#23 Honor your Elders

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”  Ephesians 6:1-3

Did you know that ‘father and mother’ in that context would have meant people who are older than you as well as your parents?  I didn’t until a couple of weeks ago.

I was alarmed this past week because I had a hard time interacting with a dear friend of mine who is triple my age.  I’ve built a life surrounded by people who are just like me so much that I’m starting to forget how to converse well with older people.

But the Bible calls us to honor them.  I’m prone to avoid them.  I don’t like the feeling of being perceived as childish, and without the Lord’s help, I am normally asleep to opportunities to bless them.  There are so many more landmines in life than I give account for.  How foolish of me to think that I don’t need their help navigating this life. 

The Lord has set up a system where He blesses older people through younger people honoring them and He passes wisdom to the younger people through older people’s experiences.  That is His beautiful design.

Humility

Augustine said it best:
"Do you wish to be great? Then begin by being. Do you desire to construct a vast and lofty fabric? Think first about the foundations of humility. The higher your structure is to be, the deeper must be its foundation." 


A prayer that I have asked with some frequency in my life is for holiness and humility.

The answers to that prayer are forever surprising me. God never hands gift-wrapped character into my eager arms, free of strain, trauma or exhaustion.

I have found that my pride takes a lot to break down.

O but blessed is the day when it is finally taken down another level!
I can finally breathe with less toxic fumes of self-absorbtion.
I can finally see the glorious sky without the mountain of ME looming large.
I can finally stretch out to love and be loved when the chains of narcissism are broken
and I am free.

But in the actual breaking down process--  mentally, emotionally, physically, self-righteously --
I find that I don't assume this is God kindly answering that prayer for holiness and humility, but assume instead that God is harshly raging in my face. And I assume there is nowhere to run but to my own self as protector against these trials. My only mental companions in these times seem to be Failures and Never-Enoughs. I put my face in my hands and I amount to absolutely nothing.

But recently, Jesus has confronted me with reality.
(Blessed be His Name.)

He has shown me that He, the RIGHTEOUS and JUST and HOLY One, is also Humble King. The Humble King rode in on a donkey when He could've come on a mighty high horse. Jesus Christ chooses to humble Himself to wash the nasty off of humanity -- including Joy Martin. He gets down on His knees in the dirt and shame of who I really am -- and He loves me. He lifts me up out of the pit and puts me among princes.

These encounters with the Humble King -- these are what will make me humble with those around me. Focusing on the failures in my life won't do it.  Instead, receiving grace, joy and kindness in the midst of my failures will make my heart flower with His humility, blushing that He should delight in creatures such as myself.



He is alive and we are free
He is alive and we have found our peace
Our King has come
-Elevation Worship

#22 Buffers

Besides owning up to my sin, the hardest part of my week is my long run on Sundays.  That’s what I am gearing up for mentally the whole week. 

Pretty lame.

When the world is burning and children are enslaved and Jesus’ precious people are crying, I’m sighing over my aching knees.  The buffer between me and deep suffering stretches wider than my eyes see.

Jesus touched lepers and lifted adulterous women from the dirt.  When was the last time that I sat next to a person like that?  Connected right at their level to share some of the grace I’ve been given? 

What if I spent myself physically to further the Lord’s kingdom instead of my own goals?  What if I had to collect courage all week to do something equally as strenuous, but this time directly for someone else’s good? 

The Lord wouldn’t love me more.  I don’t win favor by doing more.  I won’t “finally be good enough.”  Jesus’ blood makes me good enough whether I am Mother Teresa or the thief on the cross.  But I’d bet that I’d get to know Jesus on a totally different level.  I bet I’d be alive on a totally different level.  That’s the life I’d love to look back on, giftwrapped and ready to give to Jesus at the end of my life. 

#21 Dirt to Bursting Light

My glass You've lit from the inside.  Now I glow blues, greens, yellows.

Each day You make me layers cleaner, glassier, babier.  One day soon, You'll make me so translucent that all that's seen is the colors.  No more of my smudges, just You.

I've grown accustomed to my smudges.  Shine them out of me.  Burn them out of me.  Your light is all I'm made for.

the desert

Before Jesus ministry really took off, He went by God's direction into the desert to not eat or drink for a long time. Desert gets really hot and really cold. At Jesus' most physically broken down point, He would not yield to the temptation to think wrongly of God or to disobey Him.

I recently had the stomach flu and strep throat at the same time. I didn't even know that combination was possible. This was in addition to just moving and wading through pregnancy nausea. Construction workers were in my home using strong chemicals and for a while our house didn't have heat or hot water. Let me tell you, there was some lowness going on in my spirit. Unknowingly, I had made my way to the desert.

As I so badly wanted to drink, I thought about Jesus going so many more days than I had and how He trusted God so explicitly. Till the brink of physical starvation Jesus would declare that God's Words would feed His soul. While literally dying of thirst, Jesus finds the quenching satisfaction of God's will over His. He could worship when His physical surroundings were absolutely harsh, because God's goodness never fails.

I heard someone say in a prayer recently, "Lord, when we don't understand Your hand, help us to trust Your heart."

When I do not understand, Lord, You are my Poppa God and You are good. You are love. You are kindness and joy. May deserts only be the beginning of new days of Your Spirit's power and fruit for Your kingdom.

#20 Peeta Mellark

There’s this cheesy love story I’m not sure you’ve heard of or not between a guy named Peeta and a girl named Katniss.  I tend to scoff at romance stories, but this one took me by surprise.  From the very beginning of the story, Peeta sacrifices himself over and over to love Katniss, when often she doesn’t love him back. 

