Scripture focus:

Oh the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers. But they delight in doing everything the Lord wants, day and night they think about his law. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail. Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper. (Psalm 1:1-3, NLT)

I believe that as Christians we can do things that indicate to the world that God is at the center of our lives and that we take the witness of Scripture seriously in the choices that we make and the commitments we undertake. These actions make up our moral life. For Christians, there should be little, if any, difference between our “moral”life and our everyday life. The moral values that ground the Christian faith should permeate every aspect of our lives. The Psalms liken this kind of life to trees planted along a riverbank, bearing fruit year after year. That’s a wonderful metaphor for what our lives look like when God is at the center.

I love to garden. I enjoy flowerbeds and containers filled with blooms. Unfortunately, my prowess with indoor plants lags greatly behind my outdoor capabilities. Thankfully I’ve improved substantially and can now actually keep a plant alive within my home.

I have a friend, Phyllis, who, unlike me, has a wonderful green thumb, particularly when it comes to house plants. At any given time you can enter her home and there will be violets, cactus, and other plants, beautifully healthy, many with scads of blossoms. I recall seeing a lovely Christmas cactus in full bloom in her living room. I was amazed because I had a cactus just like it, but without the blooms. I didn’t even realize it could bloom, because mine had never had a single blossom.

Ever since seeing the beauty of Phyllis’s cactus, I have been disappointed in my own. It’s not that my cactus is unattractive. It’s actually quite pretty – a lovely deep green and very healthy. But it has never truly achieved its purpose – it has never bloomed. And thus, every time I look at it, I feel a sense of disappointment.

We were meant to bear fruit in our spiritual lives – not just interior fruit as our faith deepens, but external fruit, fruit that shows itself in the way that we live. If we develop our faith in such away that we are healthy and our spiritual lives are like my cactus, “not unattractive” but have never born fruit or blossoms, there will always be an underlying sense of disappointment. We will not have achieved our entire purpose. James was pointing us toward this truth when he asked, “Dear brothers and sisters, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions?” (James 1:14, NLT)

We are at our best when we have God’s Word ever before us and live in ways that reflect that. When we “delight in doing everything the Lord wants,” we too become “like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail.”

As you pray and fast this month, reflect on the fruit you are bearing as you journey in faith. What actions make your faith visible to others? How might your faith life bear more fruit? What would you have to change to become more fruitful in your spiritual life? I pray that as you reflect, you will discover more and more ways to put your faith into action.

Scripture focus:

And so they reached Jericho. Later, as Jesus and his disciples left town, a great crowd was following. A blind beggar named Bartimaeus (son of Timaeus) was sitting beside the road as Jesus was going by. When Bartimaeus heard that Jesus from Nazareth was nearby, he began to shout out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” “Be quiet!” some of the people yelled at him. But he only shouted louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” When Jesus heard him, he stopped and said, “Tell him to come here.” So they called the blind man. “Cheer up,” they said, “Come on, he’s calling you!” Bartimaeus threw aside his coat, jumped up, and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked. “Teacher,” the blind man said, “I want to see!” And Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your faith has healed you.” And instantly the blind man could see! Then he followed Jesus down the road. (Mark 10:46-52, NLT)

Prayer is a powerful and productive force in our lives. It allows us to join with God in working not only in our own lives but also in the lives of others. The reverse is true as well. Prayer invites God to join with us in the unfolding of our lives and the lives of those around us. Unfortunately, we often overlook prayer as a connection to God and a source of direction and strength. Instead, we operate as though we were on our own.

It’s certainly true that God isn’t some cosmic waiter standing ready to jump at our beck and call. Our relationship with God is not one where we stand with power and look either across or down at God, making demands at every turn of our whim or fancy. Yet, as we appropriately lift our eyes to God, we will find God waiting with loving anticipation for us to pour out our deepest desires and dreams to him. Even more, we will discover that God longs to respond to those desires and dreams as well.

In The Life of Christian Devotion, William Law wrote,

All outward power that we exercise in the things about us is but as a shadow in comparison of that inward power that resides in our will, imagination, and desires… Our desire is not only thus powerful and productive of real effects, but it is always alive, always working and creating in us… And here lies the ground of the great efficacy of prayer, which when it is the prayer of the heart, the prayer of faith, has a kindling and creating power, and forms and transforms the soul into every thing that its desires reach after… It opens, extends, and moves that in us which has its being and motion in and with the divine nature, and so brings us into real union and communion with God.*

Law’s language can be difficult, but his message is simple. When we are connected to God through prayer, our wills, our imaginations, our desires can have powerful results. Prayer is a creating power that, when in communion with God, forms and transform us. God desires to answer the prayers of our hearts.

