"a master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. he hardly knows which is which. he simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both."
- Francois Auguste Rene Chateaubriand
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
He GETS us. like, REALLY gets us...and is worth ALL our trust. ALL.
so i've been asking for the humanity of Jesus to be so real and raw to me that it blows me away. and wrecks me. and messes stuff up real gooood :)
again & again & again.
below are some recent thoughts, questions, lessons this Teacher's been so kind and fun as to provoke within me...
i was sitting at a starbucks the other day. i wanted to study. so i picked up where i left off in matthew 14...
Matthew 14:1-14
"At about this time, Herod, the regional ruler, heard what was being said about Jesus. He said to his servants, "This has to be John the Baptizer come back from the dead. That's why he's able to work miracles!"Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias "adultery." Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid because so many people revered John as a prophet of God.But at his birthday celebration, he got his chance. Herodias's daughter provided the entertainment, dancing for the guests. She swept Herod away. In his drunken enthusiasm, he promised her on oath anything she wanted. Already coached by her mother, she was ready: "Give me, served up on a platter, the head of John the Baptizer." That sobered the king up fast. Unwilling to lose face with his guests, he did it—ordered John's head cut off and presented to the girl on a platter. She in turn gave it to her mother. Later, John's disciples got the body, gave it a reverent burial, and reported to Jesus. When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself..."
and it hit me. REALLY hit me...
if Jesus has indeed "been tempted in EVERY way" as we are, have been, or ever will be, as a member of this human race; that MUST include the huge temptations to doubt, fear, discouragement, anger, and disappointment that are naturally aroused when we are not able to see the "big picture" at times my friends.
and here's John the Baptist- the one who leapt in his mom's belly as a fetus when Jesus' mom simply walked in the room...at the very sound of Jesus' mom's voice John's mom has this wild Holy Spirit encounter and baby John flips his lid, too.
John- the one of whom the verses of the Old Testament wrap up with [Malachi 4:5-6] for crying out loud. the one of whom the Old Covenant announces will usher in the New Covenant.
history. Jesus & John Boy had a history together, ya know?
and i wonder. if Jesus only knew what the Father decided to share with Him as fully God AND fully man walking around on this earth- and if He was "tempted in every way" as we are [including the temptation to doubt/misunderstand when we are not privy to seeing the entire picture God is painting] well, i wonder if He knew.
did He fully see what was coming with John?
it says He immediately "slipped away to be by Himself" when He got the news.
and not only did John not stay alive and continue to minister powerfully alongside Jesus in this seemingly "pivotal", not to mention, short time span of an only 3-year-long time period of Jesus' public ministry, he also seemed to die in a rather "needless" or "frivolous" way...
a king, King Herod, gives in to a serious man-fearing spirit at a party where he'd probably had too stinkin much to drink; and next thing ya know he's made a careless promise to some prancing daughter of a blood-thirsty woman who's committing adultery on her husband with this King Herod, who in turn sends her daughter to make a disgusting request for John's head on a platter.
and so i wonder if part of Jesus, in His humanity, was looking forward to having John around for all of His years of ministry here on earth.
What if Jesus found a bit of a "soul friend" or kindred spirit in John the Baptist?
as earthly friends go, did He perhaps feel most "understood" by John?
did He expect to have him as a bit of a long distance "running mate" for His earthly days?
was it super hard for Jesus to believe that this is WHEN John's life was supposed end? and in the awful, seemingly shallow WAY it was ended?
it just got my mind reeling with the possibility that this Jesus of ours not only knows ABOUT the challenges of being a human, but has WALKED THROUGH all the junk, confusion, hardship that we walk through as we wrestle daily with what God's sovereignty really looks like played out in our daily lives...
so whether or not He saw it coming; whether or not He majorly wrestled with some horrific feelings of letdown and disappointment...either way, He knew where to go IMMEDIATELY to get proper perspective, hope, vision, & peace.
i pray we are all so quick to stop our constant "doing" when He beckons us, in order to just BE with our God.
welp, i realize the above are all questions that will have to wait until i have the chance, some sweet day, to have a coffee date with my God :)
but, until then, i think it's good, REAL good, to at least attempt to dive into the Word holistically- in all it's layers, in all it's history, in it's minute, unspoken (yet somehow screamed in the place of quietness/stillness) secrets, details, & implications that only the true seekers will ever find.
and mostly, to never ever forget that THE Word is...a Person.
oh God give us ever-increasing appetite and craving for Your Word, for Truth...for YOU.
help me not fear the simplicity of opening up Your Word & simply asking the Best Teacher ever to show me the way through It...
and i've noticed that the Word and Truth are indeed not just 1 dimensional. they're 3 dimensional, ya know? multi-layered... full of paradoxes... not ho-hum or easy or comfortably filed away in some box. it's definitely breathing, living, alive.
it's the only fully ALIVE book i've ever read.
i'm so grateful for this.
