The "P" Word... Perserverance

It had been a month really, since I'd laced up my shoes and headed out for a walk.  It felt good at first - stretching my legs, breathing deeply.  That first hill always gets me though.

Before I rounded the corner, I felt the familiar twinge of tendonitis.  That was quickly followed by another twinge... complaint. 

"Why Lord?" 

My thoughts quickly questioned why it must be so hard... painful... when all I was trying to do was to take good care of my body. 

"I'm trying to be a good steward of my body, Lord.  Why is it so hard, so painful?" (Said in a whiny voice)

Stopping to stretch, I quieted my grumblings.  "What is true?" 

James says to consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of various kinds.  Why?  Because the testing of our faith produces endurance.  And really, isn't that the mark of a believer?  One who will persevere? 

How can I know this and forget it so quickly?

Everything in me wanted to turn around and head home.  But maybe, if I pressed on - things would loosen up and feel better.  Could that happen?  Quitting surely wouldn't help.  And so, I hobbled down the road.  Really.  I hobbled.  It wasn't pretty.  I wonder how many people thought I was trying to push their trees down, as I pressed against them to stretch!?  

Two miles can feel like a VERY long time.  BUT - coming down the last stretch, something changed.  My attitude? 

How often is this my approach?  To shrink back and complain as soon as life becomes difficult?  I feel so American.  So entitled in my attitude.  As if - somehow I've graduated to Easy-ville and it is an offense to my very being to be faced with something difficult.

In 2 Peter there is a list of building blocks... items we are to be adding to our faith.  Most commentaries agree - these virtues build on one another.  And therein may lie the issue... because in v. 6 added to knowledge is self-control and then perseverance.

Knowledge. Check.

Self-control. Ummm, not so "check".

Is it a wonder that perseverance seems to be lacking?

And not to rationalize this issue away - but have you ever noticed that when you are tired, this all gets more difficult?  The attacks come harder and faster?

And yet - as saints, we are called to persevere.  

One thing that helps?  Set your mind on things above.

Have you ever noticed... Perseverance seems to be linked to perspective?

God. ~ His character.  His majesty.  His patience, glory, love.  Thinking about what He has done for me... a wretch like me.  Praising Him for what He hasn't required of me...

Christ. ~ The One who bore the wrath I deserved.  The One who left the magnificent presence of God the Father to bear the punishment of my sin.

Suddenly - a gimpy tendon - doesn't seem like such a big deal.

Writing in community today @a holy experience on the Practice of Habits.

DIY Scripture & Prayer Journals

Journaling is one of my favorite ways to express myself and to meditate on Scripture and pray.  Over the years, I've been given numerous journals (all filled) - and I have used a ton of notebooks (spiral, etc). 

To encourage others in the discipline of journaling, I put together these fun journals.  In case you'd like to make your own - here is a quick tutorial, and a link to the labels.

1. Buy some Composition notebooks.  Right now is a great time, with all the back to school sales. 

2.  Click here to download a pdf of the labels.  I print this on colored cardstock. 

3.  Cut and paste!

4. Center and stick over "composition" area.

And there you have it!  Super easy and cute Scripture and prayer journals.

The All-Good

Have you ever notice that God is "good" when things are going our way, and we question His goodness, when things haven't gone according to plan... ahem... our plan. 

I've been thinking about this alot lately... spurred on by Ann VosKamp's amazing book One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are. I've been following her lead, and looking for His goodness in every situation... and you know what?  It's getting easier to find... I have always loved sleuthing (brought about my early infatuation with Nancy Drew and Trixie Beldon, I'm sure) - but this sleuthing is more rewarding.

These glimpses of glory found in the strangest of places... seeing His goodness despite what looks "bad" to me... trusting Him to sort out the details.

My Abba is good to reinforce this lesson... even today at lunch, as I pulled out The Valley of Vision, a collection of Puritan prayers, (spurred on by a recent link to a prayer guide for this book) - the prayer was entitled, The All-Good.  Allow me to share a few tastes of this delicious morsel:

Thou art all my good in times of peace,

my only support in days of trouble,

my one sufficiency when life shall end.

Help me to see how good Thy will is in all,

and even when it crosses mine

teach me to be pleased with it...

Thou bottomless fountain of all good,

I give myself to Thee out of love,

for all I have or own is thine,

my goods, family, church, self,

to do with as Thou wilt,

to honour Thyself by me, and by all mine.

