Who am I a slave to?

It's true, I am a slave. And as much as it may appear, I am not a slave to my wife. As Paul writes to the church in Rome:

"What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don't you that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are the slaves of the one you obey- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? (6:15-16)"

The truth is that each one of us is a slave. Whether it is to the sin of the world that leads to death, or the righteousness that flows from the side of a crucified Christ that must be accepted for anyone to receive life to the full. I am happy to say I can boast with Paul:

"But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness (6:17-18)."

Thanks be to God indeed.

The heart of a teenager

I had the wonderful opportunity to talk with teenagers about issues that they were going through. I have to admit that I am amazed at how similar my life is to these young people. No, I don't mean I act like them... all the time... but I can see my personal life, my personal struggles, are the same things that these young people are dealing with. I struggle in my prayer life, I struggle in my devotional time, I struggle in my priorities. I find myself so often so exhausted from everything that I have committed myself to that I have no energy to give to the God, who should be the most important part of my life. It is so easy to fall into the trap of saying "things will slow down in a little bit, I just have to get through this week... or this month... or this year... or this decade. The discipline necessary to prioritize God in my life is lacking for sure. I know that there is a battle going on right now for my time, and if I don't take control and discipline myself, it can and will spin quickly out of control for me. I cling to Moses' guidance on the word of the Lord, and know that this way of viewing my relationship with God can help me.

"These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:6-9)."

I guess the question is this: can I make this things so ingrained in my life that they are a natural part? That is the question that remains to be answered. I hope for my sake and my family's sake that the answer will be a resounding yes.

God Everlasting

I have to admit that I am exhausted. It has been a long week so far, and I can see the tasks at hand piling up. I find I am lacking on the energy or the time to get things taken care of. But I know that you God are everlasting, that you do not grow tired or get drained out. You are the one everlasting God, creator of all things, who will see me through my fatigue. You will help me to finish the race, to rise up on the wings of Eagles, to run and not grow weary. You will see me through, and I praise your name for that. Continue to bless my time and my studies I pray.

My Covenant

As part of my Course of Study, this is one of my Journal Prompts:

Write a covenant between you and God as you feel led and directed by God.

Wow... How do I go about writing an agreement with you God? What can I possibly do to make an agreement I can keep? I know that I am not perfect, but I am hoping that I can make a covenant with you that I am capable of keeping. Am I allowed to have a "screw-up" clause in this agreement? I am hesitant to come to terms with something, because I know that in my humanness that I very well may not be able to keep my end of the deal. I guess the covenant that I want to make with you is that I commit to try to my utmost to walk in your ways, and lead my family in that same direction. I covenant that I will strive to follow your commands, that I will work to build and maintain a committed relationship with you. Overall, I covenant that I will strive to serve you in all my ways, acknowledging you as only one who can save me. With your help, I commit to keep this covenant with you. Amen.

Love Hurts

Yes, the words of the great band Nazareth are flowing through my ears:

"Oooh Ooh Love Hurts..."

These words seem to be even more clear to me in light of the words of Mother Theresa. I received this from a friend, and thought it a good thing to think about:

"Love, to be real, must hurt. If you want to truly love the poor, you must share with them. If you want poverty to disappear, share it. A gentleman asked me, "What must we do to eliminate poverty from India?" I answered, "We need to learn to share with the poor." That is what I want to share with you. We cannot share unless our lives are full of God's love and our heart are pure. As Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor of heart, for they shall see God." Unless we are able to see God in our neighbor, it will be very hard for us to love. Since love begins at home, let's love each other at home. Jesus said, "Love one another as I have loved you." He loved until it hurt. Jesus' love is so overwhelming that you and I can love Him and find life. We can love Jesus in the hungry, the naked, and the destitute who are dying. We can love him because our prayer gives us the faith we need to be able to love. If you love you will be willing to serve. And you will find Jesus in the distressing disguise of the poor."

I find a lot of times I don't really have a concern for the poor. I am so busy trying to live my life, to accomplish my goals, to set out for the task at hand, that I rarely take a break to even think about the "least of these", let alone to do something, to go into action. I find this statement "we need to learn to share with the poor" seems so simplistic, but also so incredibly compelling. Loving hurts, but it is not as hard as it may seem. The important part is that one has the willingness to try in spite of the hardships and pain that such a task entails. Again,

Ooooh, Oooh, Love hurts.

The calling of a missionary

I just got done reading one of my favorite devotion books, My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers. The story has it that Mr. Chambers allowed himself to experience death from a ruptured appendix because he refused to take up a hospital bed that could be used for a soldier during the war. Talk about a man among men! Today's reading stated that the missionary is not sent because of the need, because of the task at hand. The missionary is sent because it is Jesus doing the sending. The Missionary goes because God calls them to go, not because the need is such that a person can meet it. The call to mission comes from behind, not ahead. Its an interesting perspective I think. In my life I am ready to see the need, meet it, and move on unchanged. Am I willing to see beyond the physical, emotional, spiritual need, and see the source of my calling as Jesus himself? Am I allowing the call of ministry to change me, and does that change in me change the place I minister at? It all starts with Jesus first! Amen and Amen!

Journal for Ministry

So I must say it has been a while. Once full time school kicked off last year, it seemed like the time for blogging was long gone. Although I have found a rebirth, one that I should have realized a long time ago. As part of my Course of Study for Ministerial Development, I am required to journal on a regular basis about the things I am learning, insights I have gained, and challenges I have endured. Sometimes these writings are on prompts, sometimes they are out of my reading or daily devotion. I will share my journal insights with you (you being anyone who takes the time to read this blog) on a (hopefully) daily, regular basis. The first is a reflection on a prayer:

"Thank you, Lord, for changing your mind! Because, if you didn?t, we wouldn?t have a prayer!"

This is in reference to one of the many encounters between God and Moses. God had finally had enough of the nation of Israel and them following their own ways. God told Moses, "That's it, I've had it, and I am going to destroy these people, and start my people from you." Moses pleaded the case of the Israelites "God, don't forget the promise you made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." So God decided not to destroy Israel because Moses interceded on their behalf. I feel the same way about my life today. God has every right to blot my sinful life out of existence. I am a sinner through and through. But it is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that the justice of God was fulfilled, and mercy was extended to my life. Now Jesus sits on the right hand side of God, interceding on my behalf, & his Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Advocate, intercedes on my behalf as well, giving me the opportunity (if I choose) to be righteous and declared clean before God. I love the truth in this prayer, that God was willing to relent his just punishment on all of humanity by sending his son. I am so thankful for that, and now I do have a prayer indeed.