Month: October 2017

I often think we try too hard to define courage. We look for it to be a big cataclysmic event or episode of infallible bravery. But what if it was simplified to just one step towards faith, away from what confines us to familiarity. Or one proclamation of weakness, in which we rely on God to fill that gap between our incapability and His outcome.
Maybe courage is simply having the faith to know God will fill the space. What if courage is just the faith to say yes to obedience and trust that God is in control of the outcome? Courage may just be freeing ourself of the pressure of outcome.
Think about it, what makes us hesitate in the first place? What is it that opens the door to the need for courage in the first place? Many times it’s not the act itself that I need the courage to complete. The majority of my fear I truly believe isn’t in the act, but rather in the outcome.
When we free ourself of the responsibility of the outcome and truly put our obedience in His hands, our faith that His strength and His plan is higher than our own capabilities is liberating.
When I am free from the pressure of the outcome I am able to align my courage with His call. I take the step, he maps the destination. I make the move, he holds the result. What is my role? My role is to align myself to my Father’s heart. My role is to realize that in my greatest weaknesses and most uncertain stances that is where the Father resides eagerly waiting for me to boast gladly of my weakness. Urging me to step out, not in my own courage, but in my obedience so that His perfect will can be complete. He never meant for me to carry the responsibility of the outcome. My courage comes from releasing it.

The chasm between what I know and what my heart believes.
I know the words, but does my heart believe them enough to fulfill them. I’m singing the abc’s, but it’s just a catchy tune I keep reciting. Are my steps in sequence enough to make the words to speak the sentences…to guide my steps…to apply their truth?
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you”. (Psalm 119:11)
I know it, I quote, I might even hide it in my heart; but am I using it to not cause offense to him? Do I actually read the scriptures and apply them so that I do my best to live holy? I mean, isn’t that what the verse says. I’m holding on to your word and keeping it close to my heart for the purpose of doing my best to not sin against you.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.”(Psalm 119:105)
I can quote it, but do I trust it? Have I put it in sequence with my daily steps so that those words have meaning.
If so, wouldn’t my steps be more secure and my direction more focused?
“Be anxious for nothing but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests..”(Phil 4:6)
I know it, I quote it….but how many times have I missed the application? Have I used the letters to make the words come to life? Or am I just reciting the alphabet?  What meaning do the words have in my life if I’m not using them to fulfill their purpose?

When what my brain can recite starts coming together with what my heart believes, the scriptures start becoming more applicable. Living, breathing, almost tangible.
“For I know the plans I have for you”(Jeremiah 29:11), starts to look a lot like hope and I can see light shining across the chasm.
When Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9
“…therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses…”, it sounds a lot more like strength and grace than defeat. When I actually believe that, “His grace is sufficient for me”, I can walk in freedom. Live in liberty.
Phil 4:8, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things”, this starts to breath instructions for peace.
You see, we know the scriptures and we quote them, but when they actually come alive in us they have the power to light the chasm.
The parable of the lost sheep, “he is happier about that one sheep than about the 99 that didn’t wander”, sounds a lot like hope and worth.
And the chasm from what I know and what my heart believes begins to fade as the truth of God’s word breaths life through the gap. And there, I’m free to live in the rhythm and the promise of God’s truth.

ABCDEFG…….

Being in a relationship with God isn’t about knowing scriptures. It is far less about memorization of verses and eloquent words spoken in prayer and more about how we connect to the promises of God. The Bible is a living breathing love letter the Father has sent to us. However, many times, I feel like we treat it as a piece of literature memorized for reciting on queue when we want to appear well versed or as ammunition to pack when defending our opinions. Or further, we quote it without ever really understanding the truth we recite. Never grasping the meaning in the flow of the words that roll so easily from our muscle memory. (Thank you Sunday school for engraving such scripture into our brains)
However, often times are we not like a child when learning their abc’s. They start off with what seems to be this long list of letters that really serve little purpose as they stand alone. But once learned and then brought together and applied, open an entire new world…words. The ABCs give us a catchy tune as we learn to sing them in order. But letters don’t fulfill purpose until you understand their sounds and the purpose they serve in structuring words and then ultimately formulating sentences.
It’s only once they’ve been given order or pattern that they take on meaning. Once we start applying them together and in specific sequences, this is when words come alive! Do we not, at times, live in this state of infancy with Scripture? God’s word playing like a catchy tune as we’ve memorize the alphabet so to speak. We recite the catchy tunes, but they are nothing more to us than a child reciting ABCs because we haven’t listened for what sounds they make in our life. What purpose they serve. We haven’t began applying what we know to make it mean anything in our day to day walk….

And here, here is where I stumble upon my next chasm….between what my mind knows and what my heart believes….

TO BE CONTINUED