Category Archives: Poeima
Are We So Afraid of Our Darkness?
Devotional Thoughts of the Day:
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night— 12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you. Psalm 139:11-12 (NLT)
“Nobody is wise who does not know the darkness. I appreciate the dark hours of my existence in which my senses are sharpened.” (1)
678 From Saint Paul’s teaching, we know that we have to renew the world in the spirit of Jesus Christ, that we have to place Our Lord at the summit and at the heart of all things. Do you think you are carrying this out in your work, in your professional task?
Some recent events corresponded to my devotional readings this morning.
The thing we have in common is the darkness that affects our lives. In some cases, it may be depression, or loneliness. It could also be grief, and dealing with the threat of death, or death itself. It can also be dealing with the consequences of sin, and falling in times of great temptation.
Each of these times have their own level of darkness, and we encounter them in life. They are there, unavoidable. Yes, even Christians have to deal with the darkness of life, the despair that can creep up and oppress us,
The challenge is not the darkness, but rather in not facing the darkness, It isn’t the pain and anxiety the darkness can cause, but in trying to become comfortable with it, rather than being comforted as we endure it.
In one of my devotions, quoted above in green bold print, there was the comment that we can find our senses sharpened by the darkness. Based on the rest of the reading this doesn’t mean we look to embrace the darkness, but rather that there, acknowledging the darkness, we become more aware of God’s presence, as God comforts us, protects us, gives our hearts and minds peace that is…supernatural, unexplainable, glorious.
THe pslamist knew this as well, for even that darkness cannot stop God, He sees us, hears our cries. The Hly Spirit, the gift of our baptism, the one called the Paraclete, the comforter, comes an supports us, and we become aware of it as well.
The Spirit of God reminds us of all the promises given to us, as we are united with Christ, in His death, in His resurrection, and even while we await for His return. (Check our Colossians 3:1-3 about this – it is amazing!) This is why the promise of baptism is so… incredible.
Darkness and light in our lives fade in their meaning, as we realize the presence of God. His presence, His glory.
If we hide in the darkness, if we ignore its oppression, if we try to make people comfortable with it, by diminishing the pain, diminishing the horror, discounting the anxiety and angst, we are not doing them any good. Trauma sucks, Depression is scary and overwhelming. Loneliness is something beyond which we normally can deal with, even introverts. Grave illness and death cause our souls to shrink and become almost fetal as we fear that which we cannot overcome. And sin destroys.
Unless the glorious healing power of Jesus presence is known. Unless we realize that He is here, caring for us, our wonderful Lord and Savior, who does reign. Who is, as Escriva writes, the heart and summit of all things.
So even in the darkness, He is there… eliminating it.
The words of Hebrews 12 come so clearly to mind>
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
and take great joy – here is that verse from Colossians
1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (NLT)
And rejoice, and sing His praises, for as we endure the darkness of our lives, the lives in which He is the Lord, the darkness simply helps us be aware of His work in our lives……
To Him who sits on the throne, be all glory and honor and praise…. AMEN
(1) From Celtic Daily Book, devotional for 1/8 Finian Series
(2) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2501-2504). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
It’s time to be “The Church”
Devotional Thought of the Day:
25 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don’t, 26 the parts we see and the parts we don’t. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance. 27 You are Christ’s body—that’s who you are! You must never forget this. Only as you accept your part of that body does your “part” mean anything. 1 Corinthians 12:25-27 (MSG)
575 To think of Christ’s Death means to be invited to face up to our everyday tasks with complete sincerity, and to take the faith that we profess seriously. It has to be an opportunity to go deeper into the depths of God’s Love, so as to be able to show that Love to men with our words and deeds. (1)
I am getting tired of conversations about the church. There are theologians who will talk of church militant and church triumphant.and the visible and invisible Church. There are consultants who will talk about healthy churches, revitalizing churches, legacy churches (the new euphemism for a church dead or dying, usually blamed on being 25 years or older) There are goals to be seeker oriented, confessional, conservative, liberal, missional, contemporary, and a thousand more labels.
It’s time to stop all of the strategic talk, all the planning and plotting and vision casting and calls for others to repent.
I love the description of the church in Paul’s 12th chapters of Romans and 1 Corinthians. It’s not an organization, or a entity. It is a family, a body, an organism, not an organization. When one part of the church hurts, whether through real persecution/martyrdom, whether through grief and bereavement, no matter the cause, the entre church hurts, whether this is a cell ground of 6 or 8, a small church like mine of 60, or a mega church of 2000, or the Church as the entire body of Jesus Christ. The same thing is true with moments of joy. If all of heaven parties, if God dances when a prodigal returns home, when a baby is baptized, when a cynic or critic is gifted with faith and repentance/transformation, the whole church should as well.
For this is who we are – one body, Christ’s body.
