Shining

I read a verse of Scripture today that struck me in a way that felt so much bigger than the words themselves. Philippians 2:15: “… so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without blemish though you live in a crooked and perverse society, in which you shine as lights in the world . . .”

These words stood out to me: “blameless, pure, of God, in a crooked and perverse society . . . shine as lights”—and with these holy words, a vivid memory played out in my mind.

A couple of days ago I rented a movie, a comedy. After watching it for a while, I jumped out of my chair in a race to shut the thing off as fast as I could.  An extremely nasty, graphic scene still plays out in my mind, stubbornly stuck in my memory. How can I get rid of it? I can’t fathom how the movie was produced for public viewing. I can’t even begin to imagine what the actor in the scene must have felt like in having to play the action he did . . . I mean, how deep into filth is our culture going to nosedive?

Now that I think of it, aren’t most comedies these days incredibly raunchy? Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy humor as much as anyone. But, honestly, what comic entertainment, if any, these days could be enjoyed by Jesus, who has a tremendous sense of humor?

Our culture is degrading itself more and more. It is shameful not just stupid.

What does it mean to “shine as lights in the world” anyway? I like to laugh, and I truly get caught up in love stories; I’m an average human being living in the 21^st century. At the same time, I am a person of the Word of life. I intimately know the Maker of heaven and earth. I have a love relationship with a Person who is called “the Light of the world” because He is the glory of heaven itself. He lived among us once and has given us who believe in Him, His very own Spirit, to carry inside ourselves. We can be the Light of the world as well.

I have to ask myself, Am I shining?

Ok, so I have written books that I hope shine the light of Jesus. But are words enough? Jesus left many of His creative, powerful words to shine in the world.  I don’t think even His words would be enough. No, I believe what we need is His presence. We need Him. And that is precisely why He went to Heaven and sent His Spirit to live in us.

The people who beheld Jesus saw the shining face of God. Can it be true, when people see one of His true followers, they see the Light of heaven in us?

Once when Jesus healed a man, blind from birth, He said, “While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

While I am in the world, am I the light of the world because Jesus lives in me? I can’t shine at all if I stay hidden, of if I am part of a blinded society that has lost its way in the dark.

I know that Jesus isn’t legalistic; He sets captives free to live His life. He is all about the spirit of the law, not the letter of the law. I get that. I am turned off by religiosity.

So, how do we shine? How do we live in the world but not become part of it?

Maybe it is a matter of which way we face. Are we moving towards the light? In every moment?

What if we turned our faces towards Heaven, and lived 100%  true to Jesus? What if, all day long, every single day, we cared most about our own relationship with Him than anything else? Would we then live IN God?

Lord of heaven and earth, am I turned towards the pure, brilliant Light of your presence? Am I reflecting Your brilliance? Jesus, shine me as much as You’d like. Amen.

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A Man After God’s Own Heart — Brennan Manning’s Passing

A week ago I searched online to see if Brennan Manning had written a new book. I discovered he had died last month (April 12, 2013).  I immediately felt the loss and discovered I had really loved him. His words had so often come to me from God’s own heart. I sat under the spell of his teaching an entire day and had felt I’d been sitting on the mount in Israel listening to Jesus teach, and often his eyes had found me in the crowd. I had felt nothing short of awe in the deepest part of my being that day – Brennan was full of the Holy Spirit and his words found their mark dead center.

I took a good while to think about Brennan, how much he’d done for his Lord, and for people like me … I felt sad for the world but, also, I felt joy for him and for God. What a beautiful moment in heaven it must have been when Abba gathered him close and Jesus kissed him, full of smiles. Brennan Manning knew Jesus and Jesus knew him.

Brennan would be the first to tell you he wasn’t perfect. What he boasted to know, though, was God’s favor and grace and he always spoke about the rich and abundant, Divine love that was so full of freedom and wildness. He talked about the furious longing of God … oh, yes, he knew what it was like to really know God. He could write and talk about it in ways that inspired many, many people.

