Archives For Sermons

Silence is necessary in a world of noise

August 29, 2011 — 20 Comments

 

God invites us to listen to Him.

But only the silent hear and those who are not silent do not hear.

Silence is necessary in a world of noise.

Silence is actually a mode of activity – not just a refraining from speaking or undue noise, but a special form of attentiveness to God.  Anonymous Author

Silence is where God dwells but we are surrounded by noise.

The noise of cellphones.
The noise of music.
The noise of traffic.
The noise of televisions.

The experience of silence is now so rare we must guard and treasure it.

Jesus knew the importance of silence.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. Mark 1:35

Hear these words from Jesus for you:

“Come with me … to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31

In silence God has many wonderful gifts for us.

Silence centers us.
Silence brings us back to the basics, to our senses, to ourselves.
Silence makes us attentive to the world around us.

What calls out to you from these words?

“Silence is the discipline by which the inner fire of God is tended and kept alive.” Henri Nouwen

Intentional silence serves as a necessary and valuable counterweight to a society filled with thoughtless and excessive words.

If silence is difficult for you, why do you think that is? What are the noises in your life that need to be quieted so you can hear God speaking?

***** This post is based on a sermon that I preached at Port Hardy Baptist Church on the spiritual discipline of silence.  You read the entire sermon here.

In Christian living, Sacred Rhythms, Sermons
permalink

Building a fort around our blessings

August 22, 2011 — 22 Comments

One day James wanted to do something special with his five-year old son Jimmy.  He asked “Son, is there anything you’d like to do right now?”

Jimmy said, “I want some McDonald French Fries.”

His father said, “If that’s what my boy wants, then that’s what my boy gets.”

They got into their blue and white Chevy truck and headed toward McDonald’s.  Jimmy’s lips and tongue were silently moving as he could taste the fries before they even reached the restaurant.

His Dad made the order and Jimmy’s heart pounded when his Dad said, “Make it a super size fry”.

James took the money out of his wallet to pay for the fries and a drink.  Jimmy’s little teeth were ready to sink into those hot golden fries before they made it to the table.

When they sat down, grace consisted of “God bless this food amen” but it seemed like way too many words to Jimmy who was eager to delight himself with this huge blessing of French fries.

James was happy to see his little boy so happy over something so simple so he decided to join in the fun. He reached over to get a couple of Jimmy’s fries for himself.

To his surprise, his son quickly put his arms around his fries as though building a fort and pulled them toward himself and said, “No, these are mine.”

His dad was in a state of shock for a moment. He could not believe what had happened. James pulled back his hand and began to reflect about his son’s attitude toward the fries.

He was thinking, my son failed to realize that I am the source of those French fries. At the counter, I was the one who gave the cashier the money from my wallet.

I did not give him the size fry he was expecting but something twice as big. Yet here he is talking about his French fries.

Not only was I the source of the French fries, he has forgotten that I at 6 feet tall and 195 pounds have the power to take all the fries despite his little arms surrounding them as a fort.

Or that if I wanted to, I could go back to the counter and bring him so many fries that he could never eat them all.

He also does not understand, that I don’t need his French fries. I could go back to the counter and get as many fries as I wanted.

As the Dad thought about it, one or two fries really would not have made much of a difference for him that day. What he wanted was for his son Jimmy, to invite him into the wonderful little world he had made possible for his son. 

He wanted his son to be willing to share the very blessing that he had provided.

God takes us to McDonald’s on a regular basis in our lives. God blesses us. He blesses you and God blesses me.

He’s given us all some French fries.

Some have small bags, others medium, others large and some super size.

But God has given us all some fries.

Like that the dad James, God desires to sit down at the table with us for some fellowship.

When God reaches over to use some of the blessings He has given to us, far too often we say “No God, these are mine. No, No, No. Go and get your own.”

We try building our own little forts around our blessings.

God is very interested in our response to the blessings He sends our way and what we choose to do with them.

Will you break down your wall around your fries and say to God, “Your plan and your purposes for my life and the lives of those around me  are far greater than what I could do with these fries. You take them and do as you please?”

***** This is a snippet from a sermon on the spiritual discipline of giving that I preached at Port Hardy Baptist Church. You can read the whole sermon here.

In Christian living, Sacred Rhythms, Sermons
permalink

How should we respond when our world gets turned upside down?

