Preparing Our Hearts for Easter | Rhythms of Grace

 As we continue preparing our hearts to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, we will take some time this week to consider how our routines or rhythms can help us walk in the wholeness that Christ has won for us.

In the past, creation itself insisted that our ancestors live in a rhythm of work and rest.  In that lifestyle which was bound more closely with the natural world, people were accustomed to seasons of planting, waiting for growth, harvesting, and even dormant seasons. 

  

Modern life, on the other hand, brakes for no one.  It practically force-feeds us a continuous flow of opportunities. If we aren’t ruthless with our calendars, we find ourselves trapped inside impenetrable walls of constant activity. In this frantic pace, we cease to notice the natural cues from the world around us that life is meant to be lived in ebbs and flows. 

Our life with God was never meant to just be one hard, unrelenting drumbeat of service and duty.  Nor was it meant to simply be a soft, melodious, meditative retreat.  The life that Jesus calls us to is a life like the one he modeled for us. A life lived with our God, dwelling with him, inviting him into each moment, whether the day is demanding or restful, through seasons that may be monumental or completely ordinary. We were made for work, we were made for rest, and we were made to delight in the Lord as we walk with him in both.

Believers down through the ages have used a variety of rhythms and disciplines to lift their eyes up from their daily tasks and fix them on Jesus.  While all of the practices below have their uses, you may find some to be particularly helpful in a specific season.  

(For more details on the items marked with an *, you can dig deeper by reading Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster)

If you need rest

        Matthew 11: 28-30

             Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon                   you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For         my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

-Sabbath rests (sometimes the holiest thing you can do is take a nap)

-Worship through song

-Intentional meditation on small portions of scripture

-Simplicity*

-Solitude*

If you need fruitfulness 

        Matthew 9:37-38

        Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray                 earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

If you find yourself in a season of emptiness, feeling unfruitful, spiritual discipline might mean: 

-Saying yes to helping in a ministry within your community

-Reaching out to someone in need of a friend

-Taking a meal to someone who is sick

Rhythms for all seasons

-Intentional morning (and/or evening) prayer

-Confession*

-Worship*

-Fasting*

-Study*

-Celebration*

One of the most practically useful actions we can take as believers who want to grow in our love for God and love for others is to plan intentional time in our calendars to contemplate our need for God, our need for repentance, and rejoice in the overwhelming blessing that we’ve been forgiven and adopted as God’s children. When we begin to understand how loved we are by our Father, that love will inevitably spill over our own lives and onto those around us.

Jesus calls us to a life like his, one filled with a motley crew of people (Luke 5:30-32), with all the messiness and complication that can bring. A life of seasons, times of great work and ministry (Matthew 9:35-38), regular times of retreating to talk with the Father (Mark 1:35, Luke 6:12, Matthew 14: 23).  Times of fasting (Matthew 6:16-18, Mark 9:29) and times of feasting. And a life always, always filled with prayer.

As we continue preparing our hearts for celebrating the finished work of Christ, here are a few questions to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Ask the Lord to search your heart and your schedule and show you any areas where you have taken on a yoke of responsibility that He did not intend for you to carry.

2. What is one new rhythm that you could weave into your routines or an old one that you could return to? Take some time to ask the Lord what He may be inviting you into as you walk alongside Him.

Bonus Bookshelf

Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster

Dwell: Life with God for the World by Barry Jones

Preparing Our Hearts for Easter | Raised to Walk in Newness of Life

Raised to Walk in Newness of Life

 Last week we spent some time asking the Lord to show us what he saved us from and to restore in us the joy of His salvation.  I hope that you have a little fresh wind in your sails from spending time with Him!  

If you skipped over that portion at the end of last week, no shade, but right now is a great opportunity to go back and do that. The time you spend with the Lord on the questions at the end will be so much more valuable than the time you spend reading.  

So, what does that joy in our salvation lead to?  Are we meant to stay just the way we are and bide our time making our lives more comfortable until the day we die or Jesus comes back?

Not even close, sister.

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life."

Romans 6:1-4 (ESV)

So, according to the Word, we were saved to walk in newness of life.  That sounds awesome!  Let’s do THAT!  But what does walking in newness of life actually even mean?