I often thought Brennan was the only man on earth who could describe God’s love worthy to the task. In memory of him, I’d like to quote some of what I think are his best sayings:

 

♥  God loves who we really are–whether we like it or not, and calls us, as He did Adam, to come out of hiding into a safe place. No amount of spiritual makeup can render us more presentable to Him. “Come to Me now,” Jesus says. “Acknowledge and accept who I want to be for you: a Savior of boundless compassion, infinite patience, unbearable forgiveness, and love that keeps no score of wrongs.”

♥  Faith is the courage to accept acceptance.

♥  God loves you for who you are, not for who you should be.

♥  The truth of faith has little value when it is not also the life of the heart.

♥  Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. This is the true self. Every other identity is illusion.

♥  I have been seized by the power of a great affection.

♥  The Christ within who is our hope of glory is not a matter of theological debate or philosophical speculation. He is not a hobby, a part-time project, a good theme for a book, or a last resort when all human effort fails. His is our life, the most real fact about us. He is the power and wisdom of God dwelling within us.

♥  Suffering, failure, loneliness, sorrow, discouragement, and death will be part of your journey, but the Kingdom of God will conquer all these horrors.

This last quote is a long one but my favorite of all quotations; it is from his book: The Rabbi’s Heartbeat:

♥

On a recent five-day silent retreat, I spent the entire time in John’s gospel. Whenever a sentence caused my heart to stir I wrote it out longhand in a journal. The first of many entries was also the last: “The disciple Jesus loved was reclining next to Jesus. He leaned back on Jesus’ breast” (John 13:23, 25). We must not hurry past this scene in search of deeper revelation, or we will miss a magnificent insight. John lays his head on the heart of God, on the breast of the Man whom the council of Nicea defined as “being coequal and consubstantial to the Father . . . God from God, Light from Light, True God from True God.”

This can be a personal encounter, radically affecting our understanding of who God is and what our relationship with Jesus is meant to be. God allows a young Jew, reclining on the rags of his twenty-odd years, to listen to his heartbeat!

Have we ever seen the human Jesus at closer range?

Clearly, John was not intimidated by Jesus. He was not afraid of his Lord and Master. John was deeply affected by this sacred Man.

Fearing that I would miss the divinity of Jesus, I distanced myself from His humanity, like an ancient worshiper shielding his eyes from the Holy of Holies. But as John leans back on the breast of Jesus and listens to the heartbeat of the Great Rabbi, he comes to know Him in a way that surpasses mere cognitive knowledge. What a world of difference lies between knowing about someone and knowing Him.

In a flash of intuitive understanding, John experiences Jesus as the human face of God who is love. And in coming to know who the Great Rabbi is, John discovers who he is–“the disciple Jesus loved.” For John the heart of Christianity was not an inherited doctrine but a message born of his own experience. And the message he declared was, “God is love” (I John 4:16).

The recovery of passion begins with the recovery of my true self as the beloved. If I find Christ I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him . . . the goal and purpose of our lives. John did not believe that Jesus was the most important thing; he believed that Jesus was the ONLY thing.

If John were to be asked, “What is your primary identity, your most coherent sense of yourself?” he would not reply, “I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist,” but “I am the one Jesus loves.”

To read John 13:23-25 without faith is to read it without profit. To risk the passionate life, we must be “affected by” Jesus as John was; we must engage His experience with our lives rather than our memories. Until I lay my head on Jesus’ breast, listen to His heartbeat, and personally appropriate the Christ-experience of John’s eyewitness, I have only a derivative spirituality. The Christ of faith is no less accessible to us in His present risenness than was the Christ of history in His human flesh to the beloved disciple. To see Jesus in the flesh was an extraordinary privilege but “more blessed are they who have not seen and yet believed” (John 20:29).

Looking at Jesus through the prism of John’s values offers unique insight into the priorities of discipleship. One’s personal relationship towers over every other consideration. What establishes preeminence in the Christian community is not office, title, or territory, not the charismatic gifts of tongues, healing, or inspired preaching, but only our response to Jesus’ question, “Do you love Me?