The world would have us believe that we are left to our own devices, with little power beyond ourselves. Society encourages us to look within ourselves. The message is that there is no truth outside our own personal experience or opinion and that should be enough to guide us. Social media encourages us to look to popular culture, to influencers and celebrities for answers to life’s difficult questions. They are the ones who can tell us how to manage the competing demands and commitments of daily life or guide us in determining how our faith fits the larger picture of our lives. The reality, however, is that the ultimate power to face all those issues is right before us, quietly waiting to be invited into the discussion.

When Jesus encountered people in his ministry, frequently he ask them, “What do you want?” Only when they responded with the prayer of their heart – “Teacher, I want to see!” – did he act on their desire. Jesus assured us that God knows our needs before we even ask; and yet, that knowledge never preempts the asking process. If we long to know God, we must be willing to tell God exactly that – I want to know you. Only then we will encounter the kindling and creating power of prayer that will not only draw us into communion with God but will also open us to God’s transforming energy in our lives.

As you pray and fast this month, I encourage you to reflect on the prayers of your heart. I pray that you will make those prayers known to God remembering that when we are connected to God through prayer, our wills, our imaginations, and our desires can have powerful results. Channel that power in the coming days.

*William Law, The Life of Christian Devotion, Abingdon; pp 85-86

Scripture focus:

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it! (John 14:13-14, NLT)

Very soon we will be celebrating the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, by God through the power of the Holy Spirit. This transformative, mind-boggling, life-altering event points us to the future that God has planned for us and reminds us that we follow a God who brings dead things back to life and makes all things new.

This is tremendous news on its own, but there’s more! Through prayer, each of us is given the opportunity to participate in this productive, creative work of God. Prayer is the “shaping power of the future” [1] – the force God places at our disposal so that we might join God in creating what is yet to be.

Science has always fascinated me. I don’t always understand, but I’m always in awe of the many mysteries of the universe. One area that I find intriguing is quantum mechanics, the study of subatomic interactions. Researchers in this field theorize and offer evidence that the world does not come into being until a mind interacts with it. They have conducted experiments in which measuring the spin of one subatomic particle has, oddly enough, caused a twin particle miles away to have the opposite spin! It’s as though the observer is creating reality.

An equally mind-blowing finding comes from research in quantum physics where particles have been discovered that take on properties in direct proportion to the expectations of the people watching them. Though I can’t comprehend the full meaning of that discovery, it brings to my mind the image of millions of creative particles floating in our universe, each awaiting our direct instruction.

Years ago, Oscar Osorio was a drug-addicted, violent criminal in Villa Hermosa, Colombia. Oscar had grown up poor, resorting to stealing when he was still a young boy. He graduated to drug dealing, armed robbery, and violence. By the time he was in his late twenties, he had been in and out of jail numerous times, including Bellavista National Jail, which was one of the most dangerous prisons in the world at that time. One day, as he was sleeping off a drug binge that had left him lying on a sheet of cardboard for three days in a semiconscious stupor, he encountered pastor Jairo Chalarca. As Pastor Jairo passed Oscar, he said, “Jesus loves you and he wants to change your life.” Somehow those words penetrated Oscar’s drug-clouded head and he looked up. Chalarca began talking with him about the plans God had for him, plans far greater than sleeping on cardboard on the street, plans that had yet to be. He invited Oscar to church. Surprisingly, Oscar got up and followed him and as he listened to Pastor Jairo preach that day, Oscar wept for the first time in years. He felt himself begin to change. He heard Chalarca say, “Jesus Christ knows you. He knows exactly what condition you are in. If you come to know Christ, he will raise you up. He will change your life. If you want to meet Christ today, come forward and we will pray with you.

