The Pursuit Community Seek Devo: Boast in the Lord

I guess I’ve never mentioned this before, by way of blogging, that I had the opportunity to be a part of a project through The Pursuit Community. The project was co-authoring a devotional along with many other creative women. This project is called Seek: A 21 Day Devotional on Prayer & Fasting.

Technology is so crazy! Everytime I think about how we go through another round of gathering, editing, and publishing with Deeply Rooted, all the writers, artists, and brilliant creative minds I get to meet via the internet, and all the writing the Lord graciously allows me (me, really? ME?!) to take part in for His glory…this hand written letter enjoying, pen and ink, typewriter lovin’ gal really is thankful for technology after all.

So, today, February 17th, is the devo day I was asked to write. I think my favorite part is the verse. haha God’s Word is so much better than mine! All the beautiful art makes me want to rip out almost every verse and hang it somewhere in my house!

I’ve really been blessed by this devo so far, and getting to know Karen, the founder of the Pursuit Community. I was so, so excited when I saw that she asked me to be one of the writers. God is so, so good, you know that?

1 Corinthians 1:31 reminds us, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” As I started thinking about making this post today and what I was going to say, the Lord quietly whispered this verse to me this morning.

In my senior year of college I struggled with if I should continue to pursue writing at all, and if so, how? At first, I totally didn’t understand how one could pursue art and the Lord at the same time. Honestly, artists are prideful. It’s ugly. Just get in to the editing field and you will quickly learn this. 😉 I’m only half way kidding.

Anyways, back on topic. I wanted to make sure it was the Lord who was calling me to pick up a pen and write, and not my own vainglorious desire to self-promote. So after tons of reading, praying, writing, and talking to other Christian artists, the Lord put Psalm 37:4 on my heart: “Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart.”

Alright, I can do that. I felt like through that verse God was simply telling me to pursue Him, cultivate friendship with my Savior, and then He will lead me with the writing: where, when, how, and about what.

When I graduated college, I probably would have said, “All I want to do now is be a wife and momma and I want to write about what God shows me along the way.”

And guess what?

For about a little over a year now I have been doing exactly those things. It was GOD who put those desires in my heart, and as I walked in obedience and learned to pursue HIM first, He brought the opportunities and open doors my way to share the lessons He’s been showing me with other. Jesus was all about only doing and teaching what He saw the Father doing and saying, and I made it my purpose to do that through my writing as well. I truly can boast in the Lord for where He has taken me with writing opportunities today simply because I know He orchestrated all the paths for every project, publication, magazine, blog post, devotional to come my way.

I know at times I’ve been self-seeking. I know I’ve been lazy and a bad steward of the gifts He’s given me. I know I haven’t put as much time and energy in to projects as I could to glorify Him. But…the mind blowing thing is…He calls us by grace, not because of works. It’s even by His grace that anyone is reading this post today!

John the Baptist was questioned by his own worried disciples at one point. They said something along the lines of, “Hey, wait! All your followers are going to Jesus and following HIM! Aren’t you worried about this, John?!”

I love his response, and I pray this would be mine as I turn try to turn more and more hearts to Christ through my writing.

“He must increase, but I must decrease.”

In Christ

Minute by minute.

“Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34

I woke up and it was one of those mornings. I felt it starting last night, but the joyful release never came with that cup of a.m. coffee.

Do not be anxious about tomorrow…

I got in the shower.

Do not be anxious…

Started breakfast.

Do not be anxious…

Got the little guy up, dressed, and to the table.

…about tomorrow…

…or the next minute…or the next minute…

I literally had to tell myself this throughout all of breakfast. Why? I don’t know. This is only my second time around the pregnancy block, but I’m seriously realizing the pregnancy hormones and emotions are definately a part of the curse. I had a million thoughts filling my mind, causing me to waste precious energy fretting, which I know by now tends to evil, but I couldn’t pinpoint any one thing in order to “just stop thinking about it.” Then I read this in our Daily Light reading this morning:

“While they were talking, Jesus approached them and began walking with them.” Luke 24:15 (GWT)

I began to tell Ari how Jesus was walking with His friends, and He walks with us throughout the day, then it dawned on my small mind, Hey! Wait a sec!

“Ari, that means He’s even sitting at the breakfast table with us right now!”

A huge burden lifted as I realized that directly across from me, in the empty, wooden chair, my Savior was sitting with my son and me, observing and taking part in our morning, ready to help when called on. Not only was He there, but He would be everywhere with me today, reminding me to remain steadfast in Him, and leave the worries for another day.

I am so quick to leave Him, so prone to wonder.

“…the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.” Mark 4:19

I see this much more than I like in my heart. I start to choke out the fruit Christ wants to produce in me because of my pointless desire for other things. My hearts runs much faster than I thought.

