CHOOSE: RELATIONSHIP

It might be February but I'm still mulling truths from Tim Keller's Hidden Christmas---in particular the name Immanuel. Immanuel is the person of the incarnation.

He is God. He is human. He is with us. He is God with us! (p.53)

Christ chose twelve that they might be "with Him." (Mark 3:14)

What does "with Him" mean contextually as Matthew and the other gospels describe this relationship as well? Being in their Rabbi's presence. Sitting at His feet. Close enough to Him to be "sitting in His dust." (John Ortberg)

Being with Him is all about relationship. 

Being in Jesus' presence, for us, is also about that intimate relationship with Him---conversing with Him, (prayerful conversation is two-way and involves both listening and speaking) learning from Him and having His comfort moment by moment.

The purpose of the Incarnation was to have that relationsship with Him.

To be able to choose relationship, one must know a relational God and desire to be with Him!

Synchronici-TEA

My soul rests quietly only when it looks to God; (Psalm 62:1, NIV)

"The Soul Needs Rest" is the title of chapter 11 in John Ortberg's book, Soul Keeping. 

My first thought was that my soul needs a nap.....or at least some spiritual whitespace. Some much is coming at me lately that a little quietude would be welcome.

Ortberg contends that if one is in need of time and space to let his soul catch up with his body, then that's a good indication that your soul needs rest. (p.130) 

Soul fatigue can set in.

Some things just seem to go together. Soul rest and solitude come to mind. Solitude is needed. Without the solitude, one struggles to live in harmony with God and man---especially family, in my case.

Synchronicity occurs when two meaningful events occur simultaneously. The world might call it a meaningful coincidence. I see it as a God-incidence. Me and Thee. No productivity required.

When your cuppa soul-rest is depleted......

....fill it with some chamomile and take a nap!

A cuppa synchronici-TEA of soul rest and solitude is necessary as one's soul will never find its rest unless it find's its home with God.

A quie-TEA-tude of soul goes well with a little tea and solitude---that space where we get healing and needed "catch up" rest for our soul. 

Sabbath Snapshot : sa-TEAs-faction

If John Ortberg has a new book out, son Buddy, is gonna buy it and then I'm gonna read it. Thus, his newest, Soul Keeping, was part of my weekend read.

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; Psalm 62:5, NIV

I am an Ortberg fan thus the rating of 5 stars for this short book with LOTS of valuable soul keeping ideas. Plus, Ortberg had a way of weaving in visits to "Box Canyon" to visit his mentor, Dallas Willard. Throughout the book the author honored Willard's life with many of his stories and quotes---a festschrift of sorts, as Willard died in 2013.
Tidbits that "touched" me---some all the way down to my soul...some Dotsy paraphrases and some direct quotes.

• Most important thing in life is not what you do, but who you become....that's what you take into eternity, (Dallas Willard, p. 23)
• World replaced soul with self but not the same. The more we focus (obsess) on self, the more we neglect our soul. (p.46)
• Self is a stand-alone, a do-it-yourself unit, while the soul reminds us that we were not made for ourselves. (p. 47)
• There's lots of self-talk these days. The difference between talking to self and talking to your soul, is that the soul exists in the presence of God. (p. 92)
• Soul keeping is NOT about perfection---it's about holding on to God because the soul was made to be connected to Him. (p. 104)
• The soul is seen when it reaches out in love. The Bible's word for this is blessing (p. 153)

Ortberg is a master weaver and these gleanings are but a part of a well spun tale, full of stories as well as truth. His own admissions as well as those of Willard and others.

Two ideas I continue to mull are the equation, soul freedom = embracing God's overall design &  my place in it." Similar to "Red Sea Rule" of acceptance. The other idea is the "daily" commission of idolatry.......anytime one meets his/her needs with anything that distances the soul from God. that distancing is a sin of the soul.

Though this entry sounds a tad pedantic, even to me, the book does not read this way. It's a delightful book full of wit, quips and even some personal self-deprecating Ortberg stories.

In training.....

5/29/13 My morning walk started off briskly and then faded into meandering rather quickly as my mind wandered. Good thing I'm not in training for a 5K or any other kind of athletic endeavor. Yet, the meandering allowed me to reflect on the "training" that has been part of my schedule these last few weeks. As I've studied for my upcoming simplici-TEA sessions, I've seen the importance of "training" for life----the life I want!. An "in Him, I live and move and have my being " type of life. (Acts 17:28)

I like the way John Ortberg encourages "practice" in living. He suggests that one should train in order to be able to "celebrate and to seek out joy, live in the moment, reflect on God’s attributes. Such training according to him might require one to unplug from TV and technology, and to train one’s mind to think on things from a biblical perspective."

