I have been reminded this week of the joys of getting back into the swing of exercising on a regular basis.  Today marks day three.  I am still in the phase of not being able to walk normally nor straighten my arms.  I told myself I would “ease” back into it slowly.  But as has been my pattern in the past, I worked up the desire to get back into the gym and once there, over did it – now I am paying the price.

However, I know from experience that the answer to my pain is consistency.  Eventually, the pain will subside and over time, the sacrifice of a little sleep will result in more energy and better flexibility.

I have found that my spiritual walk shares many of the same characteristics.  The key to any spiritual practice is consistency.  So often we allow ourselves to relax in our commitment to pray and read the Bible and before we are fully aware of it, we have gone weeks without spending time with God.  So we resolve to jump in and often overdo it – overcommitting ourselves and soon we are burned out and even worse, feeling guilty about it.

But if we can ease into a routine of spending time with God, carving out 20 minutes or so, 3 or 4 times per week and remain consistent, then in a matter of days we will begin to feel more energy, peace and joy in our lives than we have ever experienced.

Spiritual progression comes from God, but we have to persistently do our part.  Commit today to stay consistent in your routine of spiritual practices – your walk in following the Way and then stick with it – don’t let up.

You will never regret time spent with the Creator of the Universe!

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As a young man, he felt the call of God to the ministry.  He studied theology and began preaching.  He had a passion for teaching and so in 1910, shortly after his marriage to a young woman he met on a ship to America, the newly weds found a house and opened a school in London.  He taught and his wife took shorthand of his lectures.  She had been blessed with the ability to take shorthand at the amazing rate of 250 words per minute.

When World War I broke out, they sensed that God was calling them to serve their country some how.  And so he enlisted as a chaplain in the British military and was stationed in Egypt.  His wife and young daughter joined him there.

He continued his teaching in a small hut in the desert of Egypt and his wife continued to take his teachings down in shorthand.  The soldiers were skeptical at first but eventually, he earned the respect of the men.  His ministry would not have been recognized by the world as “successful.”  He had a meager attendance at most of his meetings.  But he inspired the men and he served God faithfully doing what he believed God had called him to do.

In 1917, he died in Egypt due to complications with a routine appendectomy and the soldiers gave him a full military service with all the honors.  He was laid to rest in the sands of Egypt.  His wife and child returned to London.

After settling in London, his wife began the laborious task of  transcribing her notes from the years of lectures and teaching.  Over time, family and friends began to ask to read some of the work.  Different lectures began to be pulled together into pamphlets and then later, the pamphlets were pulled together into a book.  Many books have followed, but one stands out.

The man was Oswald Chambers and his wife was Gertrude (or Biddy, as he called her) and the book – My Utmost for His Highest, published first in 1927.

What would have been seen at the time  by most to have been a simple, ordinary, uneventful ministry has been used by God to touch people all over the world and continues to do so today.  Thanks to Oswald’s faithfulness and Biddy’s hard work, the world has been moved.

What has God called you to do today?  It does not matter how mundane it may seem, if God has called you to the task, God will bless it.  God never calls us to be “successful” – simply faithful.

Be faithful today!

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I looked back in the posts and unless I missed something, the last time I mentioned the book of Romans was a little less than a month ago (March 11).  As I said there, I had been camped in the 12th chapter for a month.  Well, now it has been almost two months and I am still in Romans 12.  It is an amazing book and chapter 12 is an amazing chapter!  I still hold it to be the Christian Manifesto.

Today, I have been challenged deep within my being by verse 12 of chapter 12.  The verse is short but comprehensive.  It says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”  That’s it – that’s the whole verse.  But what power in those words.

Paul tells us that our hope should bring us joy.  When we find ourselves in troublesome situations, we need only remember the bigger picture – that the God of the universe is in control – and that gives us hope.  As long as we have that hope, we can have joy, even in times of difficulty.

He goes on to say that we should be patient in the midst of affliction.  Paul gives it to us straight – there will be trouble.  Just because I made a commitment to be a follower of Jesus did not mean that I would no longer have to deal with pain, heartache and difficulty.  Paul does not want us to be naive about the fact that we will encounter hardships.  But he tells us to be patient – remembering the hope joyfully.

And then he gives us the answer as to how we do this – to be “faithful in prayer.”  It is in and through prayer that our relationship with the Father is grown and deepened.  It is in and through this relationship that trust develops and as we trust, our hope begins to grow and with that hope – joy.

If you find yourself in difficulty today, pray and as you pray, remember that the God who created you is listening – God is in control and has a plan.

You can take comfort and hope in that fact!

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Today we are looking at the book and video, Forgotten God, as it pertains to the work of the Holy Spirit and the church.  What we discussed yesterday regarding the work of the Spirit in the individual lives of believers is also true of the church.  When individual followers of the Way are truly committed and submitted to following the leadership of the Spirit in their lives, the church will reflect this as well.

As individuals, and corporately as the church, our purpose is to help others know Jesus and to come alive in him.  Is your church doing that on a daily basis?  Is your church doing supernatural things?  Francis makes the statement in the book, “I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit.”  Can you make that statement?  Can you explain the importance of your church to your community apart from the work of the Holy Spirit?