July 18, 2011 — 6 Comments

Sometimes life feels like we are going the wrong way on a one-way street.  Or it may be that about the time we think that things are going in the right direction something happens to turn things in the wrong direction.

Someone else put it this way:  “About the time we think we have everything in the bag, the bag bursts.”

The truth is, life is full turnarounds, ups and downs, highs and lows, joys and sorrows, mountains and valleys.

Sometimes things seem to go in the right direction and sometimes they don’t.

All of us experience ups and downs in life.  The rich and poor, the famous and the infamous, the Christian and non-Christian.  No one is immune.

But you may be thinking: I thought Jesus came that we might have an abundant life?   Or perhaps at least a better life?

This is true but an abundant and better life does not mean that we will not experience some bitter moments in life.  We all do, because this world is not a perfect place.  We would like for it to be a perfect place where everything goes well for us, but it isn’t.

How should respond when our world gets turned upside down?

I believe the answer is found in 2 Corinthians 1:3-11.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favour granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

These are the opening words of a letter from the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth.  Paul wrote this letter after experiencing some incredibly difficult and tough situations – situations that probably none of us will ever have to face.

In a lot of ways, Paul’s world had been turned upside down on several occasions.  Listen to his description of some of his hardships in 2 Corinthians 11:24-28.

24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have laboured and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.

Paul was a man who knew suffering and troubles!  Paul knew first hand what it meant to have your world turned upside down.

One of main themes of this letter to the Corinthians is comfort in the midst of troubles.  The words “comfort” and “troubles” stand out repeatedly in 2 Corinthians 1:3-11 (“troubles” – 4 times and “comfort” 10 times).

The meaning of “troubles”

“Troubles” or as it is also translated “distressed” means “to be afflicted, to be in anguish, to be burdened.”  It also used to describe how grapes were pressed – which is a great word picture.

It’s feeling like life is crashing down all around you.

It is feeling like the troubles and problems of life are crushing you.

The meaning of “comfort”

The Greek word that is used for “comfort” here is more than just a little cheer or friendly word of encouragement.  The word basically means “to strengthen” or “to call to one’s side”.

This word is also the same word that is used for the Holy Spirit.  The Bible frequently calls the Holy Spirit “The Comforter,” but really it is “The Strengthener,” the “One Who strengthens you” or “the One Who comes to our side.”

2 very important truths that we need to remember when our world feels like it has been turned upside down

1. Who God is.

Paul begins this section on finding comfort in difficult times by reminding his readers of who God is.  He was reminding his readers that no matter what destruction, terrible event, or tragedy, God is still God!

In verse 3, Paul reminds us and his readers of two characteristics of God that we need to remember when we find our world turned upside down.

a. God is the God of compassion.

Just as Satan is the father of murder and of lies, God is the Father of compassion.  The Greek word that is used for “compassion” here literally means “to feel so deeply about someone that you feel it deep in your bowels.”

When our world is turned upside down we need to remember that God still cares deeply about us.

He hasn’t forgotten us.

He hasn’t abandoned us.

He feels our pain.

He feels our anguish.

b. God is the God of all comfort

Not only does God deeply care about us He is also our comforter.  A lot of times we try to find comfort in other things like food, TV, alcohol, drugs, unhealthy relationships, work, etc. and they may provide temporary comfort but God alone is our ultimate source of comfort in our times of trials and tribulation.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

God alone is able to bind up the broken-hearted.

God alone is able to heal the most painful wounds.

God alone is able to give hope and joy under the heaviest of sorrows.

God comes alongside us when our world feels like it has been turned upside down.

In the midst of our dark and difficult situations it can be easy to doubt who God really is.  I know this can be true of me at times.  So it is critical for me when I find my world turned upside that I consciously reflect on who God is.

I have to return to this important truth.

I have to be reminded of the God who transcends my tragedy.

I have to be reminded of the God who is my helper.

I have to be reminded of the God who is my refuge and my strength.

I have to be reminded that God is the God of compassion and the God of all comfort.

2. What God does.

We need to remember what God does and can do for us in our times of anguish and grief.  What does Paul say God does for us?

a. He comforts us IN our troubles.

God may not take us out of our tribulation/pain/suffering but He helps us while we are experiencing them.  God meets us where we are.

i. God comforts us through His word.

We can reflect and meditate on the promises of God.  What are some of the promises of God?

He will never leave us nor forsake us.

We are forever free from condemnation (Romans 8:1, 2).

