Spiritual Balance

On Tuesday night I had a chance to be with some inmates at our city jail. I spoke to them about the ideas presented in my last post. During the last 15 minutes of my talk I invited feedback and one of the guys said something like this:

I read the bible for a long time and it helped me very little.. but when I began to experience God everything changed.

One of the other guys responded by talking about how spiritual experiences are often trivialized by both fundamentalists and liberals alike. It got me to thinking about how the bible can be very dry if you don't have accompanying experience. I guess the challenge we face is to keep a healthy balance of spiritual knowledge and experience.. if it is all about knowledge then things tend to become merely intellectual.. if it is all about experience then things can be become merely emotional. That is about all I had on this. I would be interested in your thoughts on the topic.

The Knowing Heart

I woke up this morning thinking about what it is to live out of my heart. This scripture immediately came to me:

Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17)

The word that stood out to me is "knows". I think that when we live from our heart we live out a deep knowing.. a knowing that doesn't rely on our fleshly senses but one that comes from our heart. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus seemed to get down to this level. He said things like:

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY'; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:27-28)

It was like Jesus was saying, yes I know that you are not sinning with your flesh but don't you understand that the real issue is not your flesh but your heart. Your heart is the place where sin is conceived.. it is the place where you know that it is wrong.. it is not simply because the law says it is wrong.. it is because the deepest part of you knows it is wrong. Here is the way John puts it:

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight. (1 John 3:21-22)

Here again the scripture seems to be speaking of a heart that knows.. a heart that can evaluate and discern right and wrong. Paul writing to the Romans puts it this way:

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:14-16)

He speaks of a law written on their hearts and he says that their conscience bear witness to their heart. Interesting that he speaks of conscience. I like this definition:

conscience: the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action

This sounds exactly like what the scripture is saying about the heart. The heart knows and we can trust our knowing heart. I think that we become hypocrites when we disobey our knowing heart. Consider this:

But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron, men who forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from foods which God has created to be gratefully shared in by those who believe and know the truth. (1 Timothy 4:1-3)

This verse speak of hypocrites having their conscience seared. I think that this is one scary verse because it speaks of a life in which we continually reject the counsel of our heart.. a life where we continually live from our heads and not our hearts. Don't you find it interesting that Jesus' main human adversaries were the religious leaders of His day? Don't you know that the hearts of these men knew who Jesus was? It is sad but, in a sense, hypocritical and seared hearts sent Jesus to the cross.

I guess what I am trying to emphasize is that living from the heart is not just an alternate way of living.. it is the only way to live a spiritual life.. any other way of living is fleshly. The more we depend on our brainy flesh to live.. the more that we suppress our knowing heart.. the more we venture down a dangerous path.. dangerous because it leads us away from God. Proverbs says it best when it says:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Trusting our heart.. that place where God lives.. and trusting our own understanding stand in diametric opposition.. you simply cannot do both.. trust your knowing heart.. you will be glad you did.

No Limits

As we worshipped this morning, singing this song, an awesome picture/vision flooded my mind.. here it is as I remember it:

The first image was of a soccer field as seen from the clouds.. as I looked at the field all of the lines began to disappear into the green turf.. I countinued to look and I saw the bleacher-like stands on either side of the field seamlessly descend like an elevator into the grass.. the next scene took my breath away as I saw everyone rush onto the field.

Here is what the vision communicated to me:

1. There are no boundaries in Heaven.. no artificial human limits.. limits created by others or by we ourselves are no obstacle to God.. He will qualify those who He calls.
2. Christ has leveled the playing field.. no man-made delineation between professional and amateur ministry.. He can use anyone.
3. Everyone can play.. and we all want to play.. no one really enjoys watching.. we are all needed.. there are no bench warmers on God's team.

I shared a bit of this with our church this morning. Afterwards one of the guys came up to me and told me that God was speaking the same thing.. a message of no limits.. to him a few weeks ago. Here's wishing you a year of no limits and unlimited blessings as you follow Jesus.

The Mouth of the Wise

The Journey of the Spiritual Heart

The word "journey" is probably one of the most overused words that I have heard used (and have personally used ad nauseum) in religious circles. It is something that we often wear as a badge of honor.. don't you dare criticize my journey. With 2008 knocking on our doors I was thinking about this idea of journey and thought of these verses out of Proverbs:

"The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel." (12:15)

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." (14:12)

"All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, But the LORD weighs the motives." (16:2)

"Every man's way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts." (21:2)

There is a word that is used in each of these verses.. it is the word "way" and is translated from this Hebrew word:

derek (deh'-rek): From darak; way, road, distance, journey, manner, road, way, path, journey, direction, manner, habit, way, of course of life (fig.), of moral character (fig.)

Journey seems a good fit for these verses.. try substituting it for "way" and reread the verses. I find it interesting that these words speak negatively about this word journey. Looking at the verses it is obvious that:

• Our journey can be foolish if we walk it alone. We need the help of others to walk out a wise journey.
  
  
• Our journey is all about the inner life. Being successful on our journey is all about our motives.
  
  
• Our journey can lead to some dark places (i.e. death) if we live it from our flesh.. our minds.. our emotions.. our lusts.
  
  
• Our journey is not about those things we see but about those things that can only be discerned with our spiritual hearts.

This last bullet is the one that can be so difficult. So often our journey is fraught with fear, pain and other negative influences.. during these times it is so easy to allow these things to shut our hearts down.. so easy to allow the things that we see with our outer eye to overshadow those things that can only be seen with our inner eye.