While Christ has already paid for our sins —past, present, and future, in His Word, He is clear that His children don’t just accept his gift of salvation, they also repent from the things that break his heart and turn the other way.  And to make that even remotely possible, he sent us the Holy Spirit to break the stranglehold sin has on us and empower his people to live in a new way.  

"For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” 

Romans 6: 5-6 (ESV)

   

Does this mean that once we are saved, we will never sin again?  Absolutely not.  Even James, the New Testament’s favorite hall-monitoring rule-follower can admit, “we all stumble in many ways. …” (James 3:2a). Repentance is not never slipping up ever again, repentance is laying our failures down at the feet of Jesus each time we fail and asking him to help us turn, to help us go the opposite direction from where sin wants to take us.  

The new life that Christ invites us into is the life of walking with God in His love, not working for God to earn His love.  His finished work on the cross allows us to live FROM our forgiveness, not living to EARN forgiveness. 

You and I have not merely been saved for fire insurance, nor just redeemed to do good works, as great as both of those things are.  But undeservedly and remarkably, our purpose is simply to glorify God and enjoy him forever (thanks for that line, Westminster Shorter Catechism).  This joy, not guilt and shame, is the fuel that allows us to overcome long-held areas of struggle and sin. 

Let’s step into the rest of the week beaming with the joy of our salvation and knowing that we have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk with Jesus and live in a brand new way.

As we continue preparing our hearts for celebrating the finished work of Christ, here are a few questions to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, what areas of my heart, mind, and life have I not let you in to make new?  Will you show me those places and begin to heal them?

2. Will you show me chains that you’ve already cut off that I’m still dragging around?

3. Lord, will you help me get in the habit of asking for your help when I go back to dead ways of living and feel stuck?

Next week we will be looking at some rhythms that we can incorporate into our lives that help us to continually lift our eyes up from the daily grind and fix our eyes on Jesus instead.

Can’t wait to meet you there! 

Bonus Bookshelf:

Song | Build my Life

By Pat Barrett

Worthy of every song we could ever sing

Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for You, oh, we live for You

Jesus, the Name above every other name

Jesus, the only One who could ever save

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for You, we live for You

Holy, there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder

And show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

Jesus, the Name above every other name

Jesus, the only One who could ever save

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for You, oh, we live for You

Holy, there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder

And show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

And I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

And I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

And I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

And I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken

Holy, there is no one like You

There is none beside You

Open up my eyes in wonder

And show me who You are

And fill me with Your heart

And lead me in Your love to those around me

I will build my life upon You

Lead me in Your love

Preparing our Hearts for Easter | How Great a Salvation!

Hebrews 12: 1-2

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Most us know the basics of what a Christian life should look like on the outside.  The behaviors and fruits that others should see.  But if you’re like me, some days it just feels like you are trying to squeeeeeeze out that fruit in your own power with very little success.  

Our ‘shoulds’ only get us so far.  Sometimes, on a good day, they may even make it out of the church parking lot.  But the things we delight and find joy in, those things motivate and carry us energetically forward.  

In the Psalms, David asked for God’s help to give him a willing spirit.  

Psalm 51:12
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

This sounds like a very pious request until our finger drifts up to the opening description of that particular Psalm to find that this request came hot on the heels of his total and complete betrayal and transgression against his loyal soldier Uriah and Uriah’s wife Bathsheba.  It seems that David was painfully aware that he had thoroughly caved to his flesh and was in need of God to infuse in him a willing spirit to be able to obey God again. He knew that a willing spirit was rooted in taking joy in our salvation.  

How fresh is the joy of our salvation?

For many of us, we first met Jesus many, many years ago and may not have a very spicy conversion experience.  It can seem hard to take “joy in our salvation”, when, frankly, we don’t really remember being saved from anything.  

In the weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we will spend some time each week remembering what Jesus has saved us from and what he is saving us for.  As we grow in both gratitude for his atonement and excitement for the everlasting life that awaits us, our capacity for joy as we celebrate Easter will blossom.

As we begin preparing our hearts for celebrating the finished work of Christ, here are a few questions to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with your small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, please show me what you’ve saved me from, even if I was a child when I started walking with you.

2. Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I’m about; See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong— then guide me on the road to eternal life. (from Ps.139 paraphrase, The Message)

3. Lord, please restore in me the joy of your salvation, tune my ears and eyes to see how you are working in my life and the world around me to redeem all things.