We cannot be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:35).

We have direct access to God (Ephesians 2:18).

The work that God has begun in us will be completed (Philippians 1:6).

We can find grace and mercy in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).

There are so many promises of God that we can find comfort in.

ii. God also comforts us through other people.

This has definitely been my experience – especially over this past year.  I can’t imagine having to go through a tragedy completely on my own.  I am so thankful that God uses other people to bring comfort during our times of trouble.

This is the reason for requests for prayer, for sharing of needs with one another, and for enlisting the aid of others in praying us through difficult times or pressures. It is so that we will be ready to respond to those who are going through pressure with prayer for them.

An image that comes to mind when I think of God comforting us IN our troubles is of a father tenderly bending down to pick up his son or daughter who has just tripped and scraped their knee. This is how I picture God coming along side me to provide comfort in my time of need.

b. God  helps us comfort others through our troubles.

I was reading an article by Chuck Colsen not long ago in which he said that he often asked himself why he had to go to prison as a result of Watergate.  Legally, there was no reason why he should have been put in prison.

Nevertheless, he ended up there, and, for a long time, he struggled with that.  Why did he have to suffer the humiliation, the shame, the disgrace, and the discontent of prison?  But then the answer began to come.

While he was in prison he learned what prisoners go through.  He saw these forgotten men and women of American society, the awful injustices they often face, the difficulty, even the impossibility of recovering themselves, and there was born in him a great sense of compassion and a desire to help.

Since he has gotten out of prison, he has devoted his whole life and ministry to going back in and helping these men.  Now wonderful stories are beginning to come out from prisons all over America of dramatic changes in human lives because Chuck Colsen was sent to prison.

Paul says that God “comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”  God can use the comfort that He provided us in our time of trouble to comfort someone else who may go through something similar.  I know I have experienced this from both sides.

To me this is another example of the importance of being a caring community as a church.  We need to share with one another what we have gone through.  We may be the means of comfort that God wants to use in someone else’s life.

This is why Christians ought to share their problems, their struggles, their failures and their successes with each other, freely and openly – so that we can encourage one another – so that we can comfort one another.

c. God strengthens us through our troubles.

James 1:2-4 says:

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

How are we ever going to find the comfort of God, the strengthening of God, if we are not under any pressure or stress?

Sometimes it takes going through these types of things to discover what God can do.  We should not try to run from our suffering.  Instead, we need to face up to it, and do as Paul does, by seeing suffering and troubles as opportunities to understand and experience anew the strengthening of God.

If I am completely honest, I don’t like being strengthened like this!  I would much rather be strengthened through easier circumstances but that is not the way God has orchestrated life.

He has designed life so that we have the greatest opportunity to grow the most when we are going through our darkest times – our most difficult times.  This isn’t a guarantee but the potential definitely there.

This is what Paul is talking about in verses 8-9 when he says:

“We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[a] about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

We do not know with absolute certainty what exactly Paul went through.  Most scholars link this with the record of Acts 19 in the story of the great riot that broke out in Ephesus, and the threat to the lives of all the Christians in that city.  This was a time when it appeared the whole Christian cause had collapsed in Ephesus, and all that Paul had laboured on for years was falling apart.

Paul must have gone through unusual emotional stress and physical threat during this time because he says that he was “under great pressure, far beyond his ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.”

Now that is the lowest point the human spirit can come to, the uttermost sense of despair.

He said, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death.”

In Paul’s eyes, his situation was absolutely hopeless, he had given up; there was no way out.  He could see himself potentially losing his life at this point.

But then he adds at the end of verse 9,

“but this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.” 

In other words, God is not going to waste any opportunity to help us to grow and spur us on to grow!  God is going to use whatever troubles that come our way to help us continue to grow and mature in our relationship with Him!

I love how Paul ends this passage with hope.  Verse 10 says:

“He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.”

Paul is saying:

God delivered us – in the past.

He is delivering us – in the present.

He will deliver us – in the future.

Paul has learned to trust God to take him trough whatever life throws at him, no matter what it is.  My prayer and desire is that we can say this with confidence too!

When troubles, trials and difficult time enter our lives we need to remember who our God is and remember what our God does, for us and through us and in us!

How do you respond when your world gets turned upside down?

