Fresh Mercies

I woke this morning and my first thought was how wonderful to have a fresh supply of God’s mercy available to me. As usual, God is faithful. Fortunately for us, He doesn’t base it on our ‘performance’ but on His love for us. He gave us a miraculous vessel to live in and care for. We can rest in the Lord even when we do not rest our bodies properly.

Our physical energy can be used productively, abused and/or wasted. Once gone, regardless of how spent, we can’t get it back. People often say they need to get caught up on their sleep. There is no such thing. The daily time for refreshing the body is not cumulative. Once it is gone, it is gone. We can’t store it up like canned goods, it is available each day and then it is gone. Rather like the manna that fell from heaven. The people were to gather what they needed for the day. It spoiled if they tried to stockpile a stash. Refreshing our bodies is the same. We can’t sleep extra hours thinking it will carry us through the next week; it just doesn’t work that way.

My mother neglected herself when it came to caring for her physical health. She would stay up all hours of the night drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes and wonder why she never felt good. Daily we would come home from school to find her crashed on the couch. She typically would say her body needed the rest or she wouldn’t need to sleep. She was right, her body needed the quality rest it was being deprived of and she needed sleep. Sadly, she had gotten her body clock out of sync and to the point of being backwards. If she worked the night shift on a job, she would have been set. However, she was a mom with my young brothers to care for at home.

Her decision to stay up so very late, and, yes, it was a decision – in the beginning at least – had ripple effects that affected us all. Since she had barely been asleep when it was time for us kids to get up and get ready for school, she was a horrible, grouchy person to be around if wakened. When I was in high school and the little brothers were in their early elementary days, but I would get them up, feed them and get them dressed – all the while trying to keep them quiet so we didn’t wake the bear sleeping on the couch. It did not make for a harmonious way to start the day. Later, she went to work outside the home and had to change her habits and patterns.  She never did really understand the connection between proper rest and how she felt and interacted with other people. It was rather like pumping poor quality gasoline into your car and wondering why it hesitates, sputters and in general doesn’t run well.

We, like my mother, have choices to make. We can stay up late watching TV or playing games on the computer, as two examples, and abuse the bodies and energy levels available to us. We can also decide we like to feel good and get along with other people and maintain our bodies with proper rest and fuel. I have found it to be true for myself that I have a hard time making good decisions when my mind and body is not refreshed. My body has some issues that force fatigue and pain on me by their very nature and painful nights do not produce restful sleep. It’s an unfortunate combination. My job is to take care of my vessel and that often means foregoing any activities in the evening, to rest my body and mind so I can function to the best of my ability the next day. My hours and supply of energy must be used wisely. I have a mental picture of the electric meter spinning. It continues to spin whether I am using my energy wisely or poorly. I know I will need every drop of tomorrow’s energy tomorrow. I can’t draw from it today or have leftovers from yesterday to make up any shortfall.

This makes the beauty of God’s new mercies every morning all that much more valuable to me. I can’t count on my energy supply on any given day but I KNOW when I open my eyes that my God has a fresh new supply of mercy and grace available to me because He made the choice to give it to me. If that’s not an awesome way to start your day, I don’t know what is!

“No Trespassing”

Read the scripture below slowly and carefully…maybe more than once.

“Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation." Matt 12:43-45

That’s Jesus warning us that it’s not enough to get rid of wrong thoughts—we must keep the door locked so our enemy can’t return. Not only does evil come back, but it comes back worse than before.
One way to keep wrong thoughts out of your mind is to keep the mind active and alert and full of right things. You can cast out the devil, but then you must remain alert, always aware of his tricks.

“Finally, my friends, keep your minds on whatever is true, pure, right, holy, friendly, and proper. Don’t ever stop thinking about what is truly worthwhile and worthy of praise” Philippians 4:8

There are aggressive sins (or sins of commission) and there are passive sins (sins of omission). Example, there are things we do that hurt a relationship, such as speaking careless words. But it is just as true that we hurt relationships by the omission (not saying) of kind words, those thoughtful words that express appreciation, affection, or awareness of kind deeds others have done.

When confronted, passive individuals yell, “But I didn’t do anything!” That’s exactly the point. It’s what they don’t do.

The lack of action actually invites the devil back into our lives.

You win any time you take action and push away the thoughts and desires that don’t come from God. You may do this on your own through prayer, reading the Bible, or even by resisting the passivity that may be natural for you.

But once you’ve been set free, that’s only the beginning. It’s not just one victory that lasts forever. It’s an ongoing battle—it’s constantly rebuking the devil.

The best, easiest, and most effective way to rebuke the devil is to fill your mind and your heart with praises to God. When you worship and praise God, you’ve slammed the door in the enemy’s face and put up a “No Trespassing” sign. Focus your mind on the good and you will have no space left for the passive or the bad.    
 

Religion vs. Spirituality Continued

The most common misconception about religion is that Christianity is just another religion like Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc. Sadly, many who claim to be adherents of Christianity do practice Christianity as if it were a religion.

To many, Christianity is nothing more than a set of rules and rituals that a person has to observe in order to go to heaven after death. That is not true Christianity. True Christianity is not a religion; rather, it is having a right relationship with God by receiving Jesus Christ as the Savior-Messiah, by grace through faith.

Yes, Christianity does have “rituals” to observe (baptism and communion). Yes, Christianity does have “rules” to follow (do not murder, love one another, etc.). However, these rituals and rules are not the essence of Christianity. The rituals and rules of Christianity are the result of salvation. When we receive salvation through Jesus Christ, we are baptized as a proclamation of that faith. We observe communion in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice. We follow a list of do’s and don’ts out of love for God and gratitude for what He has done.