Preparing Our Hearts For Easter | Our Need

 

I’m excited that you’re joining me this year as we enter a season of preparation for celebrating Resurrection Sunday! This 40 day period preceding Easter has been celebrated in many ways throughout history. It is typically a time of prayer, fasting, bible reading, generosity, self-examination and service. It is my hope that this little note each week will be a part of a joyful journey of ascent towards Resurrection Sunday and that we arrive at our Easter celebrations filled with awe and gratitude for the joys set before us because of the work of Christ!

_____________________________

Our Need

At Christmas time, we have extra commercial help in getting excited for “the season”. Months before, stores make sure that we are looking forward to buying their wares for our friends and family (and few little treats for ourselves, if we’re honest). Whether our focus is on the true reason for Christmas or not, exactly zero times have we gotten to Christmas Eve and said, “oh, that was today?!”

Easter, on the other hand, sneaks up on us. If you’re like me, you are rolling in hot to service on Resurrection Sunday realizing that you’ve probably spent more time trying to pick a cute spring outfit from your closet than contemplating the importance of what we are celebrating.

So, what’s the big deal about Easter, anyway? Can’t most of the preparation be tackled with a few clicks to buy outfits, adding some candy and plastic eggs to the grocery order, and/or snagging a brunch reservation? Why are we already talking about this in early March?

We are talking about it now because, if you’re like me, you get to that day and feel so frustrated with yourself for not being overwhelmed with awe and joy at the flabbergasting grace of a God. You know that your heart should be bursting with joy over the One who came to the earth, trampled death, hell and the grave and rose again to gain eternal life for us.

So, here’s the plan, this year we are taking some time to prepare our hearts by really taking a good look at our need, the greatness of salvation, the new life God has purchased for us, the joy set before is in eternity, and his worthiness to be praised.

As we begin preparing our hearts for this season, here are a few questions for us to meditate on, take to Him in prayer, and discuss with a small group or accountability partner.

1. Lord, you know my heart and my thoughts, please search them, you see me when I sleep and when I rise. Lord will show me if there is any offensive way in me that I need to turn from? Will you show me what the first step is in turning away from that sin?

2. Abba Father, will you begin to remind me this week of how you rescue me? Of the many ways and times in which I did not get the consequences my thoughts, attitudes, and actions deserved?

Hopefully this year these weekly notes and prayers will help us to break up the hard ground in hearts that gets beaten down by everyday life and help us fix our eyes on both our profound need for Savior and his astounding plan to rescue us. See you next week!

_______________________________

Easter and the season of Lent that precedes it is “40 days set aside for “grace-ing” not groveling—an intentional season of surveying the wonders of the cross, pondering the depth of our need, culminating in the explosive joy of Easter Sunday” .
   -Scotty Smith | Lent or No Lent | The Gospel Coalition

The Dirty Work of Forgiveness

Ah, forgiveness.  There is nothing sweeter to receive when we need it and nothing harder to give when someone else does.
In the prayer that Jesus taught the disciples, it is assumed the we forgive those who owe us, "forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us", yet so often we neglect or skim over this inconvenient part.
You may even be reading this and think, "Of course I skim over it, I'm on good terms with pretty much everybody.  I don't hold any deep-seated resentment towards anyone, but I really should share this article with ______ ."  But before you check out, consider for a moment that this may apply to all of us.  With our (specifically my) habit of stuffing our feelings, this forgiveness that God asks us to do sometimes requires that we do a little dumpster diving into our own hearts  to see what's been compacted and shoved down to the bottom.

Contrary to our "follow your heart" culture, the Bible doesn't actually teach that our human hearts are naturally beautiful things on their own, that should be listened to and followed;  It teaches us something that tracks far more truly with our daily experience, that our hearts and deceitful and wicked beyond reckoning.  So to plumb the depths of it is not for the faint and cowardly.  You will find hideous monsters there that make Shelob look like a household pet.  Unforgiveness multiplied by time and producing the offspring of anger and resentment.  Lust left alone in the dark, untouched by the disinfecting light of Christ multiplies like parasitic mushrooms into shame, selfishness and isolation.

It is only when we see our hearts as they are, full of utter depravity and worship of self that we begin to scratch the surface of what's been forgiven us by Christ.  Only then, when we realize what He fully and completely paid for on the cross and continues to clean up in us each day that we have the abundant thankfulness required to forgive our fellow sinners when their sin-sick hearts bump into and injure our sin-sick hearts.  It is only out of our own overwhelming realization of Christ's love for us that this same love is able to overflow onto those around us.