***** This is a synopsis of a sermon that I preached at Port Hardy Baptist Church.

In Christian living, Sermons
permalink

Prayer is a learned behaviour

July 11, 2011 — 12 Comments

Richard Foster in his book “Celebration of Discipline” wrote,

“Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life. Of all the Spiritual Disciplines, prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father. . . Real prayer is life creating and life changing.”

Isn’t that a great statement? Prayer launches us into the spiritual world as we seek to have a conversation with God, so that we can communicate with God.  When we pray, we are engaging God in one of the deepest conversations we will ever have.

Prayer opens the door to our learning and understanding of what God wants for us in our lives, the lives of our family and friends and the lives of people in our community.  Ultimately when we engage in prayer, we have the opportunity to call upon the most powerful person in our lives, God. We have the opportunity to change the world, along with ourselves, if we are willing to open ourselves to God.

I find it interesting that the disciples could have asked Jesus for just about anything in the world.  They walked with Him for 3 years, they saw Him in action, yet, Luke tells us in Luke 11:1

“One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples spoke to him. “Lord, teach us to pray”.

Isn’t it interesting that these 12 men would ask Jesus – “teach us to pray”?

They had seen miracle after miracle, healing after healing – the blind were able to see, the lame could walk, the deaf could hear, the dead could breathe again; the hungry were fed.  They could have said, “Lord help us feed the 5,000 like You did” or “Lord, give us the wisdom to say the right things at the right time.”

These men grew up in the Temple, they knew all about prayer, the times of prayer and the Sabbath prayers. They weren’t just looking for an easy answer. They noticed something different about Jesus and His prayer life.

They saw Him pray at different times of the day and in different situations. They saw Him pray during crises, when He experienced need, when He was tired, when He wanted reconnection and wisdom from His Father – the response from Jesus was to pray.

The disciples noticed Jesus looked forward to prayer and hungered for it. They saw that somehow prayer fed Jesus’ soul the way food nourished their stomachs.  As a result, the disciples wanted what Jesus had, they wanted their heart, soul and mind to be nourished by prayer in the same way Jesus was nourished by prayer.

Prayer is a learned behaviour!

Nobody is born an expert at it.

No one ever masters prayer.

Thomas Merton said:

“We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything but beginners all our life!”

How do we get started in prayer?

I believe many people struggle with the starting point of prayer; along with what to pray for, how long do I pray, and so on.

Many of us say we want to pray and believe it’s effective, but often times we feel defeated before we even start to pray.  Or we start and a few minutes later we find our minds wandering about our grocery list, last nights hockey game, the housework, will the meeting go well, the hungry rumblings in our stomachs and a myriad of other thoughts and wanderings.

I find myself doing this.  I start praying and suddenly I’m rehearsing my sermon or my heart, spirit and mind begin to wander; or my body becomes tired.

What do we do when we find our mind wandering in prayer?

First, we need to cut ourselves some slack.  If you get off topic, and you think about your groceries, or a message you need to give to someone, don’t berate yourself, just catch yourself and move back into your prayer.

Another suggestion is, at the beginning of our prayers to take a few moments to allow your mind to settle down.  We can do this by simply taking a few deep breaths and allowing our mind to slow down.

Another thing that hold us back in getting started in prayer is thinking we need to have wonderful and flowery words in our prayers.  We think we need to speak like King James but if that isn’t you, don’t worry about it. God wants you to talk to Him just as you are, not as you think someone else would like you to be.

We also think our prayers should be a certain number of minutes long, and if we don’t hit our time limit we feel like we’ve bombed on our prayer. We especially fill this way when hear of so many people who were great praying saints.

Protestant reformer Martin Luther said, “I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”

John Wesley spent two hours per day in prayer.

Adoniram Judson, a Baptist missionary would pray 7 times per day.  At dawn, 9, 12, 3, 6, 9, and midnight.

We hear these stories and we begin to think we should be doing the same thing. On day one we say we will pray for one hour, and after 3 minutes, we’re prayed out.  And when we fall short, we tend to beat ourselves up and just give up from praying.  But that is not what we are to do.

Start slow, start with 3 or 5 minutes.

You don’t just wake up one day and say next week ‘I’m going to run in a marathon.’  That wouldn’t work, instead you set that as a goal and you begin to train.  Maybe you start by walking for one mile and work your way to the point when running a marathon is a possibility.

When we begin thinking about our need to pray, we need to start with the fundamentals, the basics and begin to strengthen ourselves as we seek to draw closer to God in prayer.

