A Cup of Christmas Tea

I was asked to speak at our annual Ladies Luncheon this year. Several have asked for my notes. They are below.

A Cup of Christmas Tea

The book that Norma read reminds me of another story. You can find it in Luke 10:39-42

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him as a guest. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he said. But Martha was distracted with all the preparations she had to make, so she came up to him and said, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Tell her to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. Mary has chosen the best part; it will not be taken away from her.”

[the original Brady Bunch moment here]

Mary sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what He said. Martha was distracted with all the preparations.

There is so much truth in these words. Is there ever a more distracting time in the life of a wife and mom than the holidays? So much responsibility to make it special falls to us, doesn’t it? I honestly cringe when I hear my children say things like “22 more days till Christmas” when I remember that I’m the one who’s gathering and wrapping the presents and I haven’t started yet!

We have a tendency to be a Martha around Christmas. We have to be intentional to be a Mary.

This year, I’m going to choose to be Mary. Yes, there will be Martha moments, but I will strive for more Mary moments. I want to make my family’s Christmas special, I want to honor traditions and make wonderful food. But I want to slow down and treasure my savior and the season with the people that the Lord has entrusted to my life..

In the bustle of this holiday season, I’d like you to take time for two ‘cups’ of tea daily. The first cup of the day needs to be with your Savior. Mary spent time at the feet of her Lord. She understood that He was the most important thing. She understood that time in His presence brought perspective to all the other activities of the day.

I’m not naturally a morning person. But over the years I’ve learned to become a morning person. I start each day in the Lord’s presence. Actually I’ve gotten to a point where I wake up, sometimes before my alarm clock anticipating my time with Him. I hate it when something interrupts my ‘flow’ of our time together. It’s my sanity in the day, the lens that I put on to remind me of His perspective throughout the day. This ‘cup’ should not be a hurried thing, but a relaxed time of fellowship in His presence. I usually journal, read a devotion, read a portion of scripture in my overall ‘journey’ through the Bible, and lift up specific areas of concern or joy. But sometimes He has a totally different plan and we go on a scripture treasure hunt together or He points out an area in my life that He wants to deal with. The thing is that we spend that time together and it’s precious and life-giving.

The Lord wants your first cup of tea of the day. Don’t rob Him of that time and don’t rob yourself of that joy. Especially during this season, when you spend time with Him you remember what it’s all about. Daily time with the Lord will only further enrich your Christmas experience this year.

The second cup of tea I’d like you to partake of daily is with your family. Maybe you are in a season where you don’t have family, but you do have close relationships. Take time each day to slow down and appreciate your family or your close loved ones. Maybe you literally sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee with them. Maybe you play a board game with you child or grandchild. Maybe you all pile in the car and tour Christmas lights while listening to Christmas music. Maybe you go caroling to your neighbors or set a night aside to bake cookies as a family.

I know we have a wide age range of women in this group, but I’d like to take a moment to address the moms with children still at home. These years are precious. My children went from being helpless newborns to eight and eleven in a minute. Pastor Rob and I have worked with teenagers for a few decades now, I know how fast the next 7-10 years with my kids will go. We need to intentionally slow down and invest time and attention into our children. Holidays are a unique opportunity to make soul deep deposits in your children. We have the chance to lead our children deeper into their faith by showing them what Christmas is truly about. Don’t miss this, Mom!

Now to every lady in this room who either doesn’t have children or they’ve grown and gone on their own. You have a unique opportunity to invest in someone else this Christmas season. Take time for your family, or your neighbor, your grandchildren or the elderly friend down the road. Remember that relationships are what this life is really made of. The gift of time is the most precious commodity you have, share it willingly.

Remember that there are two cups of tea to have daily this Christmas season. The first and foremost is with the Lord. And the second is with others. Don’t let the hustle and bustle of the season turn you into a stressed out and bitter Martha. Choose to be Mary, listening at His feet instead and treasuring what He treasures most… people.

ct|woman ladies article

(November-December 2012)

Recently I visited downtown Chicago. Being from a tiny farming community I was a classic tourist; neck craned back in awe of the towering skyscrapers bursting from the city street around me.

Skyscrapers require a firm foundation, don’t they? If the base of the building isn’t solid, either the structure will never reach full potential, or it will crumble when stressed beyond it’s foundational capacity. The first outcome is disappointing, the second is destructive. When buildings collapse, people get hurt.

The life of a student is similar. Their future needs to be built on the firm foundation of the word. As parents we have a God-given responsibility to give our students the spiritual and moral bricks to assemble a solid base for their lives. This may seem to be an overwhelming task, but that’s where the Word of God and the leading of the Holy Spirit become so vital in the parenting process.

The most imperative foundational work in your student’s life actually begins in your own. Godly parenting begins with a hunger for the Word and spiritual growth in your life. You will never be equipped to shepherd your student’s heart if you haven’t allowed the Shepherd to direct yours. If you aren’t spending time in the Word and before the Lord daily, you are not adequately qualified to parent your student.

Proverbs is a great source of godly parenting advice. This Old Testament wisdom book leads us on the journey of a young man as he prepares to enter the world up through the time that he finds safety in his own home with a godly and virtuous wife. Proverbs tackles two primary concerns for teenagers; the wrong crowd and sexual sin. It’s amazing how a book written about 3000 years ago can be so relevant in modern time, isn’t it? Proverbs teaches us that wisdom begins in the home and as a young person grows, it continues in the marketplace and the even the courtroom.