and i'm oh so grateful all over again recently that our God-Man Savior, Intercessor (He only prays PERFECT prayers for us!), Sympathetic High Priest REALLY, TRULY has gone before us in ALL ways. to the fullest measure possible. [hebrews 4]
of all the gods i've ever studied, He is the only One i've ever found that only asks of His followers the sort of love, lifestyle, obedience, and sacrifice that He walked in before us. haven't been able to find another that only asks of us what He's already proved with His life is possible- to live wrapped in flesh- 100% humanity- yet 100% in unity with the Father.
wow. oh wow. oh wow...
this "lay-it-ALL-on-the-line" kind of Love, this ALL-IN Love given without the guarantee of getting any love, respect, understanding, or attention back is stirring me again. and again. and making me uncomfortable (in a GREAT way!) again.
and i reckon that's precisely what it's supposed to do :)
it's the kind of love that just simply makes more sense than fear.
it's the sort of risk that matters and shifts the earth- despite what the outcome may be.
it's the kind of guts that Jesus modeled so rawly, eloquently and empathetically.
[1 john 4]
and He deserves the same reciprocated back to Him.
now. today. tomorrow. next month. forever.
may our Husband-in-waiting get the Bride He deserves in us on that WILD wedding day that is sure to come...
more than ever, i'm aware of this: i don't know much, my friends.
but THIS i AM convinced of more than ever before- this God is worth running all-in, all-out, every minute for.
He's worth "stirring up our souls" every minute of every day. He's deserving of our offering our immense Light, Joy, Enthusiasm, Peace, Life, & Love to all who are blessed to cross paths with the Jesus inside us just naturally spilling out onto them :)
and our pursuit of Him will never, ever come close to His pursuit of us.
and any emotion, full-of-lifeness or passion we each have endowed to us to steward is just a mere fraction of what this Man carries in His chest.
so here's my aching desire & prayer for us friends--
may He continually become more alive, breathing, full of color and emotion to you, this Man.
may we all remember daily that He's worth us remembering, today & every other day, that "everything is a loss when we compare it with the all-surpassing greatness of truly, deeply KNOWING CHRIST Jesus our Lord, for whose sake we have lost all things. That we'd consider them rubbish, trash, nothing, that we may gain Christ and BE FOUND...found where?? IN HIM! eek! not having a righteousness of our own that we try to conjure up by trying to "look like Jesus" or whatever...but that we'd simply daily remember- we're already dead! GA-LOR-RAYYY! our right standing with God will never ever come from the law, but only through believing in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God alone and is by faith alone. that daily, above ALL, we would most desire to want to KNOW CHRIST and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, BECOMING LIKE HIM in his death..." [phil 3]
may you allow yourself the space and time to remember this day, week, month, year-- that YOU are one of the army of those who are swimming neck deep in Christ's finished, perfect, changes EVERYTHING work of grace
:)
again & again & again.
below are some recent thoughts, questions, lessons this Teacher's been so kind and fun as to provoke within me...
i was sitting at a starbucks the other day. i wanted to study. so i picked up where i left off in matthew 14...
Matthew 14:1-14
"At about this time, Herod, the regional ruler, heard what was being said about Jesus. He said to his servants, "This has to be John the Baptizer come back from the dead. That's why he's able to work miracles!"Herod had arrested John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison to placate Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias "adultery." Herod wanted to kill him, but he was afraid because so many people revered John as a prophet of God.But at his birthday celebration, he got his chance. Herodias's daughter provided the entertainment, dancing for the guests. She swept Herod away. In his drunken enthusiasm, he promised her on oath anything she wanted. Already coached by her mother, she was ready: "Give me, served up on a platter, the head of John the Baptizer." That sobered the king up fast. Unwilling to lose face with his guests, he did it—ordered John's head cut off and presented to the girl on a platter. She in turn gave it to her mother. Later, John's disciples got the body, gave it a reverent burial, and reported to Jesus. When Jesus got the news, he slipped away by boat to an out-of-the-way place by himself..."
and it hit me. REALLY hit me...
if Jesus has indeed "been tempted in EVERY way" as we are, have been, or ever will be, as a member of this human race; that MUST include the huge temptations to doubt, fear, discouragement, anger, and disappointment that are naturally aroused when we are not able to see the "big picture" at times my friends.
and here's John the Baptist- the one who leapt in his mom's belly as a fetus when Jesus' mom simply walked in the room...at the very sound of Jesus' mom's voice John's mom has this wild Holy Spirit encounter and baby John flips his lid, too.
John- the one of whom the verses of the Old Testament wrap up with [Malachi 4:5-6] for crying out loud. the one of whom the Old Covenant announces will usher in the New Covenant.
history. Jesus & John Boy had a history together, ya know?
and i wonder. if Jesus only knew what the Father decided to share with Him as fully God AND fully man walking around on this earth- and if He was "tempted in every way" as we are [including the temptation to doubt/misunderstand when we are not privy to seeing the entire picture God is painting] well, i wonder if He knew.
did He fully see what was coming with John?
it says He immediately "slipped away to be by Himself" when He got the news.
and not only did John not stay alive and continue to minister powerfully alongside Jesus in this seemingly "pivotal", not to mention, short time span of an only 3-year-long time period of Jesus' public ministry, he also seemed to die in a rather "needless" or "frivolous" way...
a king, King Herod, gives in to a serious man-fearing spirit at a party where he'd probably had too stinkin much to drink; and next thing ya know he's made a careless promise to some prancing daughter of a blood-thirsty woman who's committing adultery on her husband with this King Herod, who in turn sends her daughter to make a disgusting request for John's head on a platter.
and so i wonder if part of Jesus, in His humanity, was looking forward to having John around for all of His years of ministry here on earth.