Some ideas and ways to enter into prayer

Some people are able to just jump in and away they go, most, however, need some way to enter in, so here are some ideas or patterns for prayer.  You can use these two acronyms as a way to enter into prayer:

ACTS – Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication

PRAY – Praise, Repentance, Ask, Yield

These are two pretty easy to remember acronyms.  Since they are very similar we will look at them together

Begin prayer with Adoration and Praise.

It is important to note that many Biblical prayers start off with praise to God and follow similar patterns.  We see it in many of the psalms, in Nehemiah’s prayer in Nehemiah 1; as well as in Daniel’s prayer in Daniel 9.  Whether we are stuck or not, this is one effective way to lead ourselves into prayer.

So, we start your prayer the way Nehemiah did, when he said In Nehemiah 1:5,

“O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and obey his commands.”

Nehemiah recognizes God’s greatness and just how awesome God is and he tells God exactly what he is thinking.  This is how the prayer starts, he lifts up God’s name in praise.

When we start out praying, instead of rushing to what we want God to do for us, start by telling God why we believe He is so awesome.

Tell Him how you adore Him. Remember the word adore means, “to love deeply and intensely, to regard with a deep rapturous love.”

Move on to Confession and Repentance.

It’s what Nehemiah did next, as well.  In the next verse, verse 6, Nehemiah said,

“I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s house, have committed against you.”

He moved on to confession.  He confessed the sins of the nation, his sins, as well as the sins of his family.  He wanted to make his life right with God, so that when he did lay his needs and petitions at God’s door, his heart, soul, mind and body were right with God.

We don’t like to admit our wrongdoings, our mistakes, especially our sins. Confession is not easy.  Nehemiah admitted the people had acted wickedly and had been disobedient to God and in essence deserved their exile.  He showed his humility in humbling himself and admitting his and the nations sinfulness before God.

Give Thanks to God.

We should look at our lives and see what is good – how God has blessed us.  This causes us to focus on what we do have, not on what we don’t have!

Ask  or make our requests known to God in what is called Supplications.

Supplication simply means to humbly ask, implore or even beg for something.  It’s a this stage where Nehemiah asked God for something, he asked God to give him success in going to the king so that he may return to Jerusalem and help the rebuilding of the wall.  For us, it is at this stage where we do as Paul said, “we make our requests known to God.”  We tell God what our needs are and what we need.

Yield to God’s will.

I know that Scripture tells me, ‘if I ask in His name it will be done for me.’ but it means I need to know what God’s will is.  In order to know His will I must be so connected to Him, and so close that it is not guess work.  It is not a wing and a prayer but it is my conviction that God wants something for me and I can confidently make that request, believing this is God’s will, not my will.  That is what the YIELD means for me.

Prayer, perhaps more than any other activity, is the concrete expression of the fact that we are invited into a relationship with God.  Dallas Willard put it this was:

“Prayer is talking with God about what we are doing together.”

In addition of all the other work that get done through prayer, perhaps the greatest work of all is the knitting of the human heart together with the heart of God.  It is sharing with our loving Father your heart, thoughts, emotions, requests, needs, cares, anxieties, worries, praises, thanksgivings, hopes, and desires.

Here is my challenge:  Make a personal prayer plan!

Decide what time is best for you to set aside exclusively for prayer.

Decide where the best place for you to pray at that time is.

Do it!

What is you personal prayer plan?

***** This is a synopsis of a sermon that I preached at Port Hardy Baptist Church.  It is part 4 of 8 in a series called “Sacred Ryhtyms.”

In Christian living, Sacred Rhythms, Sermons
permalink

4 ways to pursue joy in our lives

July 4, 2011 — 10 Comments

The Bible puts joy in the non-optional category. Joy is a command (Philippians 4:4). Joylessness is a serious sin.  How often have people misunderstood God because they attributed to Him the grim, judgmental, defensive, soul-wearying spirit of many who claim to be His followers?

We can become joyful people.  With God’s help, it really is possible.  The biblical writers would not command if it were not so.  But joyfulness is a learned skill.  We must take responsibility for our joy.

4 ways to pursue joy in our lives

(adapted from “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” by John Ortberg)

1. Begin today!

The psalmist says in Psalm 118:24 “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” He doesn’t say, “Yesterday was God’s day – how happy I was then.” Nor does he say, “Tomorrow will be the great day – I’ll just endure until then.” This day, with all its shortcomings is the day to rejoice!