If we lay a firm, biblical foundation in the lives of our students, we will see them grow to be strong towers of God’s love and faithfulness. In the decades to come today’s students can become the much-needed spiritual infrastructure that our country is currently lacking. Our hope as youth pastors and parents is to see the horizon line of our future take a new shape. With proper foundations laid, skyscrapers of faith will rise as strong examples of life and godliness to all who see them. I encourage you to lay the bricks in their lives carefully; we are engaged in tedious yet crucial work.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Proverbs 22:6

Love Yourself

Aren’t people beautiful? You may not spend a lot of time thinking about it but I’m a photographer. It’s my privilege to find beauty in people.

[show favorite images of all ages]

I believe everyone is created beautiful. I’m not blind. I believe the word of God and it says we are created in God’s own image. Genesis 1:27 – God actually repeats this, He really means it! A God who creates such beauty is surely beautiful Himself!

It’s funny. I have no difficulty finding beauty in most everyone else. Yet I have such a hard time finding it in myself. I know that I am not alone in finding it difficult to love myself. There are a lot of contributing factors.

The longer I walk with God the more I know about Him. And honestly, about myself. Through out this series we’ve talked about His love letter to us. The more we read and understand God’s Word, the more we hear what He has to say about us. Here are a few biblical truths written about you:

• Created in His image. Genesis 1:27
• Fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14
• He loves you enough to die for you. John 3:16
• He created you as a temple for His spirit to dwell. 1 Corinthians 6:19
• Created for good works. Ephesians 2:10

I know these things. I’ve drilled them into my brain. And yet I struggle - specially in the pastoral training process. Why do I still doubt my worth?

[last week’s test tutorial experience – the voice shouting in my brain – “you’re not good enough, you can’t do this!”]

After the tutorial I was relaying my feelings of inadequacy to Rob – he realized that even though this inner voice sound just like me, I have actually mistaken the devil’s voice for my own.

The reality is that Satan is a great ventriloquist. The best actually. He can speak and it will look and sound just like you. He wants to waylay your plans and destroy God’s calling on your life. The Bible tells us that His goal is to steal, kill and destroy. Why would we listen to Him?

And yet we do. How many of us have bought into the lie that we are not good enough. That we can never change. That we are junk and we’ll never be anything more than junk.

Remember Psalm 139:14?

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

 We are fearfully and wonderfully made. That doesn’t sound like junk to me? Junk is the Emerson sound system you can buy for twenty bucks at Walmart that will break in a week. Fearfully and wonderfully made is the Bose sound system that you fork over a thousand dollars for and expect to last for decades. We are fearfully and wonderfully made, high quality craftsmanship.

Remember Ephesians 4:10?

For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are His workmanship. The Greek word used here is ‘poem’. We are His poem. A poem is a thing of beauty and grace, a true expression from the heart of the writer. We are His poem.

We know we are made in His image, and that it is a good image. We know we are created for good works. How do we remove the voice of Satan from our heads?

I have three practical steps to shut down the lies of the devil in your head.

1)     Drive him off in Jesus name. You are a saved child of God, He has no business in your life anymore. The devil hates the name of Jesus. Remind yourself that the devil is a liar and a thief and you want no part of that.

2)     Saturate your life with the word of God. The more you read God’s word, the more you’ll know how to pray. You’ll be familiar with His promises to you. Jesus Himself used scripture to fight off Satan’s fiery darts, so this is a great example to us.

3)     Declare your dependency on and sufficiency in Christ.

When we are dependant, we acknowledge our absolute need for Him. We know that we are weak and fallen vessels. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12:11 that when we are weak, He is strong. We need Him to show himself strong in us and admitting our weakness is a great starting point.

      When we are sufficient in Christ we are saying that He is more than     enough. John 10:10 tells us that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy          but Jesus came to give us life and life to the full. If Jesus called you to do   something (school or witnessing or serving or fulfilling a specific dream)          you can trust that He is going to equip you for the task. And when you           complete it, you’ll give Him the glory.

There’s something more here though. I’ve given you practical steps to love yourself, but love is not that mechanical. It’s not a chemistry problem where you use specific ingredients in the correct order and heat it to the desired temperature and ‘presto’ you love yourself.

I wrestled with this conclusion. I honestly struggle with loving myself, but the longer I walk with Jesus the easier it has become. I was trying to put my finger on what it is that has changed, how am I ‘ok’ in Christ? I prayed and prayed about this message and this morning I finally had my ahah moment. It came to me like this…

When Rob fell in love with me, I was, for the first time, able to see myself in a new light. He loved everything about me. He was passionate, persistent, and vocal about his love for me. He insisted that I was beautiful, interesting, and important. And I believed him completely. My step was lighter, the world is brighter – all because this incredible person had chosen me to be with.

This is what we can experience with Jesus. When you spend time in devotions with Him – literally devoting yourself to Him, sharing your life with Him – you will learn to hear His voice and feel His intense affection for you.

Loving Jesus is where we learn to love ourselves.

When you are cherished by the Creator, you will see yourself through His eyes, a precious part of His creation. You’ll know there is something special about you because He says so. You’ll feel secure in who you are because Jesus doesn’t make mistakes.

Altar: [Gungor: Beautiful Things]

What did you connect with tonight?

Did you realize for the first time that satan is the liar in your head?

Maybe you realized that you can’t connect with what God’s word says about you if you haven’t read it.

Perhaps you realize you haven’t allowed yourself to fall in love with Jesus?

Maybe you have been living in your own strength.

Take a few moments here at the altar to sort these things out. Come let Jesus show you His incredible love for you.