Oscar went to the front of the church and told Pastor Jairo he wanted the life he was speaking of, he wanted to know Jesus. Pastor Jairo put his hands on Oscar’s shoulders and began to pray. Afterwards, Oscar had difficulty putting into words what happened to him during that prayer; but he said it was something like feeling that a ton of weight was bearing down on him and he could not get out from under it. The weight was crushing him, suffocating him; but suddenly it was lifted, and he felt buoyant, strong, and free. The freedom he gained from that prayer affected his entire life. He stopped doing drugs. He left his life of crime and violence behind. The plans that had yet to be began to take shape. He got a job, became active in his church, and ultimately began fulltime ministry, preaching the gospel in Bellavista, the jail that had once housed him as an inmate.

Not all of us have stories as dramatic as Oscar Osorio. Yet, though his experience of Jesus Christ made manifest through prayer, he was able to see his future, not as a weight crushing down on him, but as a blank canvas upon which he and God could write.

We are granted the opportunity to experience that as well. Our lives may be complicated and busy. There may be elements that hem us in, weigh us down, and stress us out. But regardless of how difficult our present may be, our future is a blank canvas placed before us. Through prayer we are given the opportunity to participate in the works of God in the world – to join with God in creating what is yet to be – to write with God upon the canvas of our lives. Like the particles hovering in our universe waiting to comply with our expectations, we join with God in creating what is yet to be through the creative power of prayer.

As you fast and pray in this resurrection season, remember that we follow a God who brings dead things back to life and makes all things new. Remember that through your praying, you can tap into that shaping power of the future and join with God in creating what is yet to be.

[1] Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus in Blue Jeans, p122

Scripture focus:

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets. ”Then he asked them, “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell with not conquer it. (Matthew 16:13-18, NLT)

Ever since he was a little boy, my nephew, Jacob, has been very in tune with his instincts. Frequently when playing with his friends, if things started to get out of hand in some way or move in a risky direction, you could hear him say cautiously, “I don’t know… I’ve got a bad feeling about this…” Throughout Scripture we see stories of persons who were able to trust their instincts as they followed God. They were aware of the ways and dangers of the world; and as they lived out their faith, they trusted their instincts not only as a source of protection but as a signal of how to follow God.

Much to the displeasure of his opponents, Nehemiah dedicated himself to rebuilding the wall. His enemies, Sanballat and Tobiah, made several attempts to get him to stop; but at each turn Nehemiah recognized that “they were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could break our resolved and stop the work. So I prayed for strength to continue the work.” (Nehemiah 6:9, NLT) Finally, under the guise of trying to keep Nehemiah safe, a friend urged him to stop working and go to the safety of the Temple; but Nehemiah’s instinct told him “that God had not spoken to him but that he had uttered this prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him.” (Nehemiah 6:12, NLT)

Jesus had an innate sense of who was trustworthy and who was not. When the Pharisees were questioning in their hearts Jesus’ pronouncements of forgiveness, believing them to be blasphemous, Jesus “perceived in his spirit” their thoughts and confronted them (Mark 2:8, NRSV). When Peter declared him to be the Messiah, Jesus pronounced him the rock on which he would build the church, a profound sign of his trust that Peter would come through for him in the end.

Our inner instincts are a significant source of guidance as our lives unfold. While there remains much to learn about how instinct operates, I believe it is the prompting of God’s Holy Spirit within us. William Law was an 18^th-century English clergyman whose writings have been very influential. He described this prompting well when he wrote:

The book of all books is in your own heart, in which are written and engraven the deepest lessons of divine instruction; learn therefore to be deeply attentive to the presence of God in your hearts, who is always speaking, always instructing, always illuminating that heart that is attentive to him.*

Our instincts are the natural means in which God communicates with us about truths we have no other way of comprehending. Learning to trust those instincts, being deeply attentive to the presence of God in our hearts, enables us to make strong connections between our faith and our daily lives. It is a way we become more in tune with our instincts, more attentive to the inner voice of God communicating with us. Prayer, along with other spiritual disciplines is the way we learn to trust the inner promptings we receive as we negotiate the challenges of life.

I find it interesting that our intestines are lined with the same type of tissue that surrounds our brains. In a strange way for me that similarity seems to account for the way our “gut” communicates with us. We must be open to that communication. We must be attentive so that we can hear God speaking to us, instructing us, and illuminating us as we make the connections between our faith and the activity of our lives. In this way we will better hear when God guides us saying, “This is the way, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21, NRSV)

As you pray and fast this month, reflect on the ways you have trusted your instincts. Recall situations in which trusting your instincts led you in the right direction. As you do this, I pray you will deepen your awareness of what your instincts are telling you and that you will remember that God communicates with us through our “gut,” revealing truths we have no other way of knowing.