The most common misconception about spirituality is that there are many forms of spirituality, and all are equally valid. Meditating in unusual physical positions, communing with nature, seeking conversation with the spirit world, etc., may seem to be “spiritual,” but they are in fact false spirituality.

True spirituality is possessing the Holy Spirit of God as a result of receiving salvation through Jesus Christ. True spirituality is the fruit that the Holy Spirit produces in a person’s life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Spirituality is all about becoming more like God, who is spirit (John 4:24) and having our character conformed to His image (Romans 12:1-2).

Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of both religion and spirituality. Jesus is the One to whom we are accountable and to whom true religion points. Jesus is the One to whom we need to connect and the One to whom true spirituality points.

Be careful when you hear people saying things about being more spiritual than religious. What are they really saying? Find out what they think that means. As I said yesterday, word usage and understanding can be a slippery slope. Your definition and understanding of the words 'spiritual or religious' may be completely different than theirs.

'Spiritual' people may say they believe in God but is their God the same God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph? Do they believe God is the Father of Jesus, a part of the Holy Trinity? You may run across someone whose god is the 'energy' of mother earth. I'm not making fun, that's a belief of someone I actually know.

You've heard me say many times that it is not enough to read (or hear) something and be able to take it as gospel. It is critical that we understand the meaning and context in which it was written and/or said by the author and intended for the reader. 

Ordering a biscuit in my town will get you a circular flaky pastry suitable for butter and jelly or gravy. Ordering a biscuit in England will get you a cookie. Same word, different meaning. This illustrates my point perfectly. Both words are in English but is the person doing the ordering from the U.S. or England? Context and understanding of the other person's thinking makes a difference. My cousin married a woman from England. I was visiting their home many years ago and she offered me a biscuit. It was late afternoon and I thought it was an odd time for a biscuit but I didn't want to be rude, so I said I'd take one. She brought out a plate of cookies. I learned a valuable lesson in communication that day.

Communication is a wonderful thing, it is an exchange of ideas and philosophies. Assumption of intent can be dangerous, destructive and deceiving. Talk, share ideas, get to know others beliefs. Just because they may different than your own does not mean you shouldn't interact with them. Who knows, maybe that's God opening doors of opportunity for future witnessing about your faith.

Spirituality vs. Religion

I had a phone message yesterday where the person calling wanted to know the difference between religion and spirituality. That’s a very popular question. After eight pages of links on Google I had still not found one entry that was written by any mainstream Christian faith organization. I knew what my opinion was on the subject but I was curious as to what the ‘churches’ had to say on the subject. Considering how popular this question is…a lot of people are asking and Churches are not the ones providing the answers. Does anyone besides me have a problem with that?

Before we explore the difference between religion and spirituality, we must first define the two terms.

Religion can be defined as “belief in God or gods to be worshiped, usually expressed in conduct and ritual” or “any specific system of belief, worship, etc., often involving a code of ethics.”

Spirituality can be defined as “the quality or fact of being spiritual, non-physical” or “predominantly spiritual character as shown in thought, life, etc.; spiritual tendency or tone.”

Religion revolves around a sense of community of believers following the same teachings and beliefs about their God or gods.

Spirituality in a personal journey where one endeavors to bring oneself to a higher state of enlightenment on a spiritual level.

For the sake of answering the question posed by my caller…if someone is saying they are spiritual but not religious, they are saying they do not go to church. People following a ‘religion’ can be spiritual but people claiming spiritual statuses only are not religious.

As a lover of words, let me say this can be a tricky slope of word usage. As a Christian, I am a spiritual person, we all are. God is spirit, we have the Holy Spirit in us…no way should we say we are not spiritual people.

It is those choosing not to follow any sort of established denomination or faith where man has created rituals which, in some cases, define that faith who say they are spiritual not religious.

Tomorrow we will look deeper into this.

In the Still of the Night

This past weekend, my Honey and I made a point of stepping outside our routine, our norm, our typical way of doing things and God blessed us for it. I think we, people in general, get so busy and caught up in our chaotic worlds that we do not stop along the road of life to either smell the roses or truly rest.

        When eating dinner on the front deck on Saturday, my Honey said he was really enjoying the breeze and how pleasant it was out there. I suggested we sleep out on the deck. He normally shoots down that suggestion. I, however, have a treasure trove of good childhood memories of lying in a bed on the sleeping porch of my grandparent’s home on the bay. It was (still is) a house built on stilts for those little issues of flooding during hurricanes. I loved falling to sleep to the howl of the wind. To me, there is something primitive and basic to it that appeals to the core of me. I still prefer to have wind blowing over me even if it has to come from a fan. So I suggest from time to time, when the weather is conducive, that we take advantage of our elevated deck and sleep outside. I was pleasantly surprised when he agreed.   

        We set up our little tent in the waning light of dusk and moved a memory foam mattress into it for a comfy bed. The wind was strong (I was a happy camper about that!) and we had the window covers down so it flowed through the tent with ease. It was awesome.

        The best part was we walked away from doing the same old thing we always do and God treated us to a mini-adventure. No phones, no TV, nothing electronic whatsoever. It was beautiful. We took only our books and a personal mini book light to read by. Lying in the tent listening to the wind and the occasional coyote in the valley, it’s easy to revel in a oneness with God. Without our usual distractions to numb the mind and dissolve nature in the glow of TV, you appreciate the full moon and the One who created it.

        I felt closer to my husband in that little tent than I have in a long time. We were sharing an experience that had significant meaning to me. Nothing else could have meant more. No, it was no big deal or an exotic location or fancy meal or expensive hotel in the tropics. It was quiet time to simply ‘be’ together without interference from the world and her distractions. It felt like a blessing to me. In the stillness of the night under His canopy, God’s blessing was real and palpable.We enjoyed it so much, we left the tent up and did it again on Sunday night. Double portion of blessings!

Psalm 46:10He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”