“A little hurt here, a little hurt there, is like a brick here and a brick there…next thing you know, you have a wall.”Loren Thornburg
It all started one day with one brick. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Rome wasn’t built in a day’ which speaks of the time it takes to build something important. Whether it’s Rome or the wall in your backyard the same principle holds true. Things are built over time. Just like we build walls to separate land we also build walls in our lives in the name of protection that become obstacles to our relationships. And often these walls come without knowing it. We didn’t think one thing was a big deal and then another thing came that didn’t seem like it was worth dealing with and then another thing added onto that we found another reason not to address until eventually we find another brick of pain is added to our wall and now the wall is too big for us to see beyond. Even if we wanted to we can no longer see past the wall of pain that surrounds us. We didn’t see it coming with a brick here and a brick there. Pride here, jealousy there, words that hurt us here, expectations unmet there, disappointment here, sadness there until there is pain everywhere. Over time those little bricks became powerfully destructive to our relationships and our lives. What we thought was protection has become our destruction. However, just as they were built so they can come down. It may not be all at once. It may have to be the same way it went up…one brick at a time. And as we continue to take down those bricks of pain we will find one day that wall is gone just as one day the wall was up. It all starts one day with one brick.
“Look I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem. It is…safe to build on. Whoever believes need never run again…check the foundation wall you have built. Your refuge looks strong, but since it is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception…”
Isaiah 29:16-17 NLT
Walls bring us a sense of safety. They keep things out. However, often times we build walls that keep God out. There are two problems there. First, that we have built our own walls and second that God is not within them. God is the only true safe place. Yet, still we try to build walls to protect ourselves. The pains come and so we lay a brick. But what we use to build them with are lies and deception. Oh we don’t always know this is what we are doing because we do it in the name of protection. And it looks strong, but it won’t last. It can’t last. It’s not true, it’s not truth, it’s not Jesus. It may protect us from some pain for a little while, but truly it is only keeping true freedom out and our pain in. Rather than building walls that protect us from that which comes against us, we have separated ourselves from the only one who can truly Protect and truly free us from the pain that built the wall in the first place. There is safety in walls…only when they are His!
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Known Unknown
“You don’t have to know, when you don’t go it alone.”
Loren Thornburg
Have you ever ridden with a friend to a place they know well, but you have never been to before? I find the experience is so different than if I were to try to figure it out myself. By myself in a new place I find I am constantly wondering how to get there, if I am going the right way, when I will be there and all sorts of questions of confusion. However, when I am riding with someone who has been there before I trust that they know the way and I don’t have to. It may still be unknown to me but I am with someone that knows. Life hands us many situations filled with unknowns. But we don’t have to go it alone in the unknown. We can reach out to those around us who know, to those who have been this way before, and let them help us guide the way. It may save you a lot of confusion, detours, U-turns, and stress along the way if you just don’t go it alone. Bring someone who knows into your unknown.
“I am holding you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid. I am here to help you. Despised though you are, O Israel, don’t be afraid, for I will help you. I am the Lord, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.’”
Isaiah 41:13 NLT
Who better to bring into our unknown than the Lord, who is all-knowing. He knows all of what has been and all of what will be. He knows you inside and out, when you sit and rise. He knows where you have been and where you will go. He has seen it before you were even thought of and this is the God that wants to hold your hand. He knows all of who you are in its best and worst. There are no surprises with Him. He won’t take you by the hand and then change His mind because you weren’t who He thought you were. No, He knows it all and still asks that we would take His hand for He wants to guide us through our unknowns for they are known to Him. He is saying, ‘Let me take your hand and show you the way. I have been here before. You can trust me. It may not look like you thought, but still, you don’t have to be afraid because I am here to help you. I am the Almighty God, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And I am good and working all things for your good. Will you let me? Will you let me take your hand? I promise you won’t regret it.’
Loren Thornburg
Have you ever ridden with a friend to a place they know well, but you have never been to before? I find the experience is so different than if I were to try to figure it out myself. By myself in a new place I find I am constantly wondering how to get there, if I am going the right way, when I will be there and all sorts of questions of confusion. However, when I am riding with someone who has been there before I trust that they know the way and I don’t have to. It may still be unknown to me but I am with someone that knows. Life hands us many situations filled with unknowns. But we don’t have to go it alone in the unknown. We can reach out to those around us who know, to those who have been this way before, and let them help us guide the way. It may save you a lot of confusion, detours, U-turns, and stress along the way if you just don’t go