Ppppp ...

Ever have one of those days?

One of those days where all you can do is exhale?

When your lips are relaxed, you exhale and end up making that "Ppppp ..." noise.

I have had one of those days today. Despite the highs and lows, joys and frustrations, good and bad; I have reason to rejoice. God is with me, living in me, and speaking to me.

After pacing back and forth, rubbing a hole in my forehead from all the thinking, and finally conceding to the fact that things may not turn out the way I really would like them to, I exhaled. It was in this moment of "Ppppp ..." that God showed up. The noise that came from air moving between my lips reminded me of five significant words from my day.

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Prayer
Purity
Purpose
People
Possessions

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Prayer really ought to be what makes my heart beat. When I pray, I am actually having a real conversation with the living, loving God who created me. This is insane. By His grace, I can cry out to Him with my needs, listen to His patient, calm, comforting voice, and know what I ought to do.

More often than not, a conversation with the Almighty reveals my need for ...

Purity in my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Only through faith in Jesus' death and resurrection can this happen. I am a filthy, rotten, sinner addicted to sinning. Fortunately, I am the type of failure-prone, habitual hypocrite that Jesus came to save. Be it pride, lust, anger, greed, selfishness, or whatever - I need to seek purity in all of me.

This brings me back to Jesus, which brings me to my ...

Purpose in life. The ultimate question that all people ask at some point; why am I here? I have come to know my purpose. The Bible talks quite a bit about this; from Genesis to Revelation. The answer can be summarized in the words of YHWH found in Leviticus 11:44 "... be holy, for I am holy." This seems like a daunting task, insurmountable by me, never to be attained by anyone. That's because it is. No human can be holy the way that God is holy. Sin has forever ruined any hope of doing this on our own. But, with a humble, repentant heart, anyone can come to Jesus and be holy, just as He is holy.

This is a promise for real ...

People with real needs. If we were all willing to take 34 seconds out of our day to be silent, I'm sure each and everyone of us could think about something we need. Someone may be in dire need of money in order to pay the bills. Another person might hear their stomach growl, and honestly be in need of food. Looking around and being surrounded by people, laughing life away and looking like everything is O.K. there are people in our midst who need a friend. Whatever it may be, by God's grace, with the helping hands of believers led by the Spirit, I pray that your needs may be met today.

There needs to be something said about ...

Possessions in this temporal world. There are so many things in this world that we want to have, know how to use "for His purposes," and carefully consider whether or not they are becoming idols. We are blessed beyond belief here in America. Our pockets are filled with technology that was unheard of ten years ago. Looking in our closets, it seems like we each could clothe a small village or two. But what do we do? We want more. Suddenly the next best thing has become obsolete. It's time to upgrade. But will this stuff last? Jesus tells us to store up treasures in heaven, rather than things on this earth.

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Take a moment to consider ...

What possessions are distracting me from people?
Does my purpose in life push me to higher standard of purity?
How do I feel about prayer? Is prayer a duty or a blessing? Does prayer make my heart beat?

Drowning.

When I was seven I fell off a floating raft into my babysitter's pool. I didn't know how to swim, not even a doggy paddle. With arms stretched towards the surface above me and eyes wide open, I instinctively held my breath. Within moments my babysitter dove in after me and pulled me to safety.

Have you ever felt like you are drowning? We use the expression most often when we are overwhelmed, overworked or simply in over our heads.

Drowning. Eyes wide open, lacking air, watching the surface disappear as we sink deeper and deeper down. Drowning. Unable to even tread water.

Job, more so than any other human in history, must have felt this way to a degree I shudder to imagine.

In Job 3: 20- 26, he laments

^“20 Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹ to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²² who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?

²³ Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ For sighing has become my daily food;
my groans pour out like water.

²⁵ What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶ I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Job's life was thrown into utter turmoil. He lost everything to the point he longs to die. He curses the day he was born, he says his anguish and misery would out weigh the sands of the seas. He cries out to God over and over. Still through all the calamity that is brought upon him he never stops fearing the Lord. In the end of Job we find that God blesses Job with even more than he had before.

It's when I can't swim, when there's no emotional, mental, physical energy to pull my own head above water that I realize an important fact. I need a Savior.

We were created to walk in the garden with God. We weren't created to work like crazy, take on a million commitments, run ourselves ragged and into exhaustion. Our toil and turmoil is a result of the fall and sin in the world. Which again points to our need for a Savior.

Matthew 11:28-30, says "²⁸ Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Psalm 46: 1-7

^“1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
² Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
³ though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
⁴ There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
⁵ God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
⁶ Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
⁷ The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."

John 16: 33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

Psalm 121

^“1 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? 
² My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. 
³ He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber; 
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
⁵ The LORD watches over you—the LORD is your shade at your right hand; 
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. 
⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; 
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Look up. We have a Savior who will pull us safely to the surface.

He's Coming

As I've been thinking about the celebration of Christ's death and resurrection this past weekend I've been looking out the window watching the sun try to peak through the cloudy Washington sky and I am reminded of Jesus coming again. My mind wanders to the classic picture of Jesus coming in the clouds with the sun blazing behind Him to take us, those of us who have known Him, to be with Him forever. I don't how accurately the picture paints how the events of that day and age will actually pan out, but it serves to bring me to ponder those days to come. I look forward to them, I long for them from time to time. It makes me want to live a life in God's presence, seeking Him in prayer and being with Him though out the day; to be about His business and not my own; to love those whom He has allowed me to be in the presence of to love; to be obedient to the Spirit and to His Word and He guides me along.

I often think about this quote by two Moravians who sold themselves into slavery to share the Gospel with natives on St. Thomas Island in the 1700's. As they were leaving the dock on their ship bound for who knows what they yelled to those they were leaving this now famous quote. "Is not the Lamb worthy to receive the reward of His suffering?" To us all the same question is raised. Is not Jesus worthy of giving our lives to fully and unequivocally? "Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it," is what Jesus once said. I want to lose my life for Jesus sake. One day soon He will return; may our lives have been ones that were lost for His sake.