*Joy of the Saints, Templegate, 1988, p90.

Scripture focus:

The Lord is righteous in everything he does; he is filled with kindness. The Lord is close to all who call on him sincerely. He fulfills the desires of those wo fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. The Lord protects all those who love him, but he destroys the wicked. (Psalm 145:17-20, NLT)

In Jesus in Blue Jeans: A Practical Guide to Everyday Spirituality, Laurie Beth Jones tells of serving as the executive director of a YWCA Girl’s camp. There was a girl, Carol, at the camp who had been a tremendous challenge to her. One day Carol invited Laurie Beth to walk with her up the mountain. About two-thirds of the way up, Carol stepped off the trail and asked Laurie Beth to look down. When she did, she saw a small area a few yards off the path, which had been cleared of all the weeds and brush and was surrounded by a carefully constructed circle of rocks. “I cleared away everything but the wildflowers,” Carol said self-consciously as Laurie Beth looked around. “From here you can see all of us down below,” she said as she pointed out the recreation field and each of the cabins. “That is why I picked this spot.” Carol continued tentatively, “I know I’ve been a lot of trouble for you…and I thought this might be a good place for you to come and get some answers.” Laurie Beth responded, “That is beautiful, Carol, I will call this ‘The Answering Place.’” (Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus in Blue Jeans: A Practical Guide to Everyday Spirituality, Hyperion, 1997, p 151-152)

As we move through our lives, it seems at every turn we’re confronted by questions. Questions about how we should behave, what we should believe, questions about our commitments, our priorities, our decision-making. Yet many of us forget that there is a place where we can go for answers. We lose sight of the fact that God is close by and available, ready to meet us wherever we are in order to hear us and respond. It is easy to become distracted and even overwhelmed by the demands of our lives so that the sense of God’s closeness begins to fade.

Moses often went up the mountain to the place where he would meet God and receive direction. When Elijah was fleeing from Jezebel’s soldiers, he went into the wilderness, encountered God in a still small voice, and discovered what he was to do next. As the time for Jesus’ crucifixion drew near, he went to the Mount of Olives to pray. It was his “answering place.” He knew God would be there to meet him, to listen, to answer all the questions he may have had and to guide him into his future.

In all the times of our lives, but especially as we approach the season of Lent, we need to be deliberate about creating answering places where we can meet God. Too often we act in haste, obtaining information but never taking enough time to carefully contemplate what we’ve learned. We’re faced with decisions and challenges but work to address them without tapping any of our faith resources. We need to step away, find a place and time where we can meet God, open ourselves to God’s movement within us, and seek God’s guidance and creative power in our lives. Laurie Beth Jones writes, “I need a viewpoint that allows me to look down on the everyday happenings of my life and see them as God sees them, placed in their proper perspective.” (p152) That is a viewpoint we all need; that is a viewpoint that strengthens the connection between faith and daily life. But we will be unable to gain such a viewpoint without deliberately seeking answering places, places where we can go to meet God, to come to know God better, and to allow God to inhabit the center of our lives.

Do you have an answering place? I hope so, and I pray that you are deliberate about going there. If not, I pray that you might find an answering place. A place where you can meet God and reconnect to the power God offers to direct and sustain you. And I pray that you would gain a God’s-eye view of the everyday happenings of your life so that you might receive answers to your questions and be guided into your future.

Scripture focus:

I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven. We look to the Lord our God for his mercy, just as servants keep their eyes on their master, as a slave girl watches her mistress for the slightest signal. (Psalm 123:1-2, NLT)

As we begin the new year, our Scripture focus comes from Psalm 123. Psalm 123 is a psalm of ascent – a song people sang as they went up the hill to worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. It describes a posture of looking up – I lift my eyes to you. This posture of looking up is important for our spiritual journey. It’s the type of posture we need to grow in our life of faith.

The problem is this posture of looking up doesn’t come natural to us. Our more natural posture is a horizontal one. We want to explore our spirituality, but on our own, independent terms. The New Age guru Deepak Chopra once said that people were attracted to his teaching because he satisfied a spiritual yearning without making them think they needed to worry about God or punishment.

That’s our natural posture. We want to be spiritual, but we don’t want that spirituality to be encumbered by authority. We want to discover divinity within us or around us, but not above us. We want a God on our own level; a God we can argue with about the things that make us uncomfortable – marriage, divorce, sexuality, what we do with our money. We’re not looking up; we’re looking across.

