I took a continuous development class at work called “5S” and it dealt with ways to organize your space. I’ve always maintained an organized workspace but oddly enough I can’t say the same for my personal space, so I was excited to learn a new technique. Here are the 5 S’s from the class:
1. Sort – distinguish any unneeded items and remove them
2. Set in Order – keep needed items in their correct place
3. Shine – make things clean and remove all that hinders visibility
4. Standardize – create a consistent way of implementing tasks
5. Sustain – maintain & consistently apply established procedures
This is great stuff! I’ve already started putting some of this into practice. As I review each step, I can’t help but relate this to my spiritual walk also:
1. Sort – evaluate your heart, mind, and life to determine unnecessary emotions, practices, mindsets, habits, and even people, and remove them. Galatians 5:24 – And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
2. Set in Order – prioritize your priorities – the Christian walk isn’t about self promotion, it’s about lifting Christ on high so others may follow Him. Luke 9:23: “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
3. Shine – make an effort to cleanse and purify yourself, removing anything that hinders visibility. What is it that stands between you and God? God calls us to be holy as He is holy and He calls us to be the light of the world. Matthew 5:14-16 – You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
4. Standardize – create a consistent way of living the Christian life. Studying God’s word, praying daily, assembling yourself with other saints, serving others, paying tithes…these are practices that every believer should adopt – a standard – as they continue their relationship with Christ.
5. Sustain – Isn’t it great to know that God will sustain you? That you’re not in this alone? God has promised throughout his Word to sustain us. Webster’s Dictionary lists four basic definitions for sustain:
a. To support weight/To bear a burden: Matthew 11: 28-30 – Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light!
b. To endure suffering without yielding/To keep going: Only two words needed here: THE CROSS!
c. To supply necessities/To provide: Philippians 4:19 – And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
d. To uphold as valid/To confirm: Romans 5:1-2 – Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
As a born again believer, we have a responsibility to crucify our flesh daily, deny ourselves & follow Christ, strive for holiness, and consistently keep up the practices of our faith but Jesus promises to support us and provide for us as well us uphold us before the Father!
Mark 5:34: He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Oh, What a Promise!
People leave. Friends move away, spouses separate, coworkers get relocated, loved ones die. There are people I no longer speak to who, 10 years ago, I thought were going to be in my life forever. I’ve had my heart broken in situations that I thought were permanent but turned out to be temporary. I’ve witnessed deaths of people I thought were invincible. People leave. But God promised “I will never leave you nor forsake you”.* It’s funny how often we take the promises of God for granted. Who else can promise you that they will never leave you?
If you’re like me, you’ve seen The Color Purple at least 25 times. One of my favorite lines from that movie occurs when the young sisters, Celie & Nettie, are being dragged apart. As young Nettie is taken away, she reaches out to her sister proclaiming, “Nothing but death shall keep me from her.” In other words, “No matter what you do to keep us apart, I will find my way back to her!” God’s promise is that “Nothing, not even death, shall keep Me from you.” Paul writes “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, not height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”** Oh, what a promise! God promises that His love is everlasting.
Generally, we tend to think of His love comforting us in times of pain, supplying for us in times of need, and blessing us in times of faithfulness. But God’s love also remains in times of disobedience and times of anger as well. Who else can promise to stick around when you curse them out in anger? To love you unceasingly when you ignore them? To remain faithful when you cheat on them? I think of the many times I’ve cheated on God – with other people or with possessions. The times I put those people in front of Him. And He waited patiently for me, loving me in spite of. I think of the times I’ve yelled at God, demanding an explanation for the situation I was going through. And God understood my anger, continued to love me, and waited for me to calm down. I think of the times I’ve been disobedient and crawled back on my knees to God begging for forgiveness and God, with arms open wide, continued to love me. Oh what a promise God gives us when He states He’ll never leave or forsake us. I think of all the people who’ve left my life but God has remained a constant – even when I wasn’t consistent with Him. And I know when I cheat on God again, or curse at Him, or ignore Him that He’ll STILL love me and will STILL be with me – oh, what a promise!
*Hebrews 13:5b
**Romans 8:38-39
If you’re like me, you’ve seen The Color Purple at least 25 times. One of my favorite lines from that movie occurs when the young sisters, Celie & Nettie, are being dragged apart. As young Nettie is taken away, she reaches out to her sister proclaiming, “Nothing but death shall keep me from her.” In other words, “No matter what you do to keep us apart, I will find my way back to her!” God’s promise is that “Nothing, not even death, shall keep Me from you.” Paul writes “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, not height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”** Oh, what a promise! God promises that His love is everlasting.
Generally, we tend to think of His love comforting us in times of pain, supplying for us in times of need, and blessing us in times of faithfulness. But God’s love also remains in times of disobedience and times of anger as well. Who else can promise to stick around when you curse them out in anger? To love you unceasingly when you ignore them? To remain faithful when you cheat on them? I think of the many times I’ve cheated on God – with other people or with possessions. The times I put those people in front of Him. And He waited patiently for me, loving me in spite of. I think of the times I’ve yelled at God, demanding an explanation for the situation I was going through. And God understood my anger, continued to love me, and waited for me to calm down. I think of the times I’ve been disobedient and crawled back on my knees to God begging for forgiveness and God, with arms open wide, continued to love me. Oh what a promise God gives us when He states He’ll never leave or forsake us. I think of all the people who’ve left my life but God has remained a constant – even when I wasn’t consistent with Him. And I know when I cheat on God again, or curse at Him, or ignore Him that He’ll STILL love me and will STILL be with me – oh, what a promise!