♥♥♥

Brennan Manning knew Jesus, loved Jesus, and spent a good part of his life proclaiming the Good News — that God’s love is real, all-powerful, particular, unconditional, and crazy. (God is crazy in love with us. )

The following links are samples of Brennan Manning’s amazing gift of telling the world about God’s great love.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKSofu9YlyQ&feature=player_embedded#!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l0Y98KlHgw

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Spring and New Beginnings

During a walk through my lovely community, I thought about how extraordinary it is that Easter falls on the cusp of spring, announcing it as a time of hope bursting with new beginnings.  Jesus had a plan from the start, didn’t He? Our Jewish savior used Passover to put in place a picture-story that would be more accurately understood thousands of years later. Today we see a much fuller scope of the Divine plot when He asked His people, far from home and in brutal captivity, to spread the blood of a lamb on the door lintel of their homes.  The cross explained it. The empty tomb proved it. Our hearts experience it.

 

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What if God spoke directly to you?

We read in the Bible so many accounts of times when God spoke to people. Have you ever wondered if it was out loud? You know, hearing His voice verbally with physical ears? Or, was it an inward knowing, like what today is most common in how Christians term being “led by the Spirit” or  guided or comforted by God?

Jesus plainly said that we would know His voice.

For years I have recorded my prayer experiences with God in notebooks.  I have boxes of them, like stored love letters. I confess, though, that I am not as consistent as I was years ago. Now the entries might be weeks apart. It amazes me how God meets me whenever I have a journal open in my lap. I suppose it is because I expect something or why would I bother with pen and paper, right? That expecting something is exactly what God waits for–I am convinced of it. Today He said such intimate things to me.  You will soon see why I am sharing this with all of you.

For clarification, I will  bold God’s words (or what I believe to be His words) — because what I hear is not verbal and out loud, but are thoughts that come to me while praying in faith. You see, when we believe He can or wants to speak to us, we will hear directly from His heart and mind (His Spirit).

My conversation with Him went like this today …

Lord, I know I need to please you more than myself in order to find happiness. I somehow need to overcome all my weaknesses and be changed. Change me, Lord. I surrender. I want to enjoy life with You, not apart from You.

Stop being passive. Go after what you want.

I should start with just going after You  — nothing else.

Now that’s a thought – a real revelation!

Lord, you are being sacarstic…. lol.

Yes.

I sense Him grinning.

So, Lord, tell me, how do I go after an invisible being?

What do you do when you pursue a relationship with someone?–as in . . . with a man?–or anyone really? But, especially, think about what DESIRE does in regards to getting someone you want?

Well, you try to be attractive to that person. You do what you think would please the one being pursued. You do creative things to express your interest or love, especially when further in the relationship. You want to be with that person as much as you can. You think non-stop about the person–obsession takes over.

Yes!

Lord, how far I’ve fallen and settled for the emptiness of the world’s offerings lately. Most of my earth-centered desires are unreachable for me anyway. So unsatifying. Lord, are You within my reach?

What do you think? You know better than to ask the question. I want you to write a blog about this.

Should it be a poem or something? A teaching?

Be creative.

(There was a bit of silence.)

Think about only Me for as often as you can. Let thoughts of no one else in as often as you can. As often as you can. As often as you can. (Smiling again.)

Here’s one thought about me you could hold for awhile. Hold and behold. Remember. Dwell on. Like you used to do.

The Lord gave me the idea, like a creative piece of art, living art, of Mary Magdalene (only it was me) sitting at the feet of Jesus. I am looking at Him and He is looking at me. And it was so full of His true presence that it felt life-changing. I am still in the afterglow.

I wasn’t sure how to follow God’s direction in that He wanted me to blog tonight for Him about all of this. It is a wonder to realize, though  . . . What can happen when God speaks directly to you? I pray God will speak to each of you in this very moment. Close your eyes. Listen to Him right now.  I think this was a set up of some kind — His idea. Not mine.

 

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Why God Came

This is a love story.

The answer to why God came to earth is at once simple and profound. Simple because it takes eyes of faith to see the truth. Profound because it takes eyes of love to see the depths of the matter. God came to earth to save us. But the manner and way He came is what won our hearts to His.

