The Big Easy

The best dancers do this by developing a close relationship, getting to know each other extremely well. They know each others’ moves, their tendencies. If there’s a misstep, they adjust together. They’re intimately connected, even if they’re not romantically a couple.

They exemplify the relationship David expressed toward his more dominant partner in Psalm 119:10: “I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands.”

The closer his relationship with the Lord, the more intimately he understood God’s heart and shared God’s priorities. When we do the same, it’s easier to keep in step with God and his commands.
...
The bride of Christ finds it easy to dance in rhythm with him.

Read more of The Big Easy at LookoutMag.com

Meditation Metaphor: I ♥ Caffeine

I love my Coca-Cola. In my high school and college years I could down an entire 2-liter bottle of Coke and go looking for another one. The caffeine revved me up, got me going, and I never had any problems with it. I could drink that 2-liter just before bedtime and still fall right to sleep and not stir for hours.

Most of my friends were the same way, as are most guys that age today. Many of them prefer Mountain Dew or the new energy drinks, but I've always been a Coke man.

Two years ago today I was diagnosed with diabetes and was forced to quit the sugared version of Coke. I haven't had a regular Coke since. Fortunately, the geniuses at Coca-Cola labs have invented their Zero mix of artificial sweeteners, which is so much better than the saccharine or aspartame sweeteners I'd tried to like before.

Two weeks ago I was in the E.R. at 5 AM because my heart was dancing to the beat of a toddler let loose on the drums. It turned out I wasn't having a heart attack, but there was definitely some sort of arrhythmia happening. That's not surprising, considering both of my parents had a-fib problems.

I'm scheduled to follow up with my primary physician tomorrow and I suspect he'll advise me to continue what I already began after the ER scare. The day has finally arrived that I knew would eventually come.

I need to quit the caffeine.

Just as my metabolism is not longer able to handle the sugar load of all those Cokes, now my heart is no longer able to handle the caffeine dump.

You'll notice the Coke in the picture above is of Caffeine Free CocaCola Zero. No sugar. No caffeine. Just the flavor and the fizz.

And yes, I can already hear some of my friends (I'm looking at you, Kerri) telling me I should quit the sodas altogether. That may come at some point.

At some point.

Meanwhile, I sit in church and at work and at every restaurant surrounded by people cheerfully imbibing their coffee and lattes and Cokes and Mt. Dew. Their hearts can process it just fine.

I have chosen the way of faithfulness; I have set my heart on your laws.

Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.

Though the arrogant have smeared me with lies, I keep your precepts with all my heart. Their hearts are callous and unfeeling,but I delight in your law.

Rulers persecute me without cause, but my heart trembles at your word.

(Psalm 119:30,36,69,60,161)

When I turn my attention to meditating on the Word of God, the condition of my heart has a huge impact on how God's message is received.

If I've overloaded my mind and heart with the ideas and notions of the culture around me, the life-giving words of God don't affect my heart the way they should. If my heart is seeking the next new thing or hanging on for dear life to the way things used to be, the Word has less efficacy. If my heart is preoccupied with my personal opinions or politics or prejudices or presumptions, it won't be prepared to receive God's truth without alteration.

If I continue to overwork my heart with a continual chasing after pointless passions, there will come a day when a dose of God's Word no longer refreshes me but instead makes me uncomfortable and irritable.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23)

Meditation Metaphor: MyFitnessPal

On September 1st, 2012, my family physician told me the reason behind my recent troublesome symptoms:  Diabetes, Type 2.

My doctor and I are both very pragmatic people, so he prescribed a simple 2-word course of treatment:

Lose weight.

I had been hovering between 300-310 pounds for a few years, pretty much ever since I switched from a physically active job to a desk job.  I had basically eaten myself into being diabetic.

The doctor and I also share a fascination with technology, so he recommended I download the MyFitnessPal app for my iPhone.

It proved to be a great help as I proceeded to lose 50 pounds in about 6 months.  I entered everything I was eating into the app, and it kept a running total of the calories and carbs for the day. That feedback helped me to build a detailed awareness and knowledge in my mind of how to construct my daily meals in order to be a more healthy eater.

The app also lets me record my weight and then shows me graphs of my progress over the past month, 3 months, year, and so on.  I've developed the habit of working out at the local gym 4 times a week, and the first thing I do when I arrive there is to step on the scale and record my weight.

That graph not only keeps me aware of how I'm doing, but it also taught me that even though my weight can fluctuate up to 5 pounds from one day to the next (sometimes for no apparent reason), over the long run I can see the long term progress.

Then again, that graph can be like a stern taskmaster, pointing out to me when I've been less than diligent in my eating and exercising.

You see, I lost 50 pounds in 6 months, and then I've lost maybe another 10-15 pounds in the 17 months since. While the doctor tells me that losing a pound a month is a healthy approach, the up and down yo-yo of the MyFitnessPal graph never lets me forget that that slower progress is more an indication of how lax I've become about my habits. It's not a steady 15-pound decline over those months.  It's a binge-and-diet sort of decline.