But this raises a question:  How can I embrace joy amid all the pain and suffering in the world?  is it right to be joyful in a world of hunger and violence and injustice?

It is precisely here that we make one of the most surprising discoveries: Often it is the people closest to suffering who have the most powerful joy. Friends of Mother Teresa say that instead of being overwhelmed by the suffering around, she glowed with joy as she went about her ministry of mercy.

True joy comes only to those who have devoted their lives to something greater than personal happiness.  This is most visible in extraordinary lives, in saints and martyrs.  But it is no less true for ordinary people like us.

2. Spend time with joyful people.

Each of us know a few people who are joy-carriers. When we are around them, they breathe life into us. We need to prize them. We need to thank them. We need to spend time with these people!

And it’s important to spend time with them because we all know that there are other people who do the opposite. They are like black holes which easily suck the joy right out of us, if we are not careful. We need to love them as best we can, but we also have to be careful not to let them shape us.

3. Set aside a day of the week to be a personal joy-filled day.

One day of the week eat foods you love to eat, listen to music that moves your soul, play a sport that stretches and challenges you, read books that refresh your spirit, wear clothes that make you happy and feel good, surround yourself with beauty – and as you do all these things , give thanks to God for His wonderful goodness.

Reflect on what a gracious God He is to have thought of these gifts.  Take time to experience and savour joy, then direct your heart toward God so that you come to know He is the giver of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). Nothing is too small if it produces true joy in us and causes us to turn toward God in gratitude and delight.

4. Discipline your mind to view life from a biblical perspective.

This discipline involves remembering the promises of God, and especially the promises which come at the end of the Bible. The Bible ends on the note of victory and praise. The battle is won.

At the end of this age God will dance with His people. Joy will reign undiminished and uninterrupted. As John the apostle says in Revelation 21:3-4

“God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’”

In the beginning there was joy, and in the end when all is fulfilled, there will be joy.

“To miss out on joy is to miss out on the reason for your existence.” Lewis Smedes

May we learn to recognize and celebrate the joyful moments in our lives. May we be filled with gratitude so that we can thank God for those moments.

How are you pursuing joy in your life?

In Sacred Rhythms, Sermons
permalink

Finding strength in difficult times

June 27, 2011 — 16 Comments

This past year has been incredibly tough year for my church family.  We experienced many difficult losses.   Last July we lost a little girl in a tragic accident and then last week we lost a key member of our church in a boating accident.

Also,  many of my church family have experienced other losses in their lives this past year.  Loss of parents, loved ones, friends and family.

In a lot of ways it seems like too much to handle.  In a lot of ways it seems like the weight is too much to carry. And it would be very easy for us to feel defeated and want to give up.

I believe that at these times in our lives when we don’t understand and we are left with more questions than answers, we need to focus on the character of God.

I read a great quote this morning.  It said:

“Focusing on the character of God helps us to take our eyes off our circumstances.”

For me, this doesn’t mean that we pretend that our pain and losses are not real or they did not happen.  For me, this means not allowing our pain and our losses to cloud our view of who our God is.

I believe that more than any other time in our lives, when we are grieving and when we are hurting we must choose to focus on God. We must choose to remember and to reflect upon His character.  This is where we will find our strength.

Last year, after Joy’s death, I meditated on this characteristic of God: God is my helper.  I found strength in Psalm 121, specifically verses 1 and 2.  These verses say:

“I lift up my eyes to the hills – where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121:1-2

These verses were a great source of strength for me then and they are a great source of strength for me now.

Over these last several days I have been meditating on this characteristic of God: God is my refuge and my strength. Psalm 46 (specifically verse 1) has been on my mind and heart.  Psalm 46 says this:

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the LORD has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields[d] with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

God is our refuge and our strength, an ever present help in trouble.

I looked up the meaning of the word “refuge” in the dictionary. This is what I found it means:

(1) a safe place
(2) something or someone turned to for assistance or security
(3) a shelter from danger or hardship
(4) act of turning to for assistance.

I think all of these meanings perfectly describe how God is our refuge!

The image that comes to my mind when I hear the word “refuge” is being in a lighthouse during a storm.  Even though there is a storm going on, there is still refuge, there is shelter.

I have never been in a lighthouse during a storm but I can imagine there are few thoughts going on in one’s mind.  First, I can imagine being thankful for being inside the lighthouse during the storm – being thankful for the shelter that is there.

