We have an endless fascination with books and sermons on how to know God's will for our lives, but what underlies this passionate interest is not so much a desire to please God as it is a desire to please ourselves. We want a blueprint for happiness, and we know God has the power to provide it. But God's primary will for us is not circumstantial happiness, which is why our attempts to harness him for that purpose never quite work. Yet we don't stop trying. Every time we encounter a new book or blog post or sermon about guidance, we latch on, hoping that this one will provide the right formula.
Scripture is our blueprint for guidance, for knowing the will of God, and it gives us all we need to map out our lives. We don't see that, however, because we are looking for steps, not principles. The Bible provides us with guidance principles—what pleases God and what does not, what is wise and what is foolish. It is by following these principles that we live out God's will in our individual lives.
Paul tells us three things that are God's will for each of us: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thess. 5:16–18). We have there joy, gratitude, and constant prayer in every circumstance. They are always linked. Joy springs from gratitude and prayer.
The opposite is also true: pessimism and grumbling are linked to depression. It is perverse, then, that we so often disobey God in our outlook and attitudes. We choose to take a glass-half-empty outlook and complain about our lives, and the price we pay is our joy and peace. It just makes no sense. Rejoicing and giving thanks are how we say, "Not my will, God, but yours be done." Rejoicing and giving thanks is the essence of humility, and it is the way God connects our hearts to his good purposes in all things, big and small. That is God's will, and if we follow it, we will much more easily discern his will for the details of our lives.
Labels: Christian Life
The value we place on Christ can be measured by what we are willing to forego or give up in order to safeguard our relationship with him. It can also be measured by how we react when God takes away something we value. Do we get angry with God? Do we get depressed about it? He removes from us only what he knows will impede our spiritual growth. If we fight against his providences, inwardly or outwardly, it is an indicator that Christ is not our all. If it were, we would be eager to hunt down and set aside any interference.
The apostle Paul gave up prestige, power, authority, friends, the comforts of prosperity, and eventually his very own life. Why? He knew that the secret to possessing and enjoying the blessings of earthly life is to hold them loosely. Paul held all his blessings loosely because he had found something that mattered even more--life in Christ, which surpasses the best that this life can offer. That’s why he sought to get rid of anything that would hinder or water down a deeper intimacy with his Lord.
Is there something in our lives that we know is a spiritual hindrance but that we have been unwilling to lose for the sake of knowing Christ better? For some of us, it may be a relationship. For others, it might be a particular calling or a home or an education. For still others, it might be a heart's desire. Whatever might hinder us from a deeper walk, letting go of it is the only safe solution.
Labels: Christian Life
During my first few months living in the Midwest, I made a pleasant discovery: women wear color. You won't find much black at a morning wedding here. I once heard a pastor in Philly disparage the fact that he looked out on a sea of black each Sunday. "Ours is a joyful religion," he said, "and our dress should reflect that."
I've been thinking about that as we approach Halloween. Since the beginning of October, my neighborhood has looked like something out of a horror movie. Orange lights strewn all over bushes, plastic cemeteries poking up in front yards, and styrofoam corpses hanging from nooses on trees. It has all left me asking, what exactly, are we celebrating here? "Oh, it's all in good fun," people say. But what's fun about graves and blood? We have become a culture of death. "You're over-analyzing," I've been told, to which I can only reply, "Are you analyzing at all?"
The Halloween of today is not the Halloween of my childhood. Back then, it was all about creating a magical night for kids. Walking through the neighborhood, identity masked, running up on jackolantern-lit porches lugging sacks already heavy-laden with candy--all sanctioned by parents. THAT was Halloween, unlike today, where the local Hallmark store has two rows of Halloween cards. Who are the recipients of these cards--and why? "Happy Halloween"--what does that mean?
Surely the intention is fun, pure and simple. But we still must ask ourselves why people seek so much fun in death-related themes. It defies logic. Where do we, as Christians, fit into all this? Should we boycott it all? Well, that would be like declining a wedding invitation because the guests wear black. But there's a lot of space between a full-out boycott and hanging a corpse in our front yard.
Labels: culture
Because I typically grocery shop for one, purchasing a roasted rotisserie chicken breast is a bargain. I get three or four dinners from that $7 purchase. But I am paranoid about keeping chicken in the fridge more than two days, so after that time I strip off the remaining meat and freeze it. As a result, I usually have several single-serving packets of roasted chicken on hand at any one time, and it's so easy to thaw and whip up something for supper when I get home late.
Last night I made chicken corn chowder, an old Cooking Light recipe that I've doctored over the years in various ways to make use of other ingredients I have on hand. It's so simple--nothing daunting after a long day--so, for a change of blog pace, I thought I'd share it. (The pic comes from the original Cooking Light recipe.)
2 TB butter
1/4 c. diced onion
1/4 c. mushrooms (I use shitake), quartered (optional)
1/4 c. any green vegetable, chopped (optional)
1 jalapeno pepper, chopped (optional)
2 TB. flour
3 c. reduced-fat milk
1.5 c. frozen or fresh corn kernels
2 c. cooked chicken
14.75-oz can creamed-style corn
dried thyme to taste (I use four shakes)
ground red pepper (two shakes when using a jalapeno, 6-8 without)
salt to taste
Melt butter in large soup pot. Add onion, mushrooms, green veg, and pepper and saute 4 to 5 minutes or till barely cooked. Add flour and stir, 1 minute. Add milk and stir till flour lumps are gone (about 1 minute). Add remaining ingredients and simmer 10 to 15 minutes. Makes about 4 large bowls.
Labels: Home and Hospitality
Some years ago a product was advertized by a string of attractive spokeswomen who smiled into the camera and said, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” Each was making the point that there was no need to envy her because, if we use the product she was promoting, we too can be beautiful. Why is beauty something that women want—have always wanted? The desire for it is nothing new. Could it be that, at least in part, we want it because with it comes the power to influence? Beauty and influence go hand-in-hand. We find the truth of this in Scripture, and we find in our culture.
But beautiful women do not have happier lives than Plain Janes. In fact, their lives are often much more difficult. “Cry me a river,” you might be thinking. But stop to consider for a moment that a beautiful woman, like a wealthy one, attracts people just because of what she looks like. Is she valued for who she is? She may not really know for sure.
From a biblical perspective, being beautiful is shown often to be more of a trial than a blessing. We see this with Sarah, whose beauty got her into a heap of trouble (Genesis 12); we see it in the story of David and Bathsheba (1 Samuel 11); and we see it in the sad story of Tamar (2 Samuel 13).
Beautiful women are also burdened with the responsibility to use beauty wisely and for the glory of God and to avoid the temptation to use it selfishly. Rachel is a woman who used her beauty to manipulate her husband and to gain advantage over her sister (Genesis 29–30). Delilah used her charms to bring down Samson for financial gain (Judges 16).
But then there was Esther. She used her beauty to influence King Ahasuerus for the good of her people and saved many lives, including her own. However, she risked her life in the process.
Did God make you beautiful? If so, it wasn’t so that you might gratify yourself. He did so to glorify himself and so that you might be an influence for good. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging that beauty and influence go hand-in-hand. In fact, it’s wise to recognize the truth of it. It’s what we do with this knowledge that’s key.
Labels: femininity