Spiritual transformation takes wise spiritual training. 

So....I'm in training. Join me???

Attitude of Gratitude

6/16/09 Attitude of Gratitude vs. Entitlement
Life is a gift and what we do with it is our gift back to God. Our experiences in this game of life can have meaning, can impact others for good, or can be self-serving in an “all about me” kind of way. Folks who are rich toward God might not necessarily be rich in the world’s way, with all the right toys, but they are usually generous to a fault. I have been the recipient of the generous hearts of God’s people and those are the folks I want to emulate.

I think those generous ones have hearts full to overflowing with gratitude. I also think it is that gratitude that keeps envy, dissatisfaction, whining and complaining at bay. A thankful heart keeps us from taking what we have for granted and stops us from always wanting just a little (yea, right) bit more! That’s an illusion---thinking gratitude will come as soon as the stuff desired is a part of life.

Our society teaches us that we are “entitled” to a big home, a vacation with the family and even good health or at least adequate insurance. So what happens if some of those “things” are missing. Misery? Bitterness? Self-pity? Certainly self-preoccupation can imprison us with those chains of anger and resentment, that entangle us when our expectations are not met. What if the life your living right now is as good as it’s gonna get this side of heaven? What if it gets worse? Can you find blessing and gratitude in the struggle? You can if your life “counts” for other people.

As I’ve mentioned before, one of our family pastimes is playing all kinds of games together, including board games. We have boxes of those and look forward to new ones each year while cherishing old favorites. But regardless of the game, when it’s over it all goes back in the box. I remembered that from J. Ortberg’s book, When the Game is Over.

As I searched this book out, I was taken with the synopsis on the book jacket---a very sobering reminder—a time will come when the game of life comes to an end. Then what?

• No more game cubes or cards.

• No more tokens.

• No more promotions, financial planning, vacation homes or big toys.

• Game over.

If your life has been filled with the love of the Lord and has overflowed with gratitude and thanksgiving to Him and others, you will have been “rich” and your eternal reward will be great. People matter. A relationship with the Lord matters. As Ortberg says, fill every square on the game board of life with what matters most and be thankful. What ever we do for God and others does not go back in the box---it lasts throughout eternity.

'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:5) and with all your mind' ; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' (Luke 10:27)

Weeping Wednesday (Don't stop here---read further)*

1/28/09

These tags of alliteration for the days of the week have been a part of my life for a long time—reminders that help me focus. So, though today is a day for weeping, it's not for crying physically as I have done on some days in this journey, but…..it's my day of asking God to "create in me a clean heart, O Lord and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10) To do that He has to show me my sin---not a pretty picture---but necessary, especially for one whose SELF can rear it's ugly head. Actually, my subtle sin is self-protection. (Inside Out by Larry Crabb p.100---almost erased this citation to put in an APA or MLA format---old habits die hard for librarians) Self protection is pain avoidance esp. at a deep level---one often builds walls in relationships to have that protection. Sometime it's pride—not willing to let people see all the warts---and now God is allowing me to practice showing my humanity, warts and all. BTW, I read today that there are over 2.5 million blogs but *only 4% of people read writings of others.......... basically bloggers are having conversations with themselves--- it has been therapeutic.

Just reread parts of Ortberg's When the Game is Over it all Goes Back in the Box.

 (can't you see yourself clearing the Scrabble board and dumping all those wooden tiles into the little faux velvet bag?? ---a great read) I was reminded of so many truths---

The board you & I play on is in the shape of a calendar---live one square at a time.

In Ethiopia, a man's wealth is measured by his friends---In said measurement, I am indeed WEALTHY!

Arrange your life around what matters most to God----People matter.

On a lighter note, I have also learned, that there is no such thing as too many post-it/stickie notes. My dear ljj used to say I needed a Velcro bra----hm-m-m, maybe she's right---she usually is.

Family matters: As I wait, we are also awaiting by-pass surgery for Larry's dad & trying to aid his mother who spent the night here b/c they live in Oakland & she doesn't need to be alone. I was able to read Jesus Calling aloud to her as we sat at the breakfast table eating and watching Larry's (Pop-Pop's) birds feasting outside the window. How special is that?

My brothers and their wives from KY are coming Friday to bring Daddy so I can see them all before the Big MAC event. He won't spend the night but I'm grateful for their sacrifice---that's a lot of driving in one day.