In this time when many of us are considering 2007 and thinking of 2008 maybe we can resolve to live more fully this journey of our spiritual heart.. possibly relying less on our earthly/brainy wisdom.. possibly leaning more into our spiritual hearts.. and maybe we will begin to see the journey through the inner eyes of redemption. It is my prayer for you and for me.

The Longest Night

In preparation for my talk at last night's Longest Night Service I jotted down a few thoughts on our church blog. I got the inspiration for this post as I recapped 2007 in my previous post.

The service was pretty well attended. We spent some time singing a few worship songs, my wife Ann read Diane Hendricks' Longest Night Meditation and my friend and co-worker Jason sang this inspiring song:



I followed with a brief sharing of my heart around my year of the longest nights. We ended our time with a time of candle lighting and prayer. It was a very sweet time and a fitting way to prepare our hearts for the coming of Jesus.

2007 in Review

At the end of the year I like to take a look at the posts I have written.. I see some common themes and a few new ones. Here are some excerpts from my favorite posts by month:

• January: Flowing with Weakness
  I think that this kind weakness is something that often looks like desperation. It is the kind of thing that really brings you to the end of yourself and to the beginning of faith. I have to admit that I do not feel strong spiritually right now. I am forced to trust the Lord in a way that I have had to do on several other occasions. I am again reminded that I can only flow with the Spirit at a heart level ... I can only be at peace when I give up control of this situation.
  
  
• February: Which Reality?
  I often find myself going through the day subconsciously talking to God. On one such day a few weeks ago I heard myself thinking "I am a realist". What I heard back surprised me. This thought instantly came back to me: "Which reality?" Over the past few weeks I have thought a lot about this one ... it is a challenging thought. I am very comfortable with the reality that I can see with my eyes, feel with my hands, hear, smell and taste. I am not so comfortable with that reality that can only be discerned with my heart ... that place of faith.
  
  
• March: Invisible Ministry
  The desire to be visible is a dark side of the ministry ... wanting to be seen and appreciated by people is a dark force that permeates much of American church leadership. Many large ministries and churches, as well as small ones, are led by men which have surrendered to the dark side of visible ministry. These men were, at one point in their lives, seduced by public ministry.
  
  
• April: God's Will
  Does it surprise you to hear that your heart plans belong to you? Does it challenge you to think that those plans in your heart can be an expression of God's will? So often we can get so wrapped up in our religious "Christian" ideas of "God's will" that we forget the kingdom of God is not so much about what we do but how we do it.
  
  
• May: Living in the Invisible Kingdom
  The beautiful thing about the Invisible Kingdom is that it can become visible at any time ... peace and joy can be manifested in our lives even in the most difficult of circumstances ... if our focus is on the invisible ... following Jesus' command in the gospels to seek first this Invisible Kingdom.
  
  
• June: Thick Skin, Soft Heart
  Developing a tough thick skin is a way that we can guard our hearts from the wounds that cause it to develop a hard crust. I read that having a thick skin is being able to withstand criticism. Ouch, I don't like that because I don't like being criticised ... I much prefer the idea of being able to withstand wounds - sound a bit more noble. Keeping criticism out of our heart is so hard because many of us are such people pleasers.
  
  
• July: Facing Down Nebuchadnezzar
  Life has its way of intimidating us doesn't it. Nebuchadnezzar can show up in all sorts of ways. Sometimes he shows up overtly demanding that we bow to the things that we know we should not bow to, but sometimes he shows up so subtly intimidating us to bow in thoughts and attitudes. This is where I am challenged today as I watch my wife back in a wheelchair and struggling physically from MS. I find Nebuchadnezzar standing over me today intimidating me ... telling me to bow to a subtle worship of fear, self-pity, hopelessness and despair.
  
  
• August: Offended by Jesus
  Life in jail must have been pretty discouraging for John the Baptist. After all it was not that long ago that John was baptising many and experiencing so much success in his ministry. John was even the one that introduced Jesus to the world as the Lamb of God. John certainly thought that Jesus would free him from Herod's jail but he never did. You can almost feel John's disappointment when he asks Jesus "are you the One?"
  
  
• September: Spiritual Fingerprints
  The post caused me to think about how different we all are ... different in gender ... different in race ... different in culture ... different in personality ... different in many other ways. So ... I am still processing ... why is it that I still want to make rules and generalizations around things like how we love Jesus and how we walk out our faith in Him?
  
  
• October: Where you do not wish to go
  Sometimes following Jesus takes us on a journey that is both hard and heartbreaking. Reading Jesus words to Peter so resonates with me this morning. It reminds me that sometimes our path takes us to places "where you do not wish to go". I am in such a place in this season of my life.
  
  
• November: Grateful For What Really Matters
  We all know in our hearts what really matters.. we are all thankful for the tangible and intangibles of life that we hold so dear.. but sometimes the events of our lives can overshadow those things that we are thankful for.. pain can breed an inward focus and cause us to forget what really matters
  
  
• December: The Trustable Heart
  To live from your heart you have to give up control.. the brain is all about controlling.. the heart is all about trusting. For many this is difficult because the brain wants to follow rules while the heart wants to follow God.. a desire to make and follow rules is evidence of people wanting to live from their heads.

If you are so inclined.. please let me know if any of these were particularly helpful to you.. today or yesterday when you first read them.