But Psalm 123 describes a posture of looking up. I lift my eyes to you, O God, enthroned in heaven. When we read this psalm, it’s easy to avoid the issue of authority and get side-tracked by physical location; but our relationship with God isn’t about where God is located, in the heavens or anywhere else. Our relationship with God is about God’s position of authority in our life.

Verse two emphasizes God’s authority as well; we look to God in the same way that servants look to their masters, waiting for the slightest signal to direct them into action. This type of attitude is difficult for us not only because of our discomfort with the language of servitude, but because many of our cultures – especially American culture – emphasize independence. We grow up anticipating one day leaving home; we go to school anticipating graduation and a new job. Each milestone in life marks another step on our road toward independence. What we don’t realize is that independence doesn’t always mean freedom.

We’re all harnessed in one way or another. Each milestone of our life simply marks trading one harness for another. We may be excited about “adulting” until we realize we now have to pay for everything. I had the opportunity to stay home with my children when they were young. I was so excited – no more constraints of work! I wouldn’t have to answer to anyone! Ha! Anyone with children knows I simply removed the harness of employment and replaced it with the harness of parenthood!

Our wide and varying commitments harness us whether we realize it or not. School, jobs, children, parents, these and countless other responsibilities, all come with a yoke that we must wear. That’s why Jesus’ words in Matthew are so important. “Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30, NLT)

Jesus says, “my yoke” because he knows we’re already harnessed; but he wants us to be yoked in a way that suits us. Life will harness you; but you can choose to what or to whom you will be yoked. Jesus says, fasten yourself to my harness, yoke yourself on God’s terms, not those of the world.

There’s a mythical story about a sea captain who was guiding his ship on a very dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. He told his signalman to send a message, “Alter your course 10 degrees south.” A prompt message returned, “Alter your course 10 degrees north.” The captain became angry because his command had been ignored, so he sent a second message, “Alter your course 10 degrees south – I am the captain!” Again, a message promptly returned, “Alter your course 10 degrees north – I am Seaman Third Class Jones.” Infuriated, the captain sent off a third message, knowing that it would evoke fear, “Alter your course 10 degrees south – I am a battleship!” Once again, a prompt replay came, “Alter your course 10 degrees north – I am a lighthouse.”

When we look straight ahead, often all we can see is darkness and fog. We can’t see the forces that have us harnessed and are telling us which direction we should go, how we should behave, what commitments we should or should not make. But when we look up, when we lift our eyes as the psalmist says, we can see the light. When we yoke ourselves to Christ, recognize his authority in our lives, we become connected to God’s hand and can follow God’s light. It’s God’s power and energy that pulls us and pushes us and leads us.

As you pray and fast this month, think about the things that have you harnessed. What would you have to change to more become more fully harnessed to Christ? My prayer is that you will take on a posture of looking up. And in doing so, you would able to see God’s light more clearly, and be guided by it as you seek to follow him.

Scripture focus:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)

Last month we asserted that it is entirely possible for us to live out our faith in visible, tangible ways – that there are things we can do that indicate to the world that God is at the center of our lives. We explored the idea that people can witness God’s place in our lives through our behavior – all the decisions and actions of our daily lives.

But it’s not just our actions that show how God fits into our lives, it’s the way we carry ourselves as well. When we have a strong connection between our faith and our daily lives, our lives will be marked by an inner sense of peace. This peace isn’t the same as a life without problems. Like the joy we discussed a few months ago, this inner peace depends not on our outer circumstances; but on an awareness of the reality of our salvation and the confidence that God will meet our needs.

The disciples are excellent examples of the inner nature of peace. As their experience with Jesus unfolded, through his ministry, his death, and his resurrection, the disciples were never exempted from the difficulties in life. Their peace was not an external experience. On the contrary, they endured prison, interrogations, beatings, and were even martyred as a result of their faith. Thus, the peace that marks a life of faith is an interior one, the gift Jesus promised his disciples when he said, “I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” (John 14:27 NLT)

The problem is that there is a huge gap between what we profess and how we live. Like keeping our joy hidden, we don’t live as people with an internal sense of peace. We may claim to have abundant life, but the way we live doesn’t provide much evidence. We may insist that we are confident that God will provide for us, but the reality of our panic at the first sign of trouble says otherwise. It’s one thing to talk about peace; it’s quite another to claim it in the face of tragedy. That’s why peace is such an important fruit to foster as we seek to follow Jesus. By cultivating the peace of Christ, we close the gap between what we profess and how we live.