It makes me realize why Peter said what he did in 1 Peter 5:8.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

I am devoured within seconds most days, almost always over a disobedient thought.

So, how do I pursue the mind of Christ, that is obedient to Him in all ways?

Ephesians 4:23 says we are, “to be made new in the spirit of our minds.”

Praise God, this is CHRIST’S work, not our own. I just keep asking over and over, minute by minute, for renewal. I want to see things different from the world. I don’t want to call conspiracy what the world does, or fear what the world does (Is. 8:12-13). I’m called to freedom, not entanglement.

“No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.” 2 Timothy 2:4

I keep thinking about what B said a few weeks ago when he taught on anxiety.

“Sojourners travel light and go through trials…”

I’m praying for wisdom to know what traveling light looks like for me in this new season, what it looks like to leave my cares in His hand and wait for Him to provide the storehouses I need along the way. I want to be freed up to do what God wants with me, not bogged down in pointless worry.

“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.” Philippians 4:5-6

We often fail to look at how that sentence starts. “The Lord is at hand, do not be anxious!” It is reasonable for us to not be fearful and anxious because God indeed is at hand! You, we, truly can “be content with what you have, for he (God) has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’ (Hebrews 13:5). What more is there to fear?

In Christ

An Afternoon Relfection.

I will just say the limits to my human strength and love have totally been tested this last week. Taking care of a little person is hard enough, let alone a sick hubby, and a pregnant body that eventually gave in to this terrible, terrible plague. (Yes, that’s what I’ve called it!) Praise God, I think we are finally all three on the way back to health! But it was pretty yucky there for a few days.

Something that’s I’ve started doing this year in the afternoons, hopefully, as time allows, is sitting down and asking myself a few questions while the house is quiet and Ari is asleep. I know it was a good reminder to keep me motivated to serve my family as they were sick. (I believe these questions either came at Keller’s or Kay Smith’s suggestions for afternoon reflection and meditation. Either way, I’m not in debted to them!)

– Have I been prickly and provoked? or gracious and humble?

– Have I been indifferent and cold? unwilling to serve? or warm, kind, and affectionate?

– Have I been anxious and stressed? or depending on God?

Halfway through the day is the best time to go over these questions. You’re over the morning glory of that first and second cup of coffee, things probably got a bit stressed around lunch time, and now you have the afternoon and dinner to get through in a way that glorifies God, and for me, the second half of the day is always harder to get through! I don’t know if my family can say this has been helpful in my attitude and actions at all, hopefully they can, but I know it’s been such a humbling reminder for me to take the time to correct my actions before the throne and receive grace to continue with my day.

Along with that, I read Philippians 2:7-8, 3:7-11, and 1 Corinthians 13:1-7. THe first section from Philippians shows us Jesus had an attitude of humility, a willingness to serve, and an obedience unto death. Do I have this today? Again, it’s a way to reflect on those same questions, but now in light of Christ’s character and His Word.

The second section from Phillipians shows me that Paul’s goals were to know Christ, even at the expense of personal love, be found in Him alone, and nothing else, gain righteousness that comes through faith, know the power of the resurrection, and, this is the trickiest one for me, BEING CONFORMED TO CHRIST’S death, even sharing in suffering. Yikes! I like to align my heart with these same goals as I go in to the second half of my day.

And last, but certainly not least, the love chapter. We read this so, so often that it’s probably the only semi-lengthy set of verses any of us have stowed away. haha I’ve been reading these in different translations lately. Why? It brings them to life in a whole new way. This is definately one of the most important sections to take time to meditate on every day. Why? Because in these verses we find out that we found be soooo many other godly things, but without love, we are really useless, a nobody. Ouch! Did that hurt anyone else out there like it does me? Anyways, take a moment to read through these two translations that I really enjoy. I’m praying God’s Word goes out and does some work on your hearts, like it’s been doing on mine! Love is such a bigger deal than we think it is, just read 1 John.

1 Corinthians 13:1-7 Amplified

If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such [a]as is inspired by God’s love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers ([b]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God’s love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody). Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned…, but have not love (God’s love in me), I gain nothing.
Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

On a sidenote, Amy Carmichael once said asked something along the lines of, “Can you imagine Jesus acting rudely at the dinner table?” After reading those verses, I understand the importance of being mannerly in a whole new light. It reflects the character of God.

Now on to the Phillips translation!

If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have that absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, but have no love, I achieve precisely nothing. This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything.

Did you learn anything new from reading those translations? I hope so! May be trust in the Holy Spirit more and more, who poured God’s love in to our hearts (Romans 5:5)!

In Christ