*Hebrews 13:5b
**Romans 8:38-39
Sunday, August 1, 2010
PERSISTENT FAITH
PERSISTENT FAITH
Persistent –Continuing steadfastly in spite of opposition.
Obituary: Woman, age unknown, name unknown, died today after suffering over 12 years from an unidentified disease which caused her to bleed uncontrollably. After spending all she had on doctors who were unable to find a cure, she resigned herself to the local leper community to spend her last days. Those who knew her describe her as a nice person who just “couldn’t catch a break”. She died just after sunrise this morning – there will be no memorial service.
This is a pretty depressing summary of a person’s life. While this obituary is fictional, this could have been the end to the story of the woman with the issue of blood had she not reached out to touch Jesus*. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment – during those times, a woman was considered unclean while she was menstruating. Her husband could not touch her, she had to separate herself from her community, and she wasn’t permitted to enter the temple to make sacrifices for her sins**. In addition, the text tells us that she spent all she’d had on doctors, to no avail. Can you imagine being alone, sick, broke and isolated from God? Have you ever been there? Traveling through life unsure of what tomorrow holds and wondering what’s the point of today? If you have, then you know how easy it can be to give up hope. Yet, this woman persisted. In my mind, I imagine her moving slowly down the road, people staring at her as she passes. Yet, she persisted. Blood running down her legs onto her sandals. Yet, she persisted. Weak with the constant loss of blood, I can see her hunched over as she makes her way to Jesus. Yet, she persisted. Just as she’s about to pass out from exhaustion, she reaches out to touch Jesus’s garment and is instantly made whole.
What’s the issue that’s been plaguing your life for days, weeks, months, years, decades? Have you spent all your time, energy, and resources on that issue, to no avail? Has that issue left you alone? Sick? Broke? Isolated from God? What’s blocking you from reaching out & touching Jesus? Other people? Doubt or fear? Pride? As we read this story, we can learn from this nameless woman of faith. Sick for 12 years, she did not give up – she persisted. She did not let her lack of health, her lack of community, or her lack of money stop her. She knew that Jesus was her only hope for healing. And instead of the ominous obituary above, she reserved a place in the Bible as a woman of faith:
And a woman who was there [in the crowd] who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years…when she heard about Jesus she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from suffering…He [Jesus] said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (Mark 5:25-29, 34)
How would your obituary read if you left this life today? Would it be a sad retelling of issues that plagued you to no end or would it be a testimony of persistent faith?
*Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48)
** Leviticus 15:19-30
Persistent –Continuing steadfastly in spite of opposition.
Obituary: Woman, age unknown, name unknown, died today after suffering over 12 years from an unidentified disease which caused her to bleed uncontrollably. After spending all she had on doctors who were unable to find a cure, she resigned herself to the local leper community to spend her last days. Those who knew her describe her as a nice person who just “couldn’t catch a break”. She died just after sunrise this morning – there will be no memorial service.
This is a pretty depressing summary of a person’s life. While this obituary is fictional, this could have been the end to the story of the woman with the issue of blood had she not reached out to touch Jesus*. Put yourself in her shoes for a moment – during those times, a woman was considered unclean while she was menstruating. Her husband could not touch her, she had to separate herself from her community, and she wasn’t permitted to enter the temple to make sacrifices for her sins**. In addition, the text tells us that she spent all she’d had on doctors, to no avail. Can you imagine being alone, sick, broke and isolated from God? Have you ever been there? Traveling through life unsure of what tomorrow holds and wondering what’s the point of today? If you have, then you know how easy it can be to give up hope. Yet, this woman persisted. In my mind, I imagine her moving slowly down the road, people staring at her as she passes. Yet, she persisted. Blood running down her legs onto her sandals. Yet, she persisted. Weak with the constant loss of blood, I can see her hunched over as she makes her way to Jesus. Yet, she persisted. Just as she’s about to pass out from exhaustion, she reaches out to touch Jesus’s garment and is instantly made whole.
What’s the issue that’s been plaguing your life for days, weeks, months, years, decades? Have you spent all your time, energy, and resources on that issue, to no avail? Has that issue left you alone? Sick? Broke? Isolated from God? What’s blocking you from reaching out & touching Jesus? Other people? Doubt or fear? Pride? As we read this story, we can learn from this nameless woman of faith. Sick for 12 years, she did not give up – she persisted. She did not let her lack of health, her lack of community, or her lack of money stop her. She knew that Jesus was her only hope for healing. And instead of the ominous obituary above, she reserved a place in the Bible as a woman of faith:
And a woman who was there [in the crowd] who had been subject to bleeding for 12 years…when she heard about Jesus she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched his cloak because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes I will be healed.” Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from suffering…He [Jesus] said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.” (Mark 5:25-29, 34)
How would your obituary read if you left this life today? Would it be a sad retelling of issues that plagued you to no end or would it be a testimony of persistent faith?
*Matthew 9:20-22, Mark 5:25-34, Luke 8:43-48)
** Leviticus 15:19-30
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