God's Attention

Do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven
—Luke 10:20

All that our Lord gives His attention to in a person’s life is that person’s relationship with God— something of great value to His Father.
~Oswald Chambers

Taking the above passage and thougts to heart has implications that extend far beyond just my own little universe. How does this look corporately? Would my church, the statements made from the pulpit, and the expended energy of all those people change?

I hope not. While this topic may not be presented this simply all the time, I think that our biggest temptation is to think that God lives in the details of our actions--because this is where we live. For me, to focus on my relationship with God--my conversations, my gifts, my praises--is a very freeing feeling and helps to cut through the myriad of "good" things vying for my attention.

The Cycle of Sin

13When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. 15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.

16Don't be deceived, my dear brothers. 17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. 18He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

~James 1:13-18

Last night at small group we were led into a great discussion of the reality of cyclical or repeated sin. If honest, most of us struggle or have struggled with an area of our lives that has been a source of angst time after time. When contemplating the passage above, I must constantly realize that the main reason I continue to struggle is my own evil desire. If there is an area of my life that is not honoring to God, it is too easy for me to simply repent again and again.

The Word tells me that my sin is coming from within me. This seems obvious, but when I am in that moment of truth, feeling the pull to go off in a destructive direction and I easily rationalize my fears away, I have started too late.

Beating big, repeating sin is not just about giving the obvious thorn in our flesh to Christ. For me it has been continually searching out the small, seemingly insignificant slips that ultimately give Satan an opportunity to tempt me with my obvious weaknesses.

May we continually be on a hunt for those little areas to give away to God.

Is there room?

"People today are crying out for the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for God’s Son right now— no room for quiet, holy fellowship and oneness with the Father."
~Oswald Chambers


A flurry of thoughts with the statement above as their theme has been swimming in my head recently. How often have I or a member of my family said, "...we don't have time for......"?

What do we make time for? I make time for work... lots of it. I make time for my daughter (when I don't have to work). I make time for my wife (everytime our relationship feels strained and desperately in need of a fix-up). On Sundays I fit church in, and once a week we have small group. My logic is faulted.

Why can't I start with the things of God and work backwards from that point? Perhaps I cannot completely rearrange my life's schedule, but I can always work on my life's priorities. If I am more concious about it, much of my ministry for the day should have been completed while at work. Would I then come home energized instead of drained?

Lord that I would hold you up as my priority and let the world filter into the overflow of your mercies....

The Nature of Worship

"But his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night..."
~Psalm 1:2

The image of meditation is a strong one for me. My wife needles me fairly regularly about my inability to multi-task. I don't think meditation is about multi-tasking, it is about creating focus...

Our society is driven so much by concepts of immediate gratification and constant communication that we easily lose sight of the value stemming from meditation. Our Lord demonstrated time and time again a wonderful balance between meeting the relational needs of people and meeting His relational needs with His father.

I've begun to understand that our time seeking God out, whether in prayer or in His Word, is another way to richly worship the Lord in a focused way. Last night our small group gathered and after reading Psalm 1, proceded to individually paint in reaction to the passage (this was all organized by my wife, a former art teacher). Our time was so rich. There was something magical about the Holy Spirit's presence in the group. The worldly quality of the artwork was varied, but the spiritual quality of the art was awesome. Each person willingly talked through the ideas represented in their work testitfying to the power of meditation in stripping our preconceived notions, inhibitions, and self-conciousness in an act of worship.