighty, if we have the strength;
yet their span is but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.

11 Who knows the power of your anger?
For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.

12 Teach us to number our days aright,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.

14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.

16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

I love that. Yes, Lord, in spite of my frailties, may Your favor rest upon me and I beg ofyou to establish the work of my hands. Without You I accomplish nothing. There truly is nothing new under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9.

Do you ever really struggle with the immensity of God’s grace and the magnitude of your own lack of love and depravity? I mean really struggle. I think of Paul, crying out, when will I be delivered from this body of death? Romans 7:24. Those things I want to do I don’t do and the things I don’t want to do I do. Romans 7:15-16.

Just tonight Regan told Tara that she didn’t feel loved enough. Why? Two very specific things her brothers had said. They were small things, and I’m sure neither brother really thought that the words were a big deal and didn’t mean them to be hurtful. But, for Regan, she clung to them like 50-pound bags of flour, weighing down her heart and soul to the point where she felt like her best friends, her brothers, didn’t like or love her. Added to her feelings of failure, it was more than she could take. She understands that she doesn’t always do the right thing and she understands how deeply she needs love.

Paul understood. I’m learning it more and more every day. From that place of brokenness He prayed time and time again for the young followers of Jesus that they would grow in their knowledge of the heighth and the depth and the width and breadth of God’s love. Ephesians 3:14-21.

We need to face the fact we are all broken. Will Campbell, when asked by an atheist journalist to summarize the Christian message in ten words or less, said, “We’re all bastards but God loves us anyway.” (Taken from Philip Yancey’s book “What’s So Amazing About Grace?”) But it doesn’t end there; no, we need not focus forever on our own limitations. Instead, we can fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who finished the work on the Cross, and begin the journey of learning about His great love. Hebrews 12:1-2.

It isn’t an overnight thing. We must struggle, working out our salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12. Learning to forgive as we have been forgiven. Matthew 6:14-15. Rejecting the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – that yummy and great looking fruit Judgment – and choosing the free gift of Grace God gives. Matthew 7:1-5. Struggling isn’t easy. And the thief will come along to trip us up with every step we make forward. John 10:10. And we’ll want to point at others who also trip up to justify ourselves, rather than constantly encouraging one another on in love and good works. Nevertheless, let’s not give up the fight, no matter where we’ve been or where we find ourselves. The Cross has won the war, all we must do is keep our eyes trained there. Jesus has an easy yoke ever ready whenever we stop trying to carry our own. Matthew 11:28-30.

I just received a link to the following email from Guy Muse, my missionary friend from Ecuador. Just as he thought it worth sharing, so did I.

…from an email received from John White (Denver, CO)…

I first learned the word “prevenience” from Eugene Peterson in his book “The Contemplative Pastor”. I was struck by what he had to say because it was immediately obvious to me that he was right. However, it was exactly the opposite of what I had been taught.

I knew how to be proactive. I knew how to “run the church” and get things done. I knew how to “make it happen”. I had a lot of unlearning to do (I’m a recovering control addict).

Here’s what Peterson has to say (with a few of John’s comments in italics):

“In running the church (or the house church), I seize the initiative. I take charge. I take responsibility for motivation and recruitment, for showing the way, for getting things started. If I don’t, things drift. I am aware of the tendency to apathy, the human susceptibility to indolence, and I use my leadership to counter it. (Isn’t that what we have been taught that leadership is? If it isn’t this, what is it?)

By contrast, the cure of souls (he means here the true work of a pastor or leader of a church as an organism) is a cultivated awareness that God has already seized the initiative. The traditional doctrine defining this truth is prevenience: God everywhere and always seizing the initiative. He gets thing going. He had and continues to have the first word. Prevenience is the conviction that God has been working diligently, redemptively, and strategically before I appeared on the scene, before I was aware there was something here for me to do.

…there is a disciplined, determined conviction that everything (and I mean, precisely everything) we do is a response to God’s first work, his initiating act. We learn to be attentive to the divine action already in process so that the previously unheard word of God is heard, the previously unattended act of God is noticed?

What has God been doing here?
What traces of grace can I discern in this life?
What history of love can I read in this group?
What has God set in motion that I can get in on?”

I call these “the prevenience questions”. Learning to ask/answer these questions is the starting place for the church each time she meets. This is the “prevenience model” of church.

With apologies to Steven Covey, we Christians were never called to be “proactive”. We are called to be “reactive” to God. (Or, perhaps “responsive” to God is better.)

I’ve had a very difficult time posting much of anything lately. I don’t seem to be much of a blogger anymore. Perhaps it is just a phase, but I haven’t made time or had much inspiration in a while. I am having fun with some artistic release as Moonface Martin in “Anything Goes” at the Aloha Performing Arts Center. I suppose that is where my blogging goes.

Someone showed me a great poem recently, however, and it communicated very well some of what God has been showing me about fear, love, power, and self-control. For a glimpse into that you can read a simple, but favorite, bible verse at 2 Timothy 1:7. For God does not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control.

The poem is authored by Joy Harjo, a Native American poet, writer, and musical artist of Cherokee descent. Enjoy.

I Give You Back
By Joy Harjo

I release you, my beautiful and terrible fear.
I release you.
You were my beloved and hated twin, but now, I don’t know you as myself.
I release you with all the pain I would know at the death of my daughters.

You are not my blood anymore.

I give you back to the white soldiers who burned down my home, beheaded my children, raped and sodomized my brothers and sisters.

I give you back to those who stole the food from our plates when we were starving.

I release you, fear, because you hold these scenes in front of me and I was born with eyes that can never close.

I release you, fear, so you can no longer keep me naked and frozen in the winter, or smothered under blankets in the summer.

I release you I release you I release you I release you

I am not afraid to be angry.
I am not afraid to rejoice.
I am not afraid to be black
I am not afraid to be white.
I am not afraid to be hungry.
I am not afraid to be full.
I am not afraid to be hated.
I am not afraid to be loved,
to be loved, to be loved, fear.

Oh, you have choked me, but I gave you the leash.
You have gutted me but I gave you the knife.
You have devoured me, but I laid myself across the fire.

I take myself back, fear.
You are not my shadow any longer.
I won’t hold you in my hands.
You can’t live in my eyes, my ears, my voice my belly, or in my heart
my heart my heart my heart.

But come here, fear.
I am alive and you are so afraid of dying.