Yesterday's Interview

Yesterday was incredible. Definitely a day that I will remember until I am old and grey. We had our Section Council, including my interview for licensing. (Janet's for ordination) I had taken my test on Thursday and it was killing me to know how I did. The council itself was great, I loved the message given on 2 Chronicles 7:14 - calling us all to fast and pray for our nation. I'm choosing to participate in that fast and I am really excited and challenged by it.

The interview went really well. I was afraid I said too much, that I was too emotional about how much I loved Jesus. But they said it was refreshing, in fact, the one interviewer said I answered all of his questions just in my testimony part. So I am passed on to the General Council for approval on my licensing. :) It was a great day and I am humbled and blessed. :)

Tis So Sweet

I have been so in love with my savior lately. Even His correction feels like love. I was thinking about it this morning and God brought to mind Rob's and my premarital counseling. I remember our dear Pastor Tom telling us that marriage made love sweeter. I distinctly recall thinking - but how could I love Rob more? So young, so naive. Now, after fourteen and half years of marriage, I think I have a better understanding of what Pastor Tom meant. There is something so cherished, so precious, about a lifetime of choosing each other daily. As the years roll by, my heart for my husband has only grown. Our relationship has deepened and sweetened over time. Our appreciation and need for one another has grown too, as has our mutual understanding.

The next thought God brought to mind is that my relationship with Him is just like that. Deepening and sweetening over time. And to think, that His relationship with me is eternal! What an incredible thought. I am so thankful for the treasure that is my relationship with the Lord. I encourage you to pursue Him with your whole heart and your love of Him sweeten over time.

No Offense

Last week we talked about God’s love. This week we are talking about our love of others. The more I thought about this subject the more I realized our largest stumbling block in loving others. Offense.

Have you ever been offended? I mean really offended?

When I was seven I got a brand new red scooter. Red was my favorite color and I had never had a new bike before in my life. Scooters were a huge trend (like heelies or iPhones) and I was completely stunned that my parents had shucked over the cash. My older brother got a grey one. But for whatever reason, the first day we had them, he took mine and went off-roading. Within 8 hours he had completely trashed it. The white rubber tires were grey and white tassles hanging from the handlebars were tattered. I cried and cried and cried.Ten years later while I was dating Pastor Rob I told him that story. It’s really hard to forget a big offense, isn’t it?

My daughter loves to say “no offense, but ….That hairstyle makes you look old.” “no offense, but Pastor Aaron knows more about the Bible than you.” “no offense, but I don’t like the way their house smells.”

Basically any time you hear Sarah utter the words “no offense” you just better brace yourself because offense is about to happen.

Offense is a problem in our relationships, isn’t it? I mean, everyone raised their hands when I asked if they’d ever been offended. We can all relate to that. Unfortunately, we all tend to hang on to that.

Just this week I’ve heard several adults (like vintage adults) talk about hurtful things that had been spoken to them as children. More than likely the offender doesn’t even remember what they said, but these adults are still carrying the weight of those words decades later.

Offense poisons our relationships. It seeps deep into our heart and destroys the way we think about a person, and eventually all people. Offense seriously interferes with our ability to love people.

Take a moment and think about the people that have hurt you or offended you. What is your relationship with them like now? If you’ve held that hurt in your heart, you likely can’t stand that person, you may even duck behind a locker when you see them. Either that or you have learned the bigger blessing of forgiveness – you barely even remember the offense and have chosen to move on in relationship with that person.

There are two sides to offense. Tonight we want to learn to handle both sides. Our scripture for this evening is found in Ephesians 2:29-32.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

First off we’ve touched on, to forgive the offense.  Verse 32 commands us to forgive each other. My dear friend said to me this weekend that ‘offense is of the devil’ – meaning that Satan wants you to wallow in offense. To allow offense to stick to you like a piece of gum on carpet – where it messes you up!

Forgiveness is unnatural and often times painful. We want to hang on to the hurtful word and turn it over and over in our mind until it’s so familiar it’s a part of us.

But Jesus taught by example to forgive. Remember when He was on the cross and the soldiers were gambling for his things? His words were “Forgive them Father, they do not know what they do.” Imagine that moment, you are dying and the very people that strung you up there are playing games for your clothes and mocking you. And yet Jesus forgave them. Just like He forgave us for all of our sins against Him. Surely no one can hurt us the way we’ve hurt Jesus, and yet He forgives.

We need to embrace His teaching and pass on the forgiveness that we have received. You might think, but they don’t deserve to be forgiven! But we didn’t deserve it either. You aren’t all that. I’m not all that! Romans 3:23 - All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

Remember that we are all sinners. Don’t think you are all that. Instead of focusing on the offenders shortcomings, remember yours. We had a pastor growing up that would always say that most of our issues were within our own hearts and we could easily spend the rest of our lives just working those things through. The older I get the more true I know this to be! Your heart is a mess and you have no business telling anyone else how to get it right.

Besides, hanging on to the unforgiveness hurts us far more than the original offense. You might need to start thinking now about people in your life that you need to forgive. It may be an older sibling who bullied you, a classmate that betrayed you, a parent that has failed you.

Ask God to help you let go of the offense. And every time it rears it’s ugly head, ask again. Until you have forgotten it completely.

The other side of offense is the offender – meaning the person who is offensive, the person who hurts.

I hate being an offender. It literally makes me sick to my stomach when I know I’ve hurt someone, but that’s just my personality quirk. There are lots of people in this world who will say or do what they want to and not care who it upsets.

The thing is, we all offend, with or without intention. I have a big mouth, so this has gotten me in trouble a lot over the years. I have a couple practical ways for you to learn to stop offending people.