Earlier, I called forgiveness inconvenient, but it's far more than inconvenient, its downright painful, hard and completely impossible in our own strength.  But it's worth it.  It's worth the hard work and tears as we take our Savior's hand and say, "Not my will but Yours; In my weakness, You are strong, show me how to love like You do."

Giving to the Ungrateful

Luke 6:35-36
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

Wait, what?  Jesus, are you seriously asking us to not only love our enemies, but to love our ungrateful and undeserving enemies who aren’t instantly converted to loving us by our generosity? Even the ones that won’t send a thank you note??? And maybe still hate us afterwards???  Gasp!  
So, we can go with You on the loving people and being kind to your neighbor stuff because our culture is cool with that (largely because of your influence on it) BUT this love your ungrateful enemy stuff, you’re reaaaaally making us go out on a limb here!

EXACTLY.  God’s Word ALWAYS calls us to more that we are capable of.  Not in a “you’ll never be good enough for me” sort of a way, but in a “you’ll always need to be holding my hand to do the things I ask you to do” sort of way.

 “Giving Tuesday” was this week and many millions of Americans participated and gave to very worthy causes that are doing amazing things and many other millions of Americans that did not participate are already intentionally giving to organizations that are doing great things for their fellow humans and the world that we were put in charge of managing.  Most of these groups we supported yesterday have excellent bookkeeping and effectiveness ratings which let us know that our dollars are being spent effectively and stewarded well.  

But what about this “love your ungrateful enemy” business, do we still give time, talent, treasure and toothpaste to those places that won’t throw a gala in our honor?  To those people that might not say thank you, but instead cuss us out with new phrases we’ve never heard before?  That coworker that sabotages us at every turn?  I think that the words that came out of the mouth of our Savior and Creator of Heaven and Earth that holds all matter together by His will says “yes”.  

Scripture also mentions that we should be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.  I’m not saying that you shouldn’t research charities and try to be a good steward of the money that God has entrusted to you.  There is good scriptural basis for doing that.  

I think what Jesus is telling us here is that our generosity needs to also extend to a few hopeless people that may never get their life on track, a few bottomless pits, a few lost causes.  Because when we do this, we are doing what he did for each and every one of us when we were lost (dead) in our sins and couldn’t help ourselves (Romans 5:10- Enemies-->Friends), and when we do this, we look a little bit more like Jesus.

Prickly Escape Routes

Many people are familiar with the promise in 1 Corinthians 10:13:

"No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful, and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape so that you are able to bear it."  

This is where the common, if slightly questionable, phrase: "God won't give you anything you can't handle" comes from.  But many of us find ourselves in situations where we know we are in over our heads so this verse seems a little naive to us.  But if you look back, the part we focus on, of course, is the section talking about the part we play. On second glance we notice it is sandwiched between, "God is faithful" and "He will also provide a way of escape" both of which describe what His part is in all of this.

So...what do we KNOW?

1) We KNOW that God promises to provide a way of escape when we are tempted, so it will definitely be there.  There will always be a release valve when we feel pressured to go against what God has told us to do.
2) We KNOW that He is faithful.


So, what is this "way of escape" you ask?  Well, as anyone who's been alive for more than 5 minutes knows, it's not typically a paved, pot-hole-free super-highway.  It often looks MUCH scarier than the way we know is wrong.  

Finding the Escape Route:
In so many situations, escape requires someone to sacrifice.  In our Ultimate Escape from sin and its consequences, the Great Jailbreak was only accomplished through Christ's sacrifice on the cross and resurrection.

I think it may be the same principle, reenacted in miniature each time we face sin ourselves. Sometimes it seems that we are only given a way of escape through thistle bushes and locust trees!  But make no mistake, we will walk out of that temptation one way or another.  

We will either choose to believe the enemy of our souls and walk out of a temptation in the way he recommends, choosing his way of escape for us (hint: no real escape at all, its just a tunnel leading back into the prison) or holding the hand of our loving, rescuing Father as he leads us out into greater and more abundant Life.  There is no contest.

So the next time we face temptation and there seems to be know way out but to give in, may we all take a second look and choose the way out, no matter how prickly the path seems.