If it be consistent with Thy eternal counsels,

the purpose of Thy grace,

and the great ends of Thy glory,

then bestow upon me the blessings of Thy comforts;

If not,let me resign myself to Thy wiser determinations.

That is manna... sent down from heaven to feast upon! 

Is something missing?

Do you feel that?  The empty spot that aches to be filled?  With what do you try to fill it?  When it gnaws like an empty belly, what do you turn to for satisfaction?

In the wee hours of the morning, I lay pondering choices made - and why a daughter of the Kind would settle for cheap imitation...  when I have access to the riches of the Most High King...  What is it that could allure Eve to settle for the one fruit God had forbidden, when she had access to the rest of the garden? 

O Foolish Heart!  Why are you so quick to choose the lesser thing?  IN the still of the night, I heard His voice... the One who created me... Who formed me and knows everything about me...

"Precious daughter - I bought you with a price - and expensive and precious price - My Son.  Do not settle for satisfaction from cheap imitations.  That empty spot you seek to fill from so many sources was designed for ME.  Seek ME first.  I know your every need - your deepest longings.  Trust ME.  I along can fill that aching void - not food, not pleasure, not people.  You can try to numb it away or stuff it full of substitutes - but the pains will only increase.  My child, come rest in ME."

Grace perplexes this performance-weary child.  How can He love me after these foolish choices?  And yet - Amazing Grace!  Like the Apostle Paul - I do not do the things I want to do - and am lured to do those things I don't want to do...  like a dog returning to eat its own vomit, while a bowl of top rate canine delights goes untouched. 

In his book, Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, C.S. Lewis describes how we are often "like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."  How often have I settled for mud pies because I was too impatient?  The journey seemed too long or too hard...  such foolishness!

If I really understood the value and the preciousness of the gift - would I not press on toward it?  Would not the counterfeit lose its attractiveness? 

O restless soul, stop with the junk already!  Father - help me to hear and obey Your voice.. to wait on Your provision; Your plan; to trust You to fill the longings of my heart! 

Are YoU in the WaiTinG RoOm of Life?

Reposting from GirlTalk...

"Waiting on God isn't about the suspension of meaning and purpose. It's part of the meaning and purpose that God has brought into my life.  Waiting on God isn't to be viewed as an obstruction in the way of the plan.  Waiting is an essential part of the plan. For the child of God, waiting isn't simply about what I'll receive at the end of my wait.  No, waiting is much more purposeful, efficient, and practical than that. Waiting is fundamentally about what I'll become as I wait.  God is using the wait to do in and through me exactly what He's promised. Through the wait He's changing me.  By means of the wait He's altering the fabric of my thoughts and desires.  Through the wait He's causing me to see and experience new things about Him and His kingdom.  And all of this sharpens me, enabling me to be a more useful tool in His redemptive hands" (emphasis mine).  Paul Tripp

What do you think on?

I have been learning much from my sister in Christ, Ann Voskamp...  it started when my friend Jennifer started guest blogging at Ann's blog, A Holy Experience.  Jennifer introduced me to Ann's book, One Thousand Gifts, which has been an amazing journey into grace for me... 

Today, Ann has posted about her late mother-in-law's Scripture memory... it is a sweet story - but also a great challenge...  the title is "Maybe the Most Important Thing You Can Do for Your Faith".  Click the link and see what she has to say - and you can also link to several great resources.

Soul Metabolism

It doesn't take long in the diet and exercise world to hear someone mention your metabolism.  Theories abound, but the general idea is that the higher it is, the better you burn calories and the faster you lose weight. 

In my recent adventure as a "Biggest Loser", we learned many tips and ideas to rev up our metabolism.  The two main items were:
     1) Exercise to build more muscle
     2) Eat smaller, balanced meals on a more frequent basis

Recently, I was talking with a friend who has four children and lives on a farm with 4 horses, 3 dogs, 3 cats and 2 dozen or more chickens.  You may not have a full appreciation of the work involved in that scenario, but I know from experience that there is little time for rest on a farm.  And that's without four kids!

Since I hear from women on a regular basis how they just don't have time to fit in a quiet time, I asked my farm friend how she fits it in... I mean, if anyone were to have an excuse, it would be her!  Already, I'd seen the basket of books in the bathroom... devotionals with bits of wisdom and glory - but surely she was feeding on more than that!