Don’t say stupid stuff. Look at our scripture again. Don’t let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouth. Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Use your words wisely, to build others up.

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another.

Be kind. Cut out the nastyness in your heart that is not godly. Stop being vicious and angry. Allow the love of God to seep all the way down into your soul and affect the kind of person you are even on the inside.

Be loyal to the absent. Meaning, if someone isn’t there, don’t talk about them. If you wouldn’t say it to their face, don’t say it at all! This is harder than it sounds and you may need to really ask God to help you in this area.

Look for the best in others. You are going to find what you watch for. Like a red pair of Toms. You don’t see anyone with them until you bring home your pair; suddenly everyone has red Toms. Look for the good in other people to a point that it blinds you to the not-so-good.

Pray for the people that rub you the wrong way. Not like “God, give them what they deserve” kind of prayers, but pray for them the way you pray for yourself. This will change your heart towards them and maybe even change them too!

Letting go of offense and refusing to offend pleases God. Our lives can be like Christ’s who was ‘a fragrant offering’ to God. My prayer tonight is that you will let go of offense and choose not to offend others.

Altar: [Band-aids - Ephesians 4:29-32]

What offense do you need to let go of tonight?

Who have you offended and what needs to change that relationship?

God's Dream

This past weekend I attended Accelerated Minister's Training in Houston. One of the speakers talked at length about realizing your dream for your life. Early on in the session she had us write our dream down on a paper and turn it in. I struggled. This entire time I've been working on credentials, I haven't really known why, other than God told me to do it. I don't have a long term dream; there's no deep desire to run to the mission field, or to start some new ministry. All I could come up with is that I want to serve in ministry hand in hand with my husband (what I'm already doing) and to be a consistent lover of Jesus and His people, to continue to grow in Him and wisdom and humility.

This has bugged me since Saturday. I'm thinking and praying, "God, why don't I have a dream? Why doesn't it matter to me where I am going? Is there something wrong with me that I'm not a visionary or a dreamer?"

I read books, a lot of books in school. Most are written by high thinkers, visionaries, dream casters. I am not one of those people. I am a work hard day in and day out and ask God to bless it kind of girl. Reading all those books can make the 'hardworker' feel less than. Well, maybe I'm not called if God isn't giving me tremendous vision and dreams for our group?

This morning I was praying and asking God about all this. What is my dream? And I realized with a start that my dream is to fulfill His dream for me. My whole life has been about obediently stepping from one task to the other, one place to the next. I haven't seen some huge vision from the Lord, but I have seen the next step consistently. And I have tried to faithfully submit my life to His will. School has been a huge example of that, just trying to say 'yes, Lord' even when I didn't see a why. Even when it didn't make sense. A year after we started Rob and I went to the two message format and I could see His hand all over that.  God knew exactly where we were headed and what we would need to accomplish His plans for our youth group.

What I love about following the Lord is that He knows where He is going. Being omniscient, He is through all time and has perfect understanding of the best course.

So this morning I submit to you that my dream is to fulfill His dream for me. I don't know what that looks like. The further along the more things solidify, but I could have never in a million years guessed that this perfect fit of a life I have at this moment would be where He would put me, but it was never a surprise for Him.

So what about being a dreamer? I think I finally have realized that being a dreamer is important, well and good, but somebody needs to be the worker behind the dream. I am perfectly content to work hard and listen carefully for the next step for His glory. I'm just so incredibly thankful that God saw fit to include unworthy little me in His plan. :)

Deep thoughts for a Monday morning, but I was blessed by it! :)


 As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.       Isaiah 55:9 

If the Lord delights in a man’s way, he makes his steps firm; though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.    Psalm 37:24-25

September/October 2012 ct|woman article

How can I shepherd my student’s heart when I feel so overwhelmed by the world we live in?

This question is on my mind because of my own struggle. Every where I turn I see evidence of our society’s ignorance or outright denial of the Lord and His word. It breaks my heart and grieves my soul. Then I remember that I am raising two children in this world. How can I set the example? How do we turn the worldly current that daily crashes against the moral foundation of our home?

Pray. Paul exhorts us to pray unceasingly. (1 Thessalonians 5:17) Prayer should be as regular to us as breathing. Pray with elements of thanksgiving, confession, intercession, supplication, spiritual warfare, praise and adoration. The battle for your student’s heart will be won on your knees.

Teach. Let the Bible be well known in your home. Scripture is the inspired word of God and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. (2 Timothy 4:16) Do devotions as a family, not as a chore but as a joy. Open this life giving book and apply it’s truth to your lives together.

Inspire. Live a life worth following. Again, Paul tells us “Follow my example as I follow Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1) Show your student what it means to love the Lord and to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. Live openly and honestly, let them see you wrestle with a decision and seek the will of God. Let them see you read and obey the word of God. Let them see you depend on God to move or resolve a situation. Let them see you honor and praise God in the good times and bad times. Let them see you grown in your faith, love, and dependency of Him.

These are troubling times we live in. More and more, the moral decay of our fallen world points towards the imminent return of Christ. We cannot become overwhelmed by the state of things and stop pursuing and proclaiming Christ. If anything, the moral climate should further motivate the work of our Lord and Savior! Lead your students in the same holy work by praying, teaching and inspiring.

                                                                                                Anna Thoreson

                                                                                                Psalm 78:5-7

Vacation at Last!!

I've all but abandoned real blogging. Not because that's my heart, but because my life is just far too full at the moment. It's a good happy full though. But today, today we are on vacation and I am treasuring every moment of it, thoroughly enjoying the down time and the warmth and presence of my sweet family.