In October, WME provided an evangelism seminar in Romania that was attended by Christians from several Eastern European countries, including Ukraine. The Ukrainians who joined us had found refuge in Romania when their cities were overtaken by Russian troops. Yet they didn’t consider themselves refugees. Instead, they saw themselves as missionaries, faithfully showing and sharing the love of Jesus in difficult days. They sang the words “I raise a hallelujah…in the presence of my enemies” with sincere courage and joy. Inner peace radiated from them, as that refrain was transformed from poetic words of praise into genuine words of truth and power.

These Ukrainian Christians closed the gap between the claim of peace and an actual experience of it by focusing on Jesus. That’s our task as well. We remember his example, his words, his life and ministry. We remember the gift of his sacrifice on our behalf and the gift of new, abundant, and eternal life that sacrifice affords us. As Paul said, “Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” (Romans 5:1, NLT)

We close the gap between our claims of peace and our actual experience of it by doing God’s will as well. Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.” (John 14:15-17, NLT)

Faithful obedience is crucial to the nurture of peace. God desires us to live out our faith in the real world, not retreat from it or practice our faith in a vacuum. Therefore, God needs room to move in our lives, to act and direct us in ways that only God can know. No matter how deeply we believe we know God, we will never know God well enough to predict how God will act or what God is going to demand of us. Obedience is our necessary response. Through our obedient response and our determination to keep our mind stayed on Jesus, we will foster Christ’s peace, and others will be able to see that peace reflected in our lives.

As you pray and fast this month, reflect on whether there might be something missing from your life. Is something robbing you of peace? In a few weeks we will welcome the Prince of Peace as we celebrate Christmas. Moving ever closer to that celebration, I pray you will keep your hearts and minds stayed on Jesus, doing all that you can to keep your relationship with Christ alive and vibrant. In that way we will be able to raise our hallelujahs with truth and power.

Scripture focus:

As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 1:3-8, NLT)

One of the core commitments at World Methodist Evangelism is the belief that we show and share the love of Jesus through the wholeness of our lives – through our words, through our deeds, and through the signs that the Holy Spirit manifests in us and around us. Flowing from that commitment is the belief that it is entirely possible for us to live out our faith in visible, tangible ways – that there are things we can do that indicate to the world that God is at the center of our lives and that we take the witness of Scripture seriously in the choices we make and the commitments we undertake. It is these visible and tangible ways of living that make up our moral life – the godly life as Peter refers to it.

Our behavior and our faith are intimately intertwined as is reflected in our Scripture for this month. Peter writes, “As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life.” Clearly deepening our relationship with Christ is crucial if we are to live lives of moral significance. Conversely, living a “life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better.” There is an obvious interdependency here. But it’s not simply a neatly packaged set of “steps” that will instantly make us morally excellent or magically place God at the center of our lives. Instead, our faith experience is a process of deepening our relationship with God through prayer and spiritual discipline, through the study of Scripture, and through a commitment to the moral life. Each of these components in turn strengthens the others as the process continues for the entirety of our lives. As our faith grows, our knowledge about Christ, about Scripture, about the various tenets of the Christian faith becomes productive and useful; that experience then deepens our faith, and on it goes.

How then do we begin to be “more productive and useful in our knowledge of Jesus Christ”? How do we strengthen our moral lives? The foundation for such an undertaking is very simple. We begin with moral sincerity. We must truly want to live a moral life; we must earnestly desire to apply Scripture to our daily lives with integrity and power.

There may be some of us who need to start one step earlier. We may need to begin by asking God to help us want to live a moral life. A deliberate commitment to moral integrity that extends beyond simply wanting to “be a good person” may be something that has been externally placed upon us rather than springing from within ourselves. Thus, our first task is to ask God to help us desire that deeper commitment, to help us actually want it rather than feeling we ought to have it.

As we begin the process of strengthening our moral selves, we must start where we are – not where we think we should be. We must ask for and accept the forgiveness God offers in order to be free from the guilt of the past that so often constrains us. For some of us this is an ongoing part of our spiritual journey, but for others this may be a giant first step. Regardless of where you are on your journey, moral sincerity is a gift from God; for it is God whose divine power gives us everything we need to live a godly life.