In the video (Session 3: Theology of the Holy Spirit 101) Francis uses a great illustration of a football team.  He describes a team running onto the field at the beginning of a game – the crowd goes wild and the team responds accordingly with excitement.  They huddle up on the field, call the play and then as they break, each player runs to the sideline and takes a seat on the bench.  After 30 seconds or so, the team runs back onto the field, huddles up and repeats the previous scenario.  After that happens a couple of times, the fans lose interest or worse, begin to see the game as pointless!  The connection is that this is often how the church acts or at least looks to the community.

We meet on Sunday and listen to an inspiring talk, and often we even leave with a challenge – a game plan for the week.  But then when we walk through the doors of the church, we head for the sidelines.  We have no intention of getting in the game and risk getting dirty or even hurt.  The community looks at us and thinks, “Pointless.”  Folks – that is sin!

The church is to be about building up the body – helping people find a deeper relationship with Jesus and then encouraging those same followers to go out and make a difference.  However, our churches have, in most cases, become a place of learning and institutionalization.  In the process, the church has become a place that deadens passion instead of encouraging it.

Does your church foster passion in you or does it seek conformity from you?  How is your church a reflection of you?

This study, Forgotten God, is not for the complacent and the satisfied.  This study will challenge you and get in your business.  So if you are not willing to be moved out of your comfort zone then I would recommend you stay away.  But if you want more of God, this is a great place to start!

(If you are interested in winning the book see details here)

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As promised yesterday, today and tomorrow the posts will be dedicated to the book and video by Francis Chan, entitled, Forgotten God.  As I read through the book again, and watched the video one more time, some overarching ideas began to surface.  Today I want to focus on the challenges Francis gives us as individual believers and then tomorrow we will take a look at what these challenges mean to the church.

If you have ever listened to Francis or read Crazy Love (his first book), you know that his style is one of “telling it like it is,” and holding nothing back.  Several places in the book and the video as well he asks the difficult question, “Do we really want to hear from God?”  Do we really want more of God in our lives or do we just want God to bless what we are already doing so that we can feel good about ourselves?  This is a question you need to ask yourself before picking up the book.

The video is set up to follow the book and offer a small group discussion series around each chapter in the book.  But ingrained in the approach is the idea that knowledge for the sake of knowing is worthless.  In fact, it is possible to look at our own lives and see that added knowledge often does not lead to changed lifestyle or deeper commitment.  It can even be seen that increased knowledge often leads to pride that actually stifles spiritual growth.  So the challenge that Francis gives to us is that if we are studying this material with no intention of doing anything with it then we should put it down and walk away.

The study is about the Holy Spirit – the “forgotten” person of the Trinity.  God gives us the Spirit to empower us to be someone better – to do supernatural things.  Do our lives reflect an empowerment by the Spirit?  If someone can’t look at my life and say, “God is at work in his life,” then I am not living by the Holy Spirit.  We don’t need the Spirit to live a good life and attend church on Sunday’s – we can do that all on our own.  But loving as Jesus loved and ministering as he did to others, that will take the Spirit of God living and working in you.  Do you have that?  Do you do supernatural things daily?  Do you really want to?

It is God’s will for you to allow the Spirit to live in and through you.  But we tend to get caught up in wanting to know “God’s will” without understanding what that really means.  God is not concerned about a long term plan for your life as much as God wants you to be obedient in the moment.  Francis reminds us that it is safer to commit to follow Jesus someday than it is this day.  I have talked about this before (you can take a look at that post here).  We are concerned about “knowing” God’s will when really we should be more concerned about being obedient in the moment.

The book and video are filled with personal challenges that will “mess you up.”  But that is Francis’ forte – the issue is, what will you do about it?  If your plan is to read the book and watch the video and then move on to the next hot book on the market, then don’t even bother.  But if your desire is to learn more about the Holy Spirit and submit to the Spirit in your daily life, then you need to work through this study for yourself.

Tomorrow we will look at what the study says to the church.  Don’t forget about the book give away (details here)!

Be blessed today!

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For those of you who read my ramblings regularly (which obviously would be you), you know that I do not make a habit of promoting particular items for you to go out and buy.  My intention with this blog is never to turn it into an infomercial.  However, I was asked by David C. Cook Publishing, a couple of weeks ago to view the new Francis Chan video, Forgotten God, and then review it here at Clay In The Hands.  You can hear what Francis says about the book here.

I have read the book and watched the video, so over the next couple of days, I will be writing about it here.  But wait, there’s more – I want to give the book away to one lucky person.  OK, sorry, now it’s sounding like an infomercial.

Seriously, I am excited about what Francis has to say and so I want to give a copy of the book away.  Here is how we are going to do it.  Each day this week, you can email me at the address to the right to enter (bhill33@me.com).  Next Monday, March 29, I will randomly draw one name out of those who email.

Check back tomorrow and Friday to get my thoughts on the book and video.  I pray that God will use this to touch your life and open your eyes to the power that we so often neglect.

Be blessed today!

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