It shouldn’t take a team of experts consultants to realize this, or to provide 8 steps to seeing it happen. What it does take is bearing our cross with Christ, of seeing everything as killed off and that cross and re-created, reformed, brought together, bonded to His resurrection as we were to His death quickened, made alive IN Christ.
In the past week, I’ve been there when friends are hospitalized, when a former member of my church was buried, when another friend struggled with sin, when they needed encouragement to enter that struggle. I’ve watched quite a few struggle in relationships, and I’ve seen people struggling with change, both good change, bad chance and just the fear of potential change. This is church stuff my friends, it is the time where we need to all be together, weeping working, encouraging, partying,
I love St Josemaria’s quote today… Each of the moments, each of these struggles, and the celebrations as well – each is a time to encounter Christ, each is a time to see the marvelous love of God at work, to share that love, to receive that love.
When the people of God, called together do such things – whether 2 or 3 or 10,000 do this, they are His people, His church… they aren’t just talking and setting visions, they are finding the healing they need in Christ Jesus.. and helping others to heal….this is Eph. 2:10, and Article 6 of the Augsburg Confession.
This is the Church…. let’s be it.
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 2141-2144). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Without Advent, Christmas is Just History….
Devotional Thought of the Day:
18 Let this be recorded for future generations, so that a people not yet born will praise the LORD. 19 Tell them the LORD looked down from his heavenly sanctuary. He looked down to earth from heaven 20 to hear the groans of the prisoners, to release those condemned to die. 21 And so the LORD’s fame will be celebrated in Zion, his praises in Jerusalem, 22 when multitudes gather together and kingdoms come to worship the LORD. Psalm 102:18-22 (NLT)
419 It seems an excellent idea to me that you should tell the Lord often about your great and ardent desire to be a saint, even though you see yourself filled with wretchedness… Tell him, precisely because of this! (1)
This evening, we take up our advent journey, a journey I hope to be one of intense prayer. We are going to look at different prayers in the Bible, where people cried out for the presence of God, Prayers that plead, Come Lord Jesus!
As I was thinking through the service this morning, it became apparent that we need this time of Advent. THe title above declares why. Without Advent, Christmas is a celebration of a historical event. An incredible one for sure, as Eternal God become mortal man, and dwelt among us. As the angels and shepherds sing God’s praises, as the glory of God was experienced in a way that even Abraham and Moses, David and Elijah never experienced.
Immanuel! God with us!
But what needs to be said is that life prior to the incarnation was in desperate need fo that incarnation. THat is what Advent services, the readings, the music, the devotions, should cause us to understand. To see the Incarnation, Christ living amongst us, not just as a historical exercise, but as an answer.
An answer to a prayer uttered in despair. In despair because of evil oppression, in despair because of the darkness of our own sin, in despair because without the presence of God, life is hopeless. An answer to those groaning souls imprisoned by guilt and shame, battered, downcast, broken.
it is the prayer that St. Josemaria encourages us to utter, even in the midst of knowing our own failure. A prayer that acknowledges our desire to live life worthy of Christ’s love, but unable to. It is the prayer cry of despair, depression, submission, and one that is made with the inkling of hope. The hope as we realize what is needed, is promised. The hope that expects the answer deep in our hearts, even while our minds struggle with the possibility of it.
Knowing this despair is answered is the nature of Christmas -advent simply identifies what life is, without God. It brings Christmas’s meaning beyond history into the present, and affects us here… and now. It provides hope for us who are broken.
For Advent shows a pattern to God’s love. It is why it was recorded for us. To know that God looks down. He sees our lives, lived in bondage, He hears our cries, and answers, freeing us, comforting us, cleansing and healing us. Without realizing the desperate need for God’s presence, Christmas just becomes a time of celebrating what happened. With the realizations of Advent, it becomes much more… Christmas becomes a celebration of our hope, because our Lord God is with us.
Knowing this, may our lives be lived in the praises of His people, as we wait again for His coming.
AMEN
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1616-1618). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Can You Hear Him Now?
Devotional Thought of the Day:
24 “Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. 26 But anyone who hears my teaching and ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. 27 When the rains and floods come and the winds beat against that house, it will collapse with a mighty crash.” Matthew 7:24-27 (NLT)
364 When are you going to make up your mind! Many people around you live a life of sacrifice simply for human reasons. These poor people forget they are children of God and act the way they do perhaps only out of pride, or to excel, or to be more comfortably off later on in life. They give up all kinds of things! And you, who carry the sweet burden of the Church, of your family, your colleagues and friends, motives for which it is worthwhile sacrificing yourself, what are you doing about it? With what sense of responsibility are you reacting?