A second foundation for a commitment to the moral life is the community of faith. Moral excellence is a “lived reality” that is strengthened by the community of believers. As social beings, we are constantly being shaped by the culture that surrounds us. Thus, if we are to succeed in our commitment to the moral life, we must surround ourselves with others who treasure virtue, who are dedicated to teaching and living the moral life. These monthly devotionals may be helpful on a personal level. They may launch you on your journey of knowing God more deeply and living in ways that reflect that relationship. However, our striving to apply Scripture to our daily lives with integrity and power – to live out our faith in visible and tangible ways – that striving will not be consistently rewarding without the support of a morally serious community committed to providing direction and encouragement.

Following Jesus involves action. We commit ourselves to Scripture, to prayer, and to living in ways that reflect our faith. In other words, we behave in ways that reflect God’s place at the center of our lives. This behavior is not confined to specific activities such as church attendance; but it extends to our daily lives and all the decisions and actions that take place there. As we commit ourselves to following in this way, Peter’s word will become more and more true in our lives, we “will grow to have genuine love for everyone” – something desperately needed in our world.

As you pray and fast this month, I challenge you to think seriously about the ways in which you want to strengthen the moral fabric of your life and then find a community that can support you in your effort. As you do this, I pray that you will remember that through the Holy Spirit, Jesus has given us “everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises.”

Scripture focus:

It is actually best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Counselor won’t come. If I do go away, he will come because I will send him to you. (John 16:7, NLT)

When my youngest daughter, Hannah, was 11 years old she mastered the skill of throwing an M&M into the air and catching it in her mouth. She was quite proud of her accomplishment and wanted me to see it. As you might expect each time she tried in my presence, she missed; but as soon as I would leave the room, she would be successful once again.

Hannah’s experience illustrates a basic human truth: Only on rare occasions are we able to perform at our best in the presence of those who are most important to us. Our young children throw tantrums when we drop them off at preschool; yet they are fine the minute we leave the room. Even the disciples were not spared this unpleasant reality – none of the miracles they were able to perform in their ministries took place in Jesus’ presence. It was only when he sent them out, and then again after he had left, that they were able to rise to the occasion. Our dilemma is that God has, in a very mysterious sense, “gone away,” while we remain to rise to the occasion.

Certainly we have been blessed with the power of the Holy Spirit, our Counselor, the one whom Jesus promised to send to us when he went away. Yet in a very real way we can feel alone, disconnected. Michelangelo’s famous depiction of Creation on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is a magnificent illustration of this feeling. God’s hand stretches toward Adam, while Adam’s hand extends back toward God – outstretched hands, with only inches to separate the fingers. How like our relationship with God: so close and yet so far away.

Our commitments can seem overwhelming; the hectic pace of our lives can leave us feeling chaotic and frazzled. The few inches that separate our fingers from God’s fingers can seem more like a huge gulf. It can be easy to ask, “Why? Why would Jesus leave us if he cared for us so much? Why must we be left on our own like this?”

The disciples help us with this question. While Jesus remained in human form, it was possible for the disciples’ faith to be grounded not within their hearts but on the concrete confirmation of their senses. They could have faith because Jesus was tangible; they could see him and touch him; they could eat with him and hear him speak.

While Jesus was on this earth, the disciples were just that – disciples, followers, students. Only after Jesus left them did they become apostles – messengers of the gospel, leaders of the church. Jesus left in part because he wanted the disciples to “grow up,” to become mature in their faith. God desires that for us as well. Jesus said, “The person who trusts me will not only do what I’m doing but even greater things.” (John 14:12, The Message) God wants us to grow up in our faith. Like Michelangelo’s God who lets Adam loose in the world, our God lets us loose as well so that our faith will be grounded not simply in the tangible soil of our senses, but in the depths of our heart and spirit.

Our prayer life is a channel through which we receive the Holy Spirit, the Counselor promised by Jesus. It’s one of the ways that “so close but yet so far” feeling is lessened. And yet the tempo of our lives can impinge on that closeness.

Brennan Manning tells a story of a stressed business executive who searched out a desert father complaining about his frustration with prayer, his flawed virtue, and his failed relationships. The hermit listened carefully and then disappeared into the darkness of his cave returning with a basin and a pitcher of water.