Sigh.

I don't understand why I can't be as diligent as I was at the beginning. I want to stick to the plan, but I don't.  I hate cheating on my healthy foods plan, but I still cheat. When I stick to it, MyFitnessPlan is my best friend. But even though the app gives me everything I need and motivates me to do what is good, I cannot carry it out. Instead of eating right, I revert to the old habits I hate. (Romans 7:14-25)

Meditating on the Word gives me so much that I need.  Like MyFitnessPal, when I regularly read and absorb the scriptures, they teach my mind and train my heart to know how to live my daily life the way that is best for me. As I continue to dive deep into the bible, it often rebukes me, pointing out the ways I've gotten off track. And then it corrects  me, giving me the information and motivation I need to get back with the program. Steadfastly continuing my journey through His Word trains my heart to be inline with God's heart, and trains me to be the kind of person who will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (II Timothy 3:16-17)

And then...I fail again. And return to the Word and its promises.

What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:24-25)

Meditation Metaphor: Garden Your Heart

I am not a gardener.

I enjoy eating vegetables that come from a garden, but I've never been interested in putting in the time and work to produce a really good garden.

My wife does enjoy gardening, but only to a certain extent. Once the weather gets really hot and the weeds get aggressive, her passion for gardening withers.

Since my indifference to gardening pretty much leaves her on her own, she applies her green thumb to growing flowers and herbs.  The photo above is of one of her garden spots in our yard.  I enjoy the flowers and I certainly enjoy the flavor the herbs add to our meals.  But I don't contribute much to her garden other than making sure to avoid mowing over it and occasionally pulling a few weeds.

If you expand the picture above you'll see some unusual things, especially near the drainpipe.  Those are part of the faerie garden maintained by the young girls who live next door. They help Karen with the flower gardening and use their imagination to build faerie castles and other fanciful things among the plants.

And then there's the garden in the photo below.  Our neighbor, David, spends a lot of time working on this garden.

He has nurtured the soil of that garden over the past half dozen years, so that it's rich with all the nutrients needed for a bountiful crop. It's a raised earth garden, which means the soil is built up to a higher level than the lawn around it. As you can tell, he has also built a number of trellises and other contraptions to support the growing plants.

I don't spend much time working on that garden either. My wife helps him out from time to time.

I do, however, enjoy the vegetables David shares with us. Very much so. And I don't really feel as guilty about it as I probably ought.

Many Christians tend to their hearts like I tend to a garden.

They enjoy hearing a good sermon or even reading a good religious book.  they're glad to share in a discussion about spiritual matters.  But their interest in spending quality time meditating on the scriptures is fairly shallow.

They enjoy being fed.  they just don't want to spend much time working for it.

Others use their Bible reading time to look for lovely and encouraging verses, or simply for pleasure and diversion from the real world.

Effective meditation on the Word requires nurturing your heart to be a receptive soil for God's teachings.  It requires spending enough time deep in the Bible that you're able to get past the weeds of preconceived notions and prejudice.

If David were to move away, my daily diet would be much poorer. For many folks, if their favorite preacher were to move away, they'd have no clue how to maintain the level of Bible nourishment they've grown used to.

Go ahead.  Pick up a shovel or a spade.  Get some dirt under your fingernails. Dig in to the Word.

From College-Bound to "I GO Bound"

From my article in the August issue of Christian Standard magazine:

Then he went on a CCH trip to Mexico.
...
That week Sellers helped mix cement, paint walls, and seal a roof. He carried bricks and worked until he could barely walk. He slept on a concrete floor. “But at the end of each day, I knew every ounce of energy I expended was for the Lord. I had never had that feeling before, and I thought, What would it be like to have a job like this? To go to bed each day knowing that the energy I’ve expended was directly related to spreading the gospel? I want a job like that!”

http://christianstandard.com/2014/07/from-college-bound-to-i-go-bound/

Meditation Metaphor: Walking through the Word

The other day I climbed into my car and headed out on an errand.  As I drove through the streets of our neighborhood I passed my wife.  She was taking a walk with the two-year-old son of our friends and neighbors.

I slowed down and said hello to Johnathan, who was amazed to see me driving past while he and Nana were on a walk.

I drove on out of the neighborhood, leaving them to enjoy their walk.  And they do enjoy their walks.

Karen, my wife, writes about her walks with Johnathan frequently on her blog, Titus2Tea. The two of them have great adventures.

"Wook!" Johnathan shouted in the middle of our walk around the block, "Oh, otay! Wain!"

"It's not raining. That's the flower petals blowing from the tree," I laughed.

His pudgy toddler hands raised toward the sky as he blinked in wonderment at the hundreds of tiny white petals raining down and the thousands more piled at his feet.

"There shall be showers of blessings," I sang to him. "Showers of blessings we need. Mercy drops 'round us are falling! But for the showers we plead."

Johnathan began to laugh at this event too marvelous for words as we twirled and danced in the shower of soft petals. He was delighted at the prospect of rain showers and mud puddles on our walk. He was prepared, dressed in rain boots and a jacket. But, this miracle of flowers in what looked like rain was too marvelous for words.