Sure enough - like our plan to keep our metabolism moving, my farm sister practices multiple spiritual feedings in a day.  She may not have time to sit down and gorge on a feast, but a devotion in the morning; a sermon or Scripture on CD mid day; radio Bible teaching on the commute to pick up children from school; praise music on the way home; Bible reading and study before bed. 

Like our eating plan, her spiritual diet includes multiple small meals throughout the day.  Sounds like a good plan for all of us!  Would you benefit from spiritual manna throughout the day?  I know I would! 

"But how?" you might be asking?  Just as you might plan your eating for a diet, it may require some additional discipline in the beginning... planning your spiritual menu for the week, until the routine is established.

Have ideas?  How do you keep your spiritual metabolism revved up during the day?  What are sources for spiritual nourishment, and how are you strengthening your spiritual muscles? 

My Life as a Biggest Loser - pt 3

We are in the home stretch of the last week before our first weigh in... and it has been a grueling week.  Three 5am workouts, several 2 or 3-a-day workouts...  it's a ripe recipe for grumbling, let me tell you!

So, it's interesting that I "just happen" to be reading through the Old Testament description of Israel's dessert years.  Wow - they sure could grumble!  "We don't like manna!  We want meat!  Egypt was better!  Why'd God bring us out here to die?  Moses stinks!  Are we there yet?!"  And the list goes on... and I think, "Boy, they sure were a bunch of whiners..."

But guess what?  At 5am, I look and sound a lot like an Israelite!  "Why do we have to come so early?  MORE squats?  I need Icy Hot.  My knee hurts. Five more??? I'm tired.  Are we done yet?"  What is it about our species that makes us look back to times of slavery and prefer it to the hard times of breaking free?  I WANT to lose weight and be in shape - just like those Israelites wanted to be in the Promised Land.  So what's all the whining about?

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves.  And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect." Leviticus 26:13

My Life as a Biggest Loser - Pt. 2

Have you ever been a part of something that just drew you in?  Immediately felt connected to something that was bigger than yourself?  As a Christian - that's how I feel about the Body of Christ.  No matter where I go - I have family.  There is a camradery and a kinship that comes from striving toward the same goal. 

My Biggest Loser journey is a bit like that!  Everywhere I look, I see spiritual analagies of how the body of Christ is meant to operate.  In fact, there have been several times when it seemed the Church could stand to learn a few things from the Biggest Loser approach... here is one example:

Team Pink - "Before" Picture

Overweight, out-of-shape people tend to stay away from the gym.  Why?  Because gyms are filled with "fit and healthy" people - and that's intimidating.  Makes me think of people that I know who are spiritually out of shape that won't grace the premise of a church.  The BL program makes a safe environment for the unhealthy to come learn about being healthy.  And NOT by plopping us among all healthy people and expecting us to figure it out.  Instead, we are on teams of other folks who are at the same place, but with seasoned trainers who guide us and help us.   The closest to this idea in churches that I've seen is the small group format.  Especially when there is a small group that is a "starter group"...  One that focuses on the basics.

That's what Lisa and Kaaren do each week for Team Pink.  We learn things - some of us already know some of the information - but we practice what we know and keep adding to it.  When we are "ahead", we encourage those who lag behind...  When we are "behind", we lean on those who are strong. 

Oh, how I'd love to see this same thing taking place more frequently in our churches.  Somewhere along the way, we started believing the lie that Faith is a personal, private matter.  We've been shamed into keeping our mouths shut about it.  But the Body of Believers was always meant to be a group activity.  "For the body does not consist of one member but of many... God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as He chose." (1 Cor. 12:14, 20)  

Spiritual Fitness tip du jour

Part of abiding in Christ is staying connected to Him through His Word...  but when you read your Bible each day - don't just breeze through the passage, with the end goal of "checking the box."  Instead, take time to look at the passage... ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and to help you understand what you are reading. 
Also, ask questions such as:

• I wonder why they did that? 
• How would that look in my life? 
• Is there a command in this passage I need to follow?
• Are there things in my life that I am doing or thinking that don't line up with what God's Word says?
• What does this passage tell me about the character of God?

Some have found it helpful to journal as they read... capturing key thoughts and answers to the questions above.  God desires relationship with us - and this process helps us to interact with God through prayer. Seek the Lord with all your heart and you will find Him!

