Clay in the Hands

This morning during my prayer and reading time I was reminded of something very simple but profound.  I was reading in Psalm 37.  The verse that I focused on was verse 4.  In this passage, the writer tells us that we should “delight” ourselves in the Lord and when we do we will receive the desires of our hearts.

On a cursory reading, we get the idea that if we follow God, God will make sure we get what we want.  But when you look closer at the passage, that is not what the writer is saying at all.  When he says “delight” he means more than give a cordial tip of the hat or an occasional prayer of thanks for what God does for us.  The word delight carries the idea of complete enchantment – an all-consuming desire to please.

When  we look at the context – the other verses around this one – we see that the writer is reminding us that when we make God the focus of all we do, when our lives revolve around pleasing God and doing what is good and right, then God will give us the desires of our hearts.

But here is the very simple yet profound idea the writer is communicating.  When we live our lives with the one focus of pleasing God – really delighting in the Lord of all creation – then the desires of our hearts will line up with the plans God has for us.

When we live in God’s perfect will (as Paul would call it in Romans 12) then our lives will be full and our hearts content; because when we seek to please God with all we are – that is the reward we will receive.

Live delighted today!

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Has Christmas lost it’s wonder for you?  When you look at the eyes of a child as they gaze upon a brightly decorated tree or the presents under that tree – do you see the amazement?  Do you still feel that same awe?

Yesterday, we talked about the wonder of Christmas.  I pray that, as adults, we don’t lose that same amazement we see in the eyes of children as we approach this most holy day.  We know the story – many of us have heard it all our lives.  If we aren’t careful and attentive, this season will pass us by and we will not have paused to truly consider why it still holds wonder and amazement for us today.

The God of the universe decided to break into human existence – divinity and humanity merging – in order to save us from our mistakes, poor choices and sin.

A woman was chosen to give birth to God.  Even though she had never been with a man, she gave birth to a baby boy – God’s very son.  Not only did God choose to come to earth under these scandalous circumstances, Jesus was born into poverty – a common man.  And now, 2000 plus years later, we celebrate that birth.

All of that should cause us to pause – it should cause us to feel amazement.  It should remind us that there is so much more going on in this life than we can explain or even see.

Don’t let the wonder and amazement of this season slip by you this year!

Be blessed today!

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This morning in my prayer and reading time, I was looking at a particular story around Jesus’ birth.  In Matthew 2, we find that there were three men looking for a king to be born in Israel.  You may have heard them called the wise men, or the three kings.  Matthew calls them Magi.

These were men from another country who had dedicated their lives to watch for the coming of a king.  And not just any king.  This king had his own star.  That was the sign that told them they were on the right track.

Think about this for a minute.  The assumption of most scholars is that these men were not dedicated followers of the God of Israel.  They did not worship at the temple.  They weren’t from Israel at all.  The only thing we are told is that they were from the east and they had traveled a distance, following a star in search of a new king – and not just any king – the king of the Jews.

As I think about this story, and all these men must have gone through to search out the king, I have to ask myself, “How diligently am I searching for the King today?”  Am I really searching at all?

How about you?  Are you looking for the King today?

As we move closer to Christmas day, don’t forget to look for Jesus.  Search for his tangible presence in your life.

Will you find Jesus today?

More from this story tomorrow.

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This past Sunday, we began the Advent season in our church.  This month we will be celebrating the coming of Christmas with the following theme:

Wait with hope . . .

Watch with anticipation . . .

Wonder with amazement . . .

Welcome with excitement . . .

This past Sunday we talked about waiting.  I don’t know about you but I HATE waiting.  I can’t stand it.  It seems there is never enough time in the day to get everything done and so when I have to wait on someone else to do what the are supposed to do so that I can my things done . . . well, I just don’t like it!

But during this season, I am reminded that waiting is not always a bad thing.  In fact, what I find is that waiting creates space.  I have been reminded that waiting is the tension between my time and God’s time.  Waiting – this tension – stretches me and reminds me that this life really isn’t about me at all.

So this Christmas Advent season, embrace the wait.  Allow the space that is created by the wait to shape you.  Use this space to consider who you are in relation to God.

Trust me – it will change the way you look at Christmas!

Be blessed!

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Remember that question you would be asked as a child – “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

I remember being asked that question on numerous occasions.  It is just one of those things adults ask kids.  I honestly don’t remember having a set answer.  I am sure I would respond with “a fireman” or “a policeman.”  (I am fairly positive I never said, “a pastor.”)

But now as I am a bit older, I have had the blessing of hearing my sons respond to that question.   Every once in a while, when they were young, they would respond by saying that they wanted to be like their dad.  Talk about a proud moment in the life of a father!

Throughout our lives, there are people we come to respect.  In fact, it is not uncommon to have folks in our lives who impact us so dramatically that we want to be more like them.

Paul says, in Ephesians 5, that as children of God, we should seek to imitators of our Father. We should have such a respect and gratitude for God that our desire should be imitation.  So what do you want to be when you grow up?  Who do you want to resemble?

As imitators we may be the closest thing to God that people around us see today.

How closely does your imitation resemble the real thing?

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This morning, as I pulled out of the driveway, something caught my eye.  It was a star.  I thought to myself, “that star sure seems bright.”

As with most mornings, I was listening to my daily podcast devotional as I made my short little commute.  The sun was just beginning to cast an orange glow on the horizon.  It was a crisp 30 degrees outside.  

By the time the scripture from Luke was read, I was out in the country driving along as normal.  The passage was the story of Zaccheus.  If you are familiar with the story, this man was a tax collector in Jericho.  He was not a popular Jew.  In fact, he was hated by most.  But he wanted to see Jesus as he passed by along the crowded road.  There was one little problem – Zaccheus was too short to see over the mob.  So he ran ahead of Jesus, laid his pride and dignity aside and climbed a tree like a kid.

As I listened to the story, the idea that kept coming to mind was that this man wanted to see Jesus clearly.  As that idea rolled around in my mind, I began to notice, the star I had seen earlier was not the only thing that seemed bright.  I realized that I could see city lights,  over 30 miles away, more clearly than I have ever seen them before.  For whatever reason, the conditions were perfect to see for miles.

I began to pray that I could see Jesus more clearly.  Just like this experience of being able to see a great distance with clarity, I began to pray that God would create the conditions that would allow me to see.

That is my prayer for all of us today.  That God would allow us to see Jesus with new eyes today – more clearly than ever before.

Be blessed today!

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Is God at work in your life today?  The correct answer to the question is “Yes.”

But the reality is that we don’t always see God at work.  We get wrapped up in our To Do lists and appointments and fail to stop and look for God.  I am the worst at this.  I know God is at work all around me but I am not sure I see that activity nearly as readily as I should on a daily basis.

For me, this is part of the Thanksgiving season.  We need to slow down and think about the blessings we have been given.  We need to pause and look.  God is moving all the time – we just need to pay attention.

The results of perceiving God’s movement are hope and gratitude.  When we know that God is at work in our lives, we realize a hope that can only come from knowing God is in control and there is something more to this life than what is on the surface.  When we know God is at work in our lives – the very creator of the universe involved in my life – we are moved to be thankful that God would take an interest in us.  And more than an interest – God genuinely knows each of us and has a plan for each one.

That is something that should give us pause.  Knowing God is at work in me makes me thankful.

What about you?

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