I was struck by his self-sacrifice, and wrote this in my journal:

Every word I speak to anybody should imply: “How can I serve You, Lord?”

Every action and every string of thoughts should all be directly serving Jesus and the people He has made.  That serving transcends all dreams and aspirations that well up in my mind.

When I feel the Spirit in me, when I’m tired and want to cry, when I’m feeling overjoyed or depressed, when people aren’t there or when there’s a crowd, I should serve.

Oh Jesus, I pray for the grace to do this in my life.  My whole life, each part, straight for You, to serve You Jesus. 

But then I was struck all over again to realize that Peeta reflects how Jesus loves me.  Jesus loves me like Peeta loved Katniss, except Jesus loves me way, way more.  I want to be like Peeta toward the Lord, but ultimately the Lord is more like Peeta to me. 

The funny thing is that even though the role I was hoping for seems to already be taken, I’m only that much more motivated to serve and love the Lord more fully.  Psalm 119:55 in the NLT says “I reflect at night on who You are, O LORD; therefore, I obey Your instructions.”  When I ponder the Lord’s character, my motivation to follow Him skyrockets. 

#19 Devoted to Prayer

“Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”  Colossians 4:2

What does it mean to be devoted to prayer?

Paul gives us a clue by clarifying the command: “being watchful and thankful.”  Be watchful of what the Lord is doing in every circumstance and eager to thank Him for what you find, no matter if it is to your immediate advantage or not.

When I think of people devoting themselves to something, my mind goes to a woman devoting her life to be a nun.  There’s nothing passive about that decision.  She decides to leave the family she already has and any hopes for a future family to live apart in a vow of poverty, worship and serving the poor.  There’s no way that she’d ever drift into being a nun on her own.  Maybe it’s the same with devoting ourselves to prayer.  We have to map out a game plan and then decide to move forward. 

On game days, each baseball player at my school had to carry around a ball all day during classes to help them mentally prepare.  That helped to devote their minds to the game that day.  I’d like to do the same with my mind.  For the next 24 hours, I’d like to carry around a wood carved cross with me to keep my ever-straying mind devoted to seeking out what God is doing in each moment, and then thanking Him for it. 

God > Gifts

In Luke 11, Jesus does a lesser to greater than argument. He talks about if we who are evil know how to give good gifts to our children -- how much more will the Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him... 

In the context, He addresses the fear that He will give us something bad or not useful-- think snakes/scorpions/rocks -- But if even the people in our lives can be trusted to do good to us, how much more will the perfectly loving God bless us with the best for us. 

I used to be kind of disappointed by this version of that verse because Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to those that ask - verses the good gifts reference over in Matthew. Sometimes I want good gifts more than more of God.  

Humble pie. 

But I started thinking about it...

The people that I am most in awe of in life, that are extraordinary, are not just owners of possessions or safely protected or hugely talented... I am in awe of people with distinct relationship with God. There is something supernatural about them. Something heavenly. It flows into every other area of their lives like a well-spring of life, animating their personalities and obedience and occupations.... and I want that.  

I mean, what does it look like when the Holy Spirit is very evidently in a life? 

-fruit of the spirit {love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control}

-spiritual gifts {edification by prophecy, administration, leadership, teaching, interpretation, giving, serving, healing}

-power of the resurrection {experiencing miracles while living in Christ}

-walking in the Spirit {there is a Presence that is striking in the person}

-conviction over sin {sensitivity to and weeping over what sin does}

-comfort in trials {encouragement in the darkest of days, eyes on heaven}

These are the things that shake the world. How can I not want that for those I love? and for myself?

So I’ve started praying for the Holy Spirit for myself and all my loved ones and you, little lady love. 

May He mark your days with Himself. 

He is the Ultimate GIFT.

#18 Nearness in the Impossibility

The Sovereign Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet of a deer, He enables me to tread on the heights.  Habakkuk 3:19

Today I finished week 4 of a 20 week marathon training program.  It is dead obvious to me that I can’t run a marathon.  After 3 miles, I’m done.  I can’t will myself to run farther and faster.  But this morning I ran 10 miles, which is father than I’ve ever gone before. 

The Habakkuk verse has been a constant friend to me on each of these runs.  I didn’t have the strength in me today.  But in the dozens and dozens of times when I felt like stopping, I asked the Lord to give me His strength to keep going.  He did just that!  He gave me the strength to finish.  What an honor to feel on a physical level what happens when we trust the Lord.

How incredible that the Lord gives us His strength!  His strength never runs out.

On that run, all the thoughts I can remember were directed to the Lord.  Because I was asking so often for strength, He never really left my mind.  It’s easy to trust the Lord when I’m doing something impossible.  It’s not as easy to keep Him in my mind when I’m having a typical day and doing things I can do without asking for His help.

Don’t get me wrong.  Technically without the Lord, we can do nothing.  He is still working in me and through me even when I am not consciously asking for His help, but I miss out in a huge way when I am doing all these things without conversing with Him. 

It’s almost like this:  Imagine the man of your dreams asked you out on a date.  He had a whole day planned out to the minute, full of all kinds of fun things for you two to do together to get to know each other.  He had it all set for you both, and then the day finally arrived.  You were both there.  He showed you what to do step by step and you did the activities, but you never responded back to him.  You experienced his whole plan for the day, but you never said a word to him.  What a loss!  You missed the opportunity to get to know him more, which was the whole point of the activities in the first place.

I don’t want to do that anymore.  I want to be speaking and getting to know the Lord more everyday as we do what He has set out for us to do.  No more ignorance. 

And for you sweet Eden, I pray for many impossible things.  I pray that He would lead you to do things that are completely beyond what you can do, and then that He’d show you how together with Him, you can do anything.