What if Jesus found a bit of a "soul friend" or kindred spirit in John the Baptist?
as earthly friends go, did He perhaps feel most "understood" by John?
did He expect to have him as a bit of a long distance "running mate" for His earthly days?
was it super hard for Jesus to believe that this is WHEN John's life was supposed end? and in the awful, seemingly shallow WAY it was ended?
it just got my mind reeling with the possibility that this Jesus of ours not only knows ABOUT the challenges of being a human, but has WALKED THROUGH all the junk, confusion, hardship that we walk through as we wrestle daily with what God's sovereignty really looks like played out in our daily lives...
so whether or not He saw it coming; whether or not He majorly wrestled with some horrific feelings of letdown and disappointment...either way, He knew where to go IMMEDIATELY to get proper perspective, hope, vision, & peace.
i pray we are all so quick to stop our constant "doing" when He beckons us, in order to just BE with our God.
welp, i realize the above are all questions that will have to wait until i have the chance, some sweet day, to have a coffee date with my God :)
but, until then, i think it's good, REAL good, to at least attempt to dive into the Word holistically- in all it's layers, in all it's history, in it's minute, unspoken (yet somehow screamed in the place of quietness/stillness) secrets, details, & implications that only the true seekers will ever find.
and mostly, to never ever forget that THE Word is...a Person.
oh God give us ever-increasing appetite and craving for Your Word, for Truth...for YOU.
help me not fear the simplicity of opening up Your Word & simply asking the Best Teacher ever to show me the way through It...
and i've noticed that the Word and Truth are indeed not just 1 dimensional. they're 3 dimensional, ya know? multi-layered... full of paradoxes... not ho-hum or easy or comfortably filed away in some box. it's definitely breathing, living, alive.
it's the only fully ALIVE book i've ever read.
i'm so grateful for this.
and i'm oh so grateful all over again recently that our God-Man Savior, Intercessor (He only prays PERFECT prayers for us!), Sympathetic High Priest REALLY, TRULY has gone before us in ALL ways. to the fullest measure possible. [hebrews 4]
of all the gods i've ever studied, He is the only One i've ever found that only asks of His followers the sort of love, lifestyle, obedience, and sacrifice that He walked in before us. haven't been able to find another that only asks of us what He's already proved with His life is possible- to live wrapped in flesh- 100% humanity- yet 100% in unity with the Father.
wow. oh wow. oh wow...
this "lay-it-ALL-on-the-line" kind of Love, this ALL-IN Love given without the guarantee of getting any love, respect, understanding, or attention back is stirring me again. and again. and making me uncomfortable (in a GREAT way!) again.
and i reckon that's precisely what it's supposed to do :)
it's the kind of love that just simply makes more sense than fear.
it's the sort of risk that matters and shifts the earth- despite what the outcome may be.
it's the kind of guts that Jesus modeled so rawly, eloquently and empathetically.
[1 john 4]
and He deserves the same reciprocated back to Him.
now. today. tomorrow. next month. forever.
may our Husband-in-waiting get the Bride He deserves in us on that WILD wedding day that is sure to come...
more than ever, i'm aware of this: i don't know much, my friends.
but THIS i AM convinced of more than ever before- this God is worth running all-in, all-out, every minute for.
He's worth "stirring up our souls" every minute of every day. He's deserving of our offering our immense Light, Joy, Enthusiasm, Peace, Life, & Love to all who are blessed to cross paths with the Jesus inside us just naturally spilling out onto them :)
and our pursuit of Him will never, ever come close to His pursuit of us.
and any emotion, full-of-lifeness or passion we each have endowed to us to steward is just a mere fraction of what this Man carries in His chest.
so here's my aching desire & prayer for us friends--
may He continually become more alive, breathing, full of color and emotion to you, this Man.
may we all remember daily that He's worth us remembering, today & every other day, that "everything is a loss when we compare it with the all-surpassing greatness of truly, deeply KNOWING CHRIST Jesus our Lord, for whose sake we have lost all things. That we'd consider them rubbish, trash, nothing, that we may gain Christ and BE FOUND...found where?? IN HIM! eek! not having a righteousness of our own that we try to conjure up by trying to "look like Jesus" or whatever...but that we'd simply daily remember- we're already dead! GA-LOR-RAYYY! our right standing with God will never ever come from the law, but only through believing in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God alone and is by faith alone. that daily, above ALL, we would most desire to want to KNOW CHRIST and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, BECOMING LIKE HIM in his death..." [phil 3]
may you allow yourself the space and time to remember this day, week, month, year-- that YOU are one of the army of those who are swimming neck deep in Christ's finished, perfect, changes EVERYTHING work of grace
:)
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