Yesterday we slept in till eight. Till EIGHT! This was very exciting in my world. I then got up and had a leisurely quiet time. Enjoyed an english muffin. In my pajamas. All at a very slow pace. We eventually got it together enough to make it to an 11:25 showing of The Lorax. eh. Not my cup of tea, but the kids liked it and for the Monday family price of $3.00, it was right up our alley. After that we stopped at Tuesday Morning to find cases for the kids new iPods (thank you, Grammy) and then Barnes and Noble for some perusing. Followed up by an icey Starbucks. Home to chill, and then $12 worth of chinese takeout in front of a family friendly movie rounded out our lovely day.

Today I woke up at 7am. A little disappointed by my early wakeup, I used the extra time with my Bible and prayer and worship. So heavenly to just spend as long as I wanted, rather than rushing to the next thing. Spent an hour or so cleaning the house. We ate lunch at home and then went to Malibu Castle, a local video arcade/gocart/minigolf place. They have an awesome Tuesday special so we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, only taking a break to find an Orange Leaf, wander through a jewelry store, and head back for more.

On the way home we decided we were much too tired from playing so hard to cook out as previously planned, so we pitstopped at Red Robin with a Groupon for dinner. Yummmm. Home again and everyone's just doing their thing. It's really nice. I'm looking forward to 7 more days of doing what we want when we want to.

The coolest part of this vacation thus far has been our budget. Rob and I set a budget. We got the cash and showed the kids. (We spent the last month brainstorming a list of somewhat local things to do this week) The kids are helping us decide where we go and what we spend. It's been a really cool lesson in cash flow for them!

The biggest thing still on my vacation list is a trip to Gigi's Cupcakes. I can almost taste it!!

Responding to God's Call; Prayer and Fasting

shiftJV

Responding to God’s Call; Prayer and Fasting

Spiritual Disciplines. Doesn’t sound like fun, does it? Nobody likes discipline, right? Well, you are probably thinking of the word discipline as punishment for wrong doing. Tonight I’d like you to consider the root word of discipline; disciple. A disciple is a follower, in our case, a Christ follower. In this situation, discipline means the rigor or training effect of experience, adversity. Like a soldier training for his job on the battlefield, we need to train as Christians. I want to encourage you to look at this series as training in your development as a Christian. Tonight we care going to cover two disciplines.

The first is prayer. Prayer is your lifeline to God. It’s how we communicate with Him. Prayer keeps our heart connected with God’s heart. When I was a kid, long before cell phones when home phones still had cords, we played ‘telephone’ with two tin cans and a string. Through some magic mystery of science, when I spoke into my can, my sister, connected by a string and her own tin can, could hear me. We told many secrets through this can and string contraption, and hatched many plans. The thing is though, if you snipped the string, the conversation was over, the magic no longer worked.

Prayer is our tin can and string telephone to God. As long as we stay connected to Him, He leads our life and gives us hope. When we drop the can or cut the string, we lose that connection. Suddenly we find ourselves lost and overwhelmed. Prayer is our lifeline to God, and it is our responsibility to pick up the can and stay in connection. God is such a gentleman, He’s not going to force Himself on you. You have to choose Him of your own free will.

So how do we pray? What does prayer look like? How do you know if you are doing it right? Prayer is simply a conversation with God. Just like you would sit and have a conversation with a friend, God wants to sit and hear your heart. He’s an encouraging friend though, who truly does have the power to change your situation.

Ok, so it’s a conversation. But what do you say? It feels so one sided, doesn’t it? Like He’s not going to respond. Scripture gives us a clue into this in Matthew 6:6:

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you…”

It helps to close yourself off with God. Find a place in your world that you can separate yourself and seek Him. I have two places. I like to pray in my laundry room. No one else goes in there, I think they are afraid they may catch a chore or something. So it’s kind of my secret place. I’ve got a chair in there. The hum of the machines covers any noises I make. Which I do encourage you to pray out loud, it helps you articulate what you are speaking to God about. It also keeps you focused.

The other place I really like to pray is in my car, when I’m by myself. I like that too, because I can be as loud as I want and I control the stereo.

God knows us. He knows that we are easily distracted. He knows that we care about what others think of us. This is why praying in private is our best option; that way all we care about is what He thinks of us.

Scripture goes on in this chapter to tell us how exactly to pray. Hopefully you guys are familiar with this prayer:

This is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  Matthew 6:6, 9-13

Jesus didn’t only give us this prayer to be a wrote prayer, meaning one we recite over and over until the words are burned into our brains and it becomes meaningless. He gave us the Lord’s prayer as a model or a template for how we are to pray.

Let's unpack this prayer.

Our Father in heaven. God is our father, he loves us as only a father can love, unfailing and merciful. He’s watching over every detail of our life.

Hallowed be your name. Sacred, honored, incredible is our God. Keep us sensitive to who you really are, all powerful, loving, all-knowing, Lord over everything, able to move in every situation.

Your kingdom come, Your will be done. God establish Your kingdom and Your will in my heart and life, and in the lives of people around me. Keep me kingdom minded, meaning that Your priorities are my priorities.

Give us our daily bread. Provide for our needs God. We are weak and dependant people, you are our supplier in every way. I trust you for tomorrow.

Forgive our debts. God, I’ve sinned against you. I’m sorry. I repent. I turn from my wrong doing and I receive what Jesus did on the cross for my sin.

We also forgive our debtors. Help me to forgive the people who have hurt me. Just as you haven’t held a grudge against my sin, allow me to do the same for others.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Help me to remember Lord, that You always provide a means of escape from temptation. Help me to avoid it, and to look to you instead. Keep me out of Satan’s grasp. Hold me in Your hand instead.