What desire spurred Him on in Creation? What planning and plotting? What sprang to life in God’s own heart the moment He gave Eve to Adam in a garden called Paradise? The seed of His big idea began in that act of love so very long ago. Soon, God will have His own beloved. And, it is us. You and me, each one of us.

He wanted us to be free to choose Him, but how could we choose to love the One we most feared? The Creator and King of the Universe came disguised as a lowly human so that we could see His true reality — the personality and love of God shone through Jesus.

He came to be discovered.

God let us touch Him. See Him. Learn from Him.

He came to give Himself up for us. He gave everything He had for us. He gave everything He was for us.

He came to steal our hearts.

This love story isn’t over … we’re caught up in the midst of it still.

 

 

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LIVING IN GOD’S STORY – A New Year Closer to the Climax

I couldn’t agree more with Shakespeare’s idea that our world is a stage and each one of us are its players.[1] Our choices and their consequences become subplots within the epic drama the Author is writing.  I thought about that today while reflecting on the year behind me and considering the one ahead.  And to think we made it to 2013 and the world didn’t end last month. I’m not surprised though. We are in the middle of a tale, or perhaps not in the middle of it but closer to its climax.

This is God’s story. We might very well be living during the musical bridge that brings us into that spectacular scene, the part where the Lover gets His beloved. God always writes happy endings.

We are certainly on the cusp of something that has been building up and building up since before time.  How does one prepare for this? I think if we are ready for it, we know it. It is longing. When the world seems worn out, empty and sad, when we see how tragically evil it is becoming, and when we are aware of the aching lack in our own hearts , even if we are unsure of what that is, it is because we have been made for heaven. It is God Himself we desire. It is the uneasy tension in the plot.

Our Maker knows His story seems like a wild tale sometimes.  This is on purpose. It weeds out the fainthearted. Love is not love unless it is free. He leaves room for doubt so our desire can rise up, then He rewards the believer with wisdom and understanding. You must know: the stakes are high. It is a true and living story each of ours is a part of—an epic one with dramatic twists, turns, and surprises. God’s drama is the original story from which all others derive from.  It is a great romantic thriller-adventure, a comedy and magical fantasy combined—and all this  is to simply blow our minds beyond all we can imagine or hope for.

Creation.  Heaven and earth. A vast universe full of mystery.  There is adventure, freedom, danger, love and sacrifice. Angels, the Villain and his rebellion. Heaven at war. The hero, Jesus, who rescues us.  His sacrifice. His kingship. Paradise lost and found. A great romance with the Bridegroom. A wedding banquet.  A “happy ever after” without end.

How can we know this to be true? Well, there are facts. We have more proof than lack of it. History verifies it, even what is unfolding today in our news.

More than even this, though, think about the way we are made. Our hearts confirm it. Story is what cements it. Like most people, I am addicted to stories. My soul craves movies like my stomach wants food. I go out of my way to watch previews to see what new films are coming up. An avid reader, I treasure romances and I especially like to read the book before seeing the movie. I enjoy the creativeness in fantasy films, so full of adventure, passion, inspiration, and mystery. I appreciate memoirs too. I don’t think we need stories to escape reality but because they help us connect to it. Stories confirm things and teach us about what we hope for and inspire us. We were made for them as much as they are made for us. We experience God’s heart and others pain and joy no other greater way than through story. True life is what goes on in our hearts after all.

I have resolved to be more creative about this new chapter in my life this year, to be more aware of the larger story mine is a part of.  I invite you to do the same. God has the stage set for each of us, eager to see us play our parts. It takes courage to be true to oneself for His sake. Remember, He’s inside of us helping us every moment of every day. When we consider God’s heart and how He chooses to reveal Himself through story, even our own story, then we will be caught up in the midst of His great , adventurous love story.

Just think. Like no other time in history, people are coming to know the truth about Jesus—we live in the days of the Revelation of Christ (we truly know Him and what He’s done). Creation itself groans for Him. While the world becomes darker, His Kingdom grows brighter.  Then, one day, full Light, the coming of Jesus will dawn across the entire face of the earth and it could happen in our days—maybe even this year.

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