Maybe it is helping that guy who is begging, not just giving him five bucks, but actually offering real help, and the respect that befits a child of God. Maybe it is going out of your way to bring someone to church, or staying for the Bible study, so they can as well. Maybe it is giving up a saturday morning, or some event you were hoping for, or stepping aside so someone else can do that which you love to do. Maybe it is opening up your house to a missionary who needs a place to stay while in the states, or to someone you know – who can’t live where they did.
Maybe it is forgiving that person who hurt you last week, or 20 years ago. Deciding to let God judge the situation, rather than seek revenge, or hold in that resentment.
Maybe it is simple, sacrificing a meal, or a movie a week or a month, and sending the money to help a missionary in Papua New Guinea, or a Syrrian or Iraqi refugee in Turkey, or a kid in Kosovo learn about Jesus, while learning to play baseball. (btw – I know how to make all those happen – contact me if they strike a nerve) Maybe it is going on the mission field youself, or taking your family on the field for a year or 10.
May it is humbling yourself to go to that person you offended, giving up your pride, asking for forgiveness, intent on seeing one thing happen. Reconciliation.
If you listen to Jesus’ call to follow Him, you will hear a call to sacrifice, a call to humility, a call to go beyond just going to church a sunday a month, or maybe a bible study. You will hear a call to go, a call to be there as He calls people to faith (even at your work, or at a doctor’s office, or at Walmart, or in the Philippines) You will look for people in need, and your heart will break, even as Christ’s broke when he saw the widow mourn the loss of her son, or as he looked out over the city of Jerusalem.
What are you willing to sacrifice? That isn’t the question.
What is worth hanging onto, when Jesus is calling you to hear His word? Will you hear Him calling, when He asks if you love him, not more than things, but with everything you are? Will you hear Him, see Him, loving you that way?
Look to the cross…. hear, see, know His love…..
For as that happens, all you are, will become something you can demonstrate your love to Him with, as you love those around you….
Can you hear Him? Listen…. and Love
Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1434-1439). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
The Church’s Mission is NOT to Convert People
Devotional THought of the Day:
26 Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me. John 12:26 (NLT)
356 The first Apostles, when Our Lord called them, were by the side of an old boat busy mending the torn nets. Our Lord told them to follow him and statim—immediately—relictis omnibus—they left everything—everything! And followed him… And it does happen sometimes that we, who wish to imitate them, don’t quite leave everything, and there remains some attachment in our heart, something wrong in our life which we’re not willing to break with and offer up to God. Won’t you examine your heart in depth? Nothing should remain there except what is his. If not, we aren’t really loving him, neither you nor I. (1)
Every once in a while, I hear a financial appeal for finances from a mission group. While they may never use the word “heathen”, that is what they are really saying. It may be to a inner city mission, or some foreign field in the middle of a desert, or swamp, or jungle. But the idea is that we must convert them, win them to Christ. Some may say they’ve had so many say a “sinner’s prayer”, or decisions for Christ. Others talk about the numbers of baptisms.
What they are focusing on is that moment when someone “becomes” a believer, the moment they were “saved”.
But the church isn’t in the business of converting people, of a one time moment that changes life, or at least gives us a guaranteed visa to heaven.
That isn’t what Jesus did, not is it what we are commissioned to do.
We are told to make disciples of all nations, not convert them.
Jesus didn’t tell Peter and Andrew, or James and John to just believe in Him. He didn’t ask Matthew the tax collector to do that either.
What God is after, what He desires isn’t a nice photo album of those who repented of their sins at a crusade, or who were convinced by a logical apologetic speech or emotional appeal.. He wants a family, people who are His, who know He is theirs. A relationship where He can bless His children and care for them. Where He can teach them and share His glory with them.
You might say, that’s what conversion does. And yes, there is a quickening, a bringing to life. A baptism, a prayer, a confession of trusting God. But our transformation, that work of the Trinity in our lives takes a lifetime, the promised completion date is Christ’s return.
What does this matter? Why am I saying our goal isn’t to make converts? Why can’t conversion be our mission our goal?
Image a lady, who wants to become a mother. Has she achieved her goal the moment conception occurs? Or is there 9 months of pregnancy, and then years of sacrifices and successes, of joy and sorrows?
Our journeys only begins at baptism, our life in Christ starts there, when we go from not knowing God, to finding Him revealed in our lives so clearly that we trust Him. Where a relationship occurs as we walk with Him, as we are taught by Him, as we enjoy this life He has brought us.
We don’t want to just convert people, we want to see them become our brothers and sisters, we want our Father in heaven to adopt them….. our mission is far longer, far deeper, far more important than winning a debate.
It’s helping them to walk with God….. to know His love and mercy. To realize that nothing else is important, compared to walking with God.
to know when we cry together, “Lord Have Mercy!”. He answers.
That is what being missional is about, about what the apostolate is about.
(1) Escriva, Josemaria (2011-01-31). The Forge (Kindle Locations 1406-1412). Scepter Publishers. Kindle Edition.