“Watch the water as I pour it into the basin,” he said. The water splashed against the bottom and sides of the basin, swirling and agitated. The businessman watched as the water churned and eddied but gradually began to settle, slowing until finally the surface became so smooth he could see his reflection. “That is the way it is when you live constantly in the midst of others,” said the old man. “You do not see yourself as you really are because of all the confusion and disturbance. You fail to recognize the divine presence in your life, and the consciousness of your belovedness slowly fades.” *

How is the pace of your life stirring up the waters of your soul and impinging on your closeness with God?

Just as it takes time for water to settle, so it takes time for us to connect with God, to feel God’s closeness, to come to interior stillness. As your prayer and fasting journey unfolds, I pray that you will continue to be deliberate about taking the time to focus on God and God’s place in your life. I pray that in that interior stillness you would become more and more aware of your belovedness, and experience the closeness of God’s outstretched hands, mere inches from your own.

*Brennan Manning, Reflections for Ragamuffins, HarperColllinsPublishers, 1998; page 38)

Scripture Focus:

God wanted them to look for him and perhaps search all around for him and find him, though he is not far from any of us: “We live in him. We walk in him. We are in him.” Some of your own poets have said: “For we are his children.” (Acts 17:27-28, New Century Version)

In quite a few cultures, especially in the Northern and Western Hemispheres, there is little difference between the attitudes and behaviors of people within the church and those outside of it. George Barna, a leading authority on societal trends and religion, has been instrumental in highlighting the discrepancy between what Christians say they believe and how they actually behave. Whether it is lying, cheating, or even divorce, there is little measurable difference between Christians and non-Christians.

This points to, among other things, a tremendous lack of spiritual power in our lives. We seem to be disconnected from the source of spiritual power that would enable us to fully live out our faith. For many people this lack of spiritual power translates into a sense of emptiness, a longing for something more. And yet, rather than turning toward what could be our greatest source of power – God – we try to fill that emptiness with other things. Some of these things are ordinary outlets: our jobs, the wide variety of activities that so often fill our daily lives, sports, or other entertainment. Other outlets are more harmful: unhealthy relationships, alcohol, or substance abuse. In all of this searching there is clearly a desire for something beyond ourselves – we want to be connected to something; often we are just not sure what.

At the turn of the millennium, the city of Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, held a tremendous celebration with fireworks and other exciting activities. A very special aspect of the festivities to welcome the dawn of the 21^st century was the release of “millennial birds.” When I read about this, I was immediately moved – what a stirring moment, rich with symbolism! As the new millennium is ushered in, birds are released as a sign of our collective hope for peace.

Unfortunately, the reality of that moment was far different. As the birds were released, fireworks were exploding and in the chaos of the noise and flashing light, rather than flying peacefully away as a flock, the birds became confused and frightened and flew helter-skelter all around the square, never really going anywhere.

What a great metaphor for our human condition! We flap around in our lives, confused, and sometimes frightened, never completely comfortable with where we are flying. It is as though the connections aren’t right. That’s what happened to the birds. Their connections weren’t right. It was nighttime, not the normal time for these birds to be flying. There were explosions going off all around them. They did not connect booming fireworks with safety and flying; instead, they connected them to danger and fear. The connections were all wrong.

Despite all my years in ministry, I still consider myself more of a learner than a teacher. I depend on others for guidance, insight, and mentoring. As I reflect on that process, one thing has become clear from the lives of all those to whom I have turned for guidance: spiritual discipline is crucial. Some folks have mentored me in preaching, others in writing, others in leadership, each according to his or her gift. In all of it however, regardless of their particular strength, there is a thread of commonality – spiritual discipline, rooted in prayer.

Spiritual discipline grounded in prayer is the source of our connection to God. It is a primary means through which our emptiness is filled, and we experience the right connections that enable us to fly without confusion and fear. Without the attention to our interior selves that comes through prayer, we will be unable to know God fully and follow faithfully. We will continue to live without the spiritual power to differentiate ourselves from those who do not share our faith.

I thank God that there are so many in our Prayer and Fasting Community who are working to forge connections between faith and daily life through their pattern of fasting and prayer. I pray that as you move through your regular times of prayer and fasting, you would be able to make the right connections that empower you to fly without confusion and fear. And finally, I pray that God’s Spirit might fill you to overflowing, strengthening you and enabling you to live out your faith in whatever circumstances you find yourself.