And second, I can imagine having to have trust that the lighthouse is going to make it through the storm.   To feel secure, you would have to remember the storms that have passed by before.  You would have to remember that the lighthouse had protected you from many storms before this one.

I think these two thoughts apply to us today as well.  We need to take time to remember and thank God for His role in our lives.

We need to take time to remember and thank God for His faithfulness to us.
We need to take time to remember and thank God for His many provisions in our lives.
We need to take time to remember and thank God for His presence in our lives.
We need to take time to remember and thank God for bringing us through previous storms in our lives.

Remember:

“Focusing on the character of God helps us to take our eyes off our circumstances.”

I know that this is not easy when we are in the middle of the storm of pain, hurt and grieving but we need to do it!

I know that when trials and difficulties come, a lot of times it is much easier to focus on the circumstance than it is to focus on God.

We need to fight against those tendencies!  We need to turn to our God, our refuge and our strength!

Instead of focusing on the storm, we need to focus on the God who shelters us from the storm and who can overcome the storm!

What attributes or characteristics of God have helped you through a difficult time?

***** This is a synopsis of a sermon that I preached at Port Hardy Baptist Church.

***** Emily from “Wherever He leads, I’ll go” shared this song with me. It is called “Your Hands” by JJ Heller. I shared it at the end of my message.


In Christian living, Sermons
permalink

The solution to busyness

June 20, 2011 — 23 Comments

We are faced with enemies in our lives that we often do not recognize.  The enemies I am talking about are noise, hurry, and busyness.  Any of these things can attack us at any moment and distract our minds.

“Hurry is not of the Devil; it is the Devil.” Carl Jung

Constantly every day we are bombarded with busyness.  And the busyness that surrounds us distracts us and makes our lives feel crowded.

These distractions plague us so that our minds and hearts are cluttered.

These distraction hinder us from hearing the still quiet voice of God.

What is the solution?

The solution is the discipline of meditation.

Now when I say meditation, most people something like sitting in some uncomfortable position with your hands on your knees and making a humming sound while trying to empty your mind.

Is that what meditation is from a Christian standpoint?

No!  Let’s look at what the bible has to say about mediation.  To do this I want to examine Joshua 1:6-9.  We are going to see what God tells Joshua to do and why He wants him to meditate and consider what meditation is from a Biblical standpoint.

Let’s start with a bit of background to the book of Joshua.  In this section, of Joshua, Moses has died and now Joshua is the leader of Israel who is going to lead them into the Promised Land.

They have been in the desert for 40 years so that the unbelieving generation had died off.  Now God has called upon Joshua to lead the people and this is going to require great courage and obedience to the Lord.

Here is what God says to Joshua:

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:6-9

What is Meditation?

Now from this passage of Scripture, we don’t get the sense that the Lord is telling Joshua to sit in some lotus position with his hands on his knees day and night, do we?

No, that is certainly not what the Lord is communicating.  In fact, instead of emptying our mind, like we might hear in some of the eastern religions like Buddhism, meditation from a biblical standpoint is about focusing our mind.

In fact, when we look back at the Hebrew word translated as “meditate” we find that it can mean to murmur, ponder, devise, muse, imagine or plot.  It is about thinking and going over something in your mind.

So a definition of meditation is:

Thinking and/or dwelling upon a subject or series of subjects to seek greater understanding of the subject.

It is going over something in your mind over and over.

Meditation is connected to, yet different from Bible study and prayer.  In Bible study we are seeking to learn what the Bible says.  In prayer, we are looking to communicate with God and draw close to Him.

In meditation, we are seeking to take what we have learned and have it cemented inside of us so that we constantly have His word and our knowledge of Him with us.  Meditation is thinking about a subject to seek greater understanding.

What do we meditate on?

I am sure there are many of us who have lived out the definition of meditation, but not from a standpoint that the Bible speaks of.

I am sure there are times we have thought and dwelt upon things and gone over and over it in our minds, but it has really not benefited us.  That is because a negative form of what we have defined as meditation is worry.

If you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Rick Warren

The difference is, in meditation that the Bible speaks of, we don’t think about the negative things that may occur; instead, we focus and think about some specific things that will be a help to us.

God tells Joshua in the first part of 1 of chapter 8:

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night”

We meditate on God’s Word

As we study God’s word, we need to take time to think about it.

How do we do that?

When we read a passage or section of Scripture, we need to take time to ask questions to ourselves about it.