You can see where this prayer would be life changing, right? 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray continually. Remember our example of the tin can string telephone. Don’t put the phone down. Invite God into every area of your life.

The second discipline this evening is that of fasting. When I say fasting I don’t mean running fast. Wow, I’d for sure be disqualified if that was the case. We always laugh that I would be the first one to die in the Hunger Games.

So not going fast. What I am talking about is going without something in order to spend that effort on your relationship with God. It’s saying that God is more important that whatever it is you are giving up.

Matthew 6:16-17 has something to say about fasting too.

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, wash your face, so that it will not be obvious that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

Fasting is an opportunity for you to choose Jesus. Giving up food is one way to fast, and that’s a great thing to do. It may be really difficult for you guys to give up food though, because of your ages and your growth. But you can still fast other things and I encourage you to think about what you can do without for the sake of growing in God.

Examples might be videogames. If you spend 4 hours a day playing video games and can’t manage to find five minutes to read your Bible each day then I’m betting that God could really change your life if you fasted video games for a season. The idea is that you take the time that you were spending on whatever it is you are giving up and instead spending that time and effort with God.

Maybe texting is something you should fast. If texting consumes your free time then perhaps it’s time to give it up for a season while you get your life centered on God and the Word.

Maybe you fast sleep. Not like the whole night, but say you sacrifice that last half an hour in the morning. You set the clock back and get up a little earlier so you can spend some time with the Lord. Early in the morning is my favorite time with Him, it really gives you perspective for the entire day.

You could fast soda or sweets. You could fast gum. You could fast electronics or Facebook. You could fast from music in order to hear God’s voice more clearly. It doesn’t matter what you fast nearly as much as it matters what you do with that fast. Purposefully choose Jesus and time with Him. Know that you are giving up something important to you in order to make HIM more important to you. When I choose an item to fast, I like to try to choose an item that is a hangup for me – that way I will grow in my character during the fast.

Like our scripture says, don’t whine about what you are fasting. In fact, let it be something secret between you and God. He will reward you for your faithfulness.

This week we’ve had opportunity to seek God at church more than usual. Those of you who have sacrificed your evenings the past few nights have experienced God in a fresh way. Understand that deepening your experience with God is not limited to church experiences. Prayer and Fasting are personal disciplines that will grow your relationship with God with a depth that you cannot receive at church. Personal spiritual disciplines, meaning the investments you make on your own time, those are the anchors that tie your life to Christ. If you only receive from Jesus at church, when you stop going to church, you stop walking with Him. On the other hand, if your relationship with Jesus is something you pursue daily on your own time, it will last for the long-term. And we’ve talked about this before, but I cannot over-emphasize the importance of finishing this race. Your eternity has not been affected if you don’t serve Jesus through your final days. A season of attending church during junior high is not going to keep you out of hell’s flames. It’s about walking with Him throughout your life.

So tonight you have an opportunity to take your relationship to the next level. This is your chance to commit to prayer and fasting. I have some little cards here at the altar. If you feel like you can commit to prayer and fasting, I’d like you to come forward, take a card and a pen, pray about it and fill it out.

This spring has been an incredible one for me. We had a very wet first two months of the year, so by the end of February, beginning of March, the wildflowers were exploding everywhere you look. I have never seen such beauty in my life, it was like living in a Monet painting. I spent many hours driving during this season - just my usual trips to Houston and Dallas this time of year. What a privilege to take in the sights I saw. On one trip I realized with a gasp how Texas has really become my home. Over the past five years, I have fallen in love with it. This really startles me, because Iowa has always been my first love. I always thought if given the chance, I would go back in a heartbeat. But now I know the pure joy of being in God's best for my life. I will always love Iowa, it will always be where I am from and I will represent my state with brazen pride among a sea of Texans - but now Texas is my home. I love the life we have here and I embrace it fully. Just thought you should know. :)

Spiritual Healing

Weeds

Sometimes I like to randomly post on Facebook a true confession. It’s just a weird little quirk of mine, I think it dates back to my childhood in the catholic church.  Here are a few of my recent true confessions:

“confession time: I just hit the 'buy' button on grey shellac nail polish to go with my Easter outfit.”

“True Confessions; I've had "I Love You Like a Love Song" by Selena Gomez in my head all evening. Sometimes I'm such a teenage girl!”

Tonight I want to make a confession to you guys, but you have to promise not to hold it against me. I got married at 18 for a reason. Not the reason you are thinking of. I got married to change my maiden name. It was pretty much the worst last name you could think of. My last name was “Klapp”. Which, if you didn’t know it, was the street name for gonorrhea.

My poor dad taught high school biology for years. One day one of his students raised his hand in front of the whole class and asked him..

“Mr. Klapp, are you a disease?”

The reality is that we all have a disease. It’s an incurable disease; doctors have no antidote. It’s highly contagious, in fact everyone has it to some degree, there’s no vaccine. As this disease progresses, it will eventually annihilate your system. This disease always ends in death. Some die quickly, others take years.

You are probably looking around the room thinking, “I don’t feel like I’m sick. My friends don’t look sick!”

We are all suffering from a disease called sin. Sadly a lot of people don’t even realize they are infected, but regardless of your understanding, the wages of sin are death. That’s a Biblical fact. Life lived apart from God equals death apart from God. Death apart from God equals hell.

This disease, Sin, destroys our relationship with God. Isaiah 1:15 paints this picture for us. “When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you, even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; Wash and make yourself clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight. Stop doing wrong, learn to do right!”