She writes about another day when Johnathan first discovered that the "sky music" he has enjoyed all his young life is actually coming from the birds. He reacts with pure joy at this miracle of God's creation.

I seldom experience such adventures on the streets of our neighborhood.  My knee doesn't take kindly to extended walking on uneven paths anymore. Usually when I travel down those same streets I'm behind the wheel of a car. I'm paying more attention to the road ahead than to flower petals and singing birds.

Direct me in the path of your commands,

    for there I find delight.

        (Psalm 119:35)

For many people, their only experience of God's Word is when they take time to read a brief snippet in a book of meditations, or when the preacher reads a few verses before going on to preach about topics that may or may not be all that relative to those scriptures.

That is not meditation, and it gains them about as much insight into the heart of God as my quick trip down the street teaches me about what God is doing in the neighborhood.

True meditation requires taking a long and leisurely walk through the pathways of God's Word.

Sometimes you find yourself taking a side road you hadn't anticipated. When you encounter an unexpected glimpse of God at work, you can take time to stop and marvel.

Heave you ever been so taken with something you've learned about God's heart while reading the Bible that you begin to laugh and dance? I once gave Him a standing ovation after reading what His psalms.

That sort of experience only comes when you slow down and spend time wandering through lines and columns of His words.

May my lips overflow with praise,

    for you teach me your decrees.

May my tongue sing of your word,

    for all your commands are righteous.

        (Psalm 119:171-172)

Meditation Metaphor: Sunshine & Superman

Sunshine is sweet; it is good to see the light of day.  (Ecclesiastes 11:7)

When the weather is good I eat my lunch out on the deck at my office building. After a morning spent in a windowless office, staring at a computer screen, the feel of the sun's rays on my skin is fantastic.

Before I even begin eating my lunch I sit and spread my arms out and soak up the sunshine.

Sometimes I imagine myself as Superman, floating in space, absorbing the energy of the yellow sin.  According to the comic-book legend, his powers come from Earth's yellow sun.

As I absorb the sun's warmth, I picture myself becoming more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings with a single bound.

Yes, I grew up on comic books and still have super hero thoughts flash like a speeding bullet through my mind occasionally.

It's truly wonderful, though, that for something you can't actually grab and hold in your hand, the effect of sunshine can be felt in an instant.

Equally so, the effect of a gloomy and sunless day can have a quick effect on a person's mood. Seasonal disaffective syndrome (SAD) is a medically proven physiological and psychological problem resulting in part from too little sunlight.

Exposure to the sun causes specific reactions in the human body. It encourages the production of beneficial vitamin D.  It also causes increased production and color-changes in melanin, resulting in sunburn or suntan.

Over-exposure to the sun's rays can lead to skin cancer, can accelerate aging and wrinkling of the skin, and can impair the immune system.

I really dislike using sunscreen. Some people like the smell of it, but me?  Not so much.  I know, though, that by using sunscreen the negative effects of sunlight can be prevented or slowed down. They contain chemicals and particles that absorb or scatter ultraviolet light. This allows the body to receive the benefits of sunshine while reducing the risk of harmful over-exposure.

And so I use sunscreen if I'm going to be out in the sun for a long time. Because, unlike Superman, my body isn't suited to handle that much of the direct power of the sun.

He is like the light of morning at sunrise
on a cloudless morning,
like the brightness after rain
that brings grass from the earth.’
  (II Samuel 23:3)

Meditating on the Word is much like soaking up the sun's rays.

Like the sun, the Word gives me power - to overcome sin and live a godly life (Psalm 119:11).

The scriptures light my way and help me find my way through life (Psalm 119:105)

Just as sun-enriched vitamin D gives makes me healthier and strengthens my immune system, meditating on the Bible nurtures both my spiritual and physical health (Proverbs 4:20-22) and protects me from Satan's attacks (I John 2:14)

And, like soaking up the sun, soaking up the Word just plain makes me happy (Psalm 119:16,24, 143).

Reading the Bible also provides a similar protection as sunscreen. Very few people in history have spoken directly to God, and they were not allowed to see His face.

  Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”  

  And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”  

  Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

(Exodus 33:18-23)

Even after being protected from the full force of God's glory, Moses' face was radiant when he came down from the mountain. (Exodus 34:29-20) I've often wondered if he had a sun burn from the experience.

God hasn't asked us to shield ourselves behind a cleft in a rock. Instead, He has put us at a safe distance by revealing Himself to us second-hand, through the writings of the prophets and apostles.

Have you ever wished God had been more clear in the Bible?  Perhaps He could have given us an indexed encyclopedia instead of a book full of history and poetry.

The next time you wish for a clearer picture of God's heart, be thankful for the sunscreen of the Bible. He's given us more than enough to provide the benefits we need, without over-exposing us.

Meditating on His Word may not give us the ability to leap tall buildings in a single bound, but...

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

With your help I can advance against a troop;

with my God I can scale a wall.

(Psalm 18:28-29)