We need to read it over and over.

We need to commit it to memory and as we do that, we seek to truly understand its meaning in the context of the passage and in the context of our lives.

We need to ask questions as we think about it.  Questions like:

  • Why did this person or people need to hear what the Lord was speaking to them?
  • How did people respond to hearing that?
  • How did they apply what they heard, if at all?
  • What were the affects of following or not following?
  • What is God trying to teach me in this verse?
  • Is this view in accordance with the rest of Scripture?
  • Is there anything I need to do today or this week in light of what this says?

We need to mediate on God’s word and think about it, dwell upon it and its effect on our life.

Too often, I will read something in Scripture and not think about it and forget later in the day what I have even read because I didn’t think about it and meditate upon it.

James says 1:25 says:

“But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.”

Meditation helps us not forget what we have heard from God’s word and to store it away inside of us.

We meditate on God’s Works

Psalm 77:12 says:

“I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

We are to dwell upon and think about the things God has done, His mighty works.  His work of creation, His works throughout history.  We can read about these in God’s word.

But, we also need to also mediate on the works that the Lord has done in our lives.

So often we forget when God has answered a prayer, helped us overcome a trial. We need to think on that, meditate on His mighty deeds.

It is important for us to think back over our lives and look at the milestones and markers and see how they are fitting together and see how God has in fact used those things and directed our lives to lead us to where we may be today.

It is also helpful to remember how God may not have answered something in the way you wanted at the time, but to look back now and see how God may have used that to direct you to where you are today.

Those are the times that we get to see how God can work all things for the good of those who love Him. (Romans 8:28) We may not always understand in the moment, but many times we can see as we think back and remember and meditate on it.

That ultimately, helps us go forward with the Lord, to be strong and courageous when we don’t understand in the moment, but we have come to know our God and His love and His mighty works in our life. Ultimately, we know that all the works God does are good and right.

What does meditation do?

According to this passage in Joshua, meditation has a number of effects in our lives.

1. Meditation helps us to be strong and courageous.

Three times in this passage, God instructs Joshua that he needs to be strong and courageous.  Now, we can’t be strong and courageous for God in ourselves.

To be strong and courageous for what God wants us to do, we need to have close relationship with Him.

It is imperative that we are close and trust God when He is leading us because we know of His love for us and how He cares for us.

2. Meditation helps us to be obedient.

We need to be strong and courageous knowing what God’s word tells us to do so that we can be obedient to His word.  Joshua 1:8 says:

“Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, {Why?} so that you may be careful to do everything written in it [so we will be obedient to it].”

There are things we can read in God’s word and know what it says, but often we don’t want to think about it because it is hard.

We can see in God’s word that we are at times called to sacrifice, but that is hard.

We can see in God’s word that we are called to serve, but we don’t because it means changing schedules or other priorities.

When we meditate on God and His word, it helps us be strong and courageous to be obedient to Him knowing He is good and directing us well.

3. Meditation helps us be successful.

Successful how?

Successful in what the Lord is calling us to do.

Successful in living life to the full, in living life abundantly, in experiencing the fullness of life

Now this success is not necessarily monetarily.  Instead it is successful in accomplishing all that God has in mind for us and experiencing closeness with Him.

Being successful is going through life accomplishing His will.

Being successful means hearing the words,

“Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:23)

Being successful means experiencing the fulfillment that only comes through following the Lord and being blessed.

The challenge

Try meditating for this next month.  Find a time in your day that you can block off and practice meditating on scripture.  Try to meditate between four and seven times each week.

Here are some suggested Scriptures to start with:

  • Gospel Stories: John 2:1-12 The wedding at Cana and John 12:1-8 Mary anointing Jesus’ feet
  • Jesus’ Teaching: John 10:11-18, 27-28 My sheep hear my voice
  • Epistle Teaching: James 3:14-18 True wisdom and Ephesians 3:14-21 Prayer for deep wisdom
  • Psalms: Psalm 121 God our faithful guardian

Remember, if we want to prosper in our life for the Lord, then we need to take some time and meditate on His word and His works so that we can be strong and courageous, so we can walk in obedience and live a successful life in the Lord.

Do you practice the discipline of meditation?

***** This is a synopsis of a sermon that I preached at Port Hardy Baptist Church.  It is part 2 of 8 in a series called “Sacred Ryhtyms.”

In Sacred Rhythms, Sermons
permalink