This verse tells us very clearly that sin in our lives will cause God to turn away from our prayers. Hopefully you have all made the choice to accept Christ as your savior. A miraculous thing happened in your life the moment you did. As we read on in Isaiah, we can see what Christ did for us with this sin issue.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Isaiah 1:18

God is a reasonable God. He did not want to condemn and destroy His people. In His perfection, in His love for us, Jesus covered our sins. He was the blood atonement – the only cure for our sin problem. We were spiritually diseased and dying, but Jesus made a way to restore us, to heal us spiritually.

When we accept Jesus and His restorative work in our lives, we are made new, whole again. We’ve experienced spiritual healing, God sees us as He sees Jesus; sanctified. Sanctified is another $10,000 Bible word - it means made holy. Sanctification is the process of being made holy.

Sanctification is an incredible miracle especially because it works in three ways; past present and future.

Sanctification works in the past because it covers what you already have done. When you accept Christ, you are instantly sanctified, meaning if you died in that moment, you are seen as perfect and sinless, because Christ’s blood covers you. All your old stuff (skeletons in the closet) is covered by Christ’s sacrifice. You have been sanctified.

Sanctification is also present tense, meaning it’s happening right now. You and I are being sanctified. It is a daily process. Each day we make choices towards or against Christ. We choose to swim upstream (towards God) or float downstream (away from Him) every day. When we choose God, when we make an effort to grow in our relationship, we are becoming more like Him. We are being sanctified. You will never ‘arrive’ at sanctification in your own strength. But that brings us to the last stage of sanctification, the future stage; you will be sanctified.

One day you will pass away or be raptured. I will too, it’s kind of a bummer if you are super attached to this life. But as Christians, we know that this life is just the preface in a really good book. Our real future is with Jesus in heaven. So that day, when you will die or be raptured and stand before God. He will look at you and see Jesus. In that moment, you will be sanctified, made perfectly holy before God. (I am really looking forward to that moment because I am generally a mess!) You will be sanctified – future tense.

So we will be sanctified. What do we do in the meantime, now that we know that we have received this spiritual healing from Jesus? How does that change our today?

Let’s concentrate on that ‘present’ stage of sanctification, since that’s where most of us are at in our walk with Him. How do we live holy lives in a fallen, sinful world?

Isaiah tells us that God wants us to repent, to put aside evil, to strive to do what is right and obey His word. The sad truth is, when we cling own rebellious ways, we will be destroyed.

Leviticus 19:2 tells us “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” This is a pretty high standard, right? Have you achieved holiness yet? I certainly have not.

We can only be holy when we depend on God to make us holy. Further on in the book of Leviticus God promises multiple times to make us holy. The thing is that we need to surrender to the process.

We started this message with true confessions. I have another one for you.

I’ve had a rough week. I’ve been stressed out this week. Things have just been coming at me really fast, I have a lot of important deadlines and a lot of people counting on me. Can anyone relate?

I’ve shared before that worry and anxiety are pet sins of mine.. Meaning sins that I pick back up frequently and easily, comfort sins if you will. We all have pet sins. For some of you it’s eating, or pornography, or cutting, or anger. Anxiety is my sin of choice.

So on Monday morning my quiet time was about weeds of sin in our hearts and allowing the Father to pull them. I was very discouraged while reading it, asking God, “Why are we pulling these same weeds? My particularly stubborn weeds of anxiety, fear, and self-reliance. I have struggled with this sin for decades now, when will I be free of it?”

And then Holy Spirit reminded me that a prize garden needs to be weeded daily. The thing about weeds is that they are prolific; they grow quickly and spread rapidly. We need to daily allow the Master Gardener to come in to our heart and pull weeds. It can be an uncomfortable process, especially the larger we’ve allowed the weeds to grow, the deeper the root system is. If the Gardener hasn’t been allowed in the garden in a while, imagine how overgrown it would be? What a process to right the situation!!

The truth is that you and I cannot successfully navigate righteousness on our own. We need the daily tending of the Gardener, of God. We must allow Him to till our hearts each day to keep us on the right track. And yes, you will get tired of the same weeds growing back again, but picture His patience and faithfulness as He tends to your heart each day. The more attune to His weeding you are, the quicker you will spot those new weeds, and even temptations as they begin to take root.

We join together with God in the process of present sanctification. We can’t do it on our own, but we work with God by allowing Him daily access to our hearts. And through that time, He performs spiritual healing, making us more like Him day by day.

Tonight it’s time to identify weeds in your heart. Figure out what sins have a tendency to overgrow and crowd your life. For me it’s anxiety and fear and worry. For you it might be lust or greed or coveting (wanting what someone else has). It might be dishonesty or stealing. It might be low-self worth, that you don’t value what God has created in you. You might be considering suicide or self harm.  It might be that you have disrespect towards authority. It might be independence, to the point that you can’t see your need for God. It might be that you struggle with anger and defiance.

We all have an inborn tendency towards sin. And I personally believe that each of us has a particular sin or group of sins that we gravitate towards – a bent. I don’t want you to leave this place without identifying that sin.

We are going to take two minutes of quiet here to ask God to reveal in your heart what your particular weeds are. If you already know, begin praying about how to start the process up pulling up those weeds.

[two minute of silence]

Now that you know your area of weakness, I want to spend two minutes seeking God about that area of your life. Ask Him to uproot the sin that threatens to overtake your heart. Commit to surrendering yourself to daily weeding. Pray hard, like your life depends on it, because those pet sins are the most likely to destroy you.