Approvaholics Anonymous

As an approvaholic, this post from Girls Gone Wise hit close!  Just on the off-chance any of my readers are also approvaholics… read on!  J

Andrea

by Katie McCoy Hi. My name is Katie, and I'm an approvaholic.  (This is the part where you say, "Hi, Katie") For many of us, the need for approval is as strong and insatiable as an addiction.  While you may not call yourself an approval addict, perhaps you're known as a people-pleaser, someone who will go to great lengths to keep everyone happy with them. But if we belong to Christ, the Bible says that we cannot live to please both people and God: "For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ" (Gal. 1:10, also check out Acts 5:29) The culture will tell you that the best way to break from your people-pleasing path is to reclaim the real you! Take control of your life. Learn to say "no." Indulge in the things that you want to do and "just do you." (Sound familiar?) Ironically, an approvaholic may seem like they're working for God and others, but the heart-motivation is often about their emotional security, their reputation, and their standing in the eyes of others. It's not about God's glory and obeying His Word; it's about their own glory and others' opinions. An Approvaholic confuses pleasing people with honoring God. Many of us can relate to Martha, who resentfully took on all the work she considered so important. She was so focused on getting things done the "right way" and meeting a perceived expectation that she almost missed her one real priority of knowing Jesus more and learning from Him (Luke 10:38-42). While what she was busy doing was not wrong in itself, as Jesus told her it wasn't the one thing that was needed. An Approvaholic seeks to validate the leading of God with the opinions of others. The Apostle Paul probably had good reason to feel the need for validation. Before his own conversion, he was one of the early Church's greatest enemies. In one life-changing encounter with Christ, the very people he was working to destroy became his peers. But unlike an approval addict, he didn't seek the confirmation of other believers to validate what God had made clear to him. "But when it pleased God…to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me" (Galatians 1:15-17). He acted in obedience upon what God had said, without needing the approval or agreement of other people. An Approvaholic views the opportunity to serve God as an opportunity to gain personal praise. Judges 11 tells us the tragic story of Jephthah. Motivated by gaining the respect and approval of those that had mistreated him, he made a rash vow to the Lord that revealed his own heart: "If You will indeed deliver the people of Ammon into my hands, then it will be that whatever comes out of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the people of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up as a burnt offering." (Judges 11:30-31). For Jephthah, and for the approval addict, the motivation for success wasn't for God's glory, it was for his own ("If You will deliver…into my hands). This is the same attitude that Paul spoke of in his letter to the Philippians when he said that, "Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife…from selfish ambition, not sincerely" (v. 15-16). For the Approvaholic who thirsts for people's high opinions, even good and godly things can be distorted for self-centered motives. An Approvaholic's self-worth is based on their performance and motivated by pride. At the heart of a woman who is afraid of disappointing others is the belief that she can make everyone happy with her. Underneath the fear of saying no, letting someone down or falling short of a goal, is the lie that she can fulfill people's expectations, do things the right way or achieve outer perfection. In fact, when we boil it down to the condition of the heart, feeding the approval addiction is just another modern-day idol. Perhaps you've been working for good and godly things but have been motivated by a desire other than serving the Lord. God desires "truth in the innermost parts" more than a well-executed sacrifice (Psalm 51:6, 16-17). Maybe you've been accepting every extra responsibility out of the belief that you're the only person capable of fulfilling it, and forgetting that God is the one who qualifies all of us to serve Him. "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant," (2 Cor. 3:5-6). So how can we overcome our addiction to approval? It begins when we humble ourselves and realize how incapable we are of perfection and how unworthy we are of praise. Ephesians 1 says that before the world was even made every believer was chosen and accepted in Christ. And because He chose You, you were made right with and accepted by God because of Christ's work on the cross (Rom. 8:30-31). It never has, or will have, anything to do with your performance. You did nothing and can do nothing to gain his approval. Your Heavenly Father chose to set His love on you. That's it - and that's grace! God is far more pleased with an obedient heart that fears Him than the pretense of having it all together. When you start living to please your Heavenly Father rather than the of the approval of others, your time, your priorities and your heart-motivation will start lining up with His will. You may not be able to meet others' expectations, but you will be honoring God. You don't have to be an Approvaholic. You don't have to live in fear of being rejected, being punished, making a mistake or not living up to some perceived expectation. The same One that has already purchased your approval before your only Judge is the very One who said, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). And in Him, you are completely – and already – accepted.

View article...