[two minutes of prayer]

Emotional Healing

Everybody Hurts

When I was about your age, I was running around an old lot, playing with my friends. We did that back then, we weren’t concerned with safety and stranger danger back in the eighties. Anyway, I was wearing the canvas sneakers that are popular again now. Back then we called them boat shoes. They are great shoes, really cheap, can get thrown in the wash, just super easy to wear. Also, it turns out, pretty flimsy. See, I ran right over a board that happened to have a huge old nail in it. It happened so fast that as I lifted my foot for the next step, the board was still stuck to my foot. I had to stop, and pull the board off, the nail out of my tennis-shoed foot. I remember being really tough, not crying, even though it really hurt. The thing is, that everybody hurts.

Sometimes we physically hurt, like a nail through the foot. Other times we hurt deep on the inside, in our heart or in our minds. Tonight, I want to tell you a story about a man who was hurting.

Luke 8:26-35

 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,^[a] which is across the lake from Galilee. When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.

This guy was a box of crazy. He was so broken, so lost, so hurting that he was naked, hanging out in a cemetery. Imagine how miserable his life was, that naked in a graveyard was his only option left.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”

When we encounter Jesus, we recognize His glory. Even this guy, who had lost his mind, understood the presence of Jesus. No one is beyond the hope of Jesus. There is no ‘too far’ in the Kingdom of God. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done or how badly you’ve blown it, there is still forgiveness available to you.

This guy cried out “what do You want with me?” People still cry that today when they meet Jesus. When we realize His presence, His love, we come to a place of awareness and surrender, where we are willing to give everything up to follow Jesus. The awesome thing is that all Jesus really wants is for us to follow Him.

 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.  

Our sins and our brokenness put us in chains. Sometimes the hurts of others have put these chains on us. Words can shove us into a dark place. The thing is that we are incapable of escaping this pit on our own. Just like this man in the book of Luke, he was unable to help himself, it’s the same for us. We are trapped by our own despair. This man’s emotional state and demon possession drove him to solitary places – meaning drove him away from people, out to the places where no one wanted to be. Seriously, how much time have you spent in a cemetery? If you’ve been to one, it was likely for a funeral and I imagine you got out of there as quick as you could. This man was living there, with death everywhere around him. That’s enough to keep anyone insane, right?

Satan used his demons to drive this man to the cemetery, to live among the dead. This is a tactic that Satan still uses today. When Satan controls our life, he drives us to solitary places. He wants to keep you down and out, away from the Light and Truth of Jesus.

Back to our Bible story..

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”   “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

Do you think this guy started out with many demons? Or do you think he maybe slipped into demon possession, one sin, one lousy choice at a time? No one wakes up one day and thinks “I’m going to give myself over to demon possession today.” Instead they make lousy choices, choosing themselves and what feels good over and over.

I have a friend that is Christian now, in fact he is an ordained AG minister who’s life was radically transformed by Jesus. But not too many years ago he was a drug dealer. He was sharing his testimony with me and it was surprising. Guess how long it took from his first smoke of marijuana to actually being a drug dealer? Three months.

Sin consumes and the rate is always greater than you anticipate – meaning sin will always take you further than you want to go quicker than you want to get there. Sin will always cost more than you want to pay. Sin opens the door for demon possession, and sin always steals your emotional health.

I have quite a few friends that are big fat sinners, I mean, I love them, but they are living for themselves; drunk or using, sleeping around, partying and all of that life. They would tell me that Christianity is a bunch of rules and they want to live in ‘freedom’. When I look at my life and try to measure my joy, compared to their lives, which are absolute misery, there is no question in my mind as to who is really living in freedom.

When we submit to Jesus, we experience radical, soul-thrilling freedom. Let me continue with our scripture.

 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.  A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.  When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 

Jesus sets us free dramatically. He destroys the demons that possess us. He releases us from the captivity of Satan. It’s like that song “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free..”

 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,  and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind;

When we released from Satan’s hold, not only are we set free, but we experience wholeness again. This man was restored. He was made new and right again. There was an outward change in his appearance and his behavior. The people around him took notice.

and they were afraid.

Why were they afraid? Perhaps the people got a glimpse of Jesus’ power. Perhaps they got a glimpse of who He truly was. Perhaps they realized that if this man was healed, dressed and in his right mind, that everything else that Jesus had said was true. That is a pretty scary thought if you are living far from loving God. A real encounter with Jesus demands a verdict. When we experience His presence we have to do something with that information. For most of us, we have to give some things up in order to live for Him.

So tonight is a decision point for you. What is the verdict going to be? Are you going to believe in Jesus and receive His miracle of emotional healing and salvation? Or are you going to leave afraid and stunned by what you have heard.

Each of us has hurts that only a touch from Jesus can heal. But the good news is that it only takes a few moments in His presence to receive His life changing touch. With every eye closed, I’d like for you to raise your hand if you, too, need an emotional healing. There is a hurt in your life, a wound in your heart. It may be mean words spoken over you, a parent that has not believed in you, a friend that betrayed you. You may feel like your own emotions betray you, that you can’t get it together on your own. Tonight you can receive healing that only Jesus can provide.

[pray for students with raised hands]

The last part of this text captures Jesus’ instructions to this man who experienced His healing touch. He says “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.”

If you have experienced Jesus’ healing touch in your life. If you’ve had an encounter with him this evening. If He has set you free. Go home, and tell what God has done for you! This miracle happened before the cross, before the resurrection, before the great commission, but we can see from it that God’s heart has always been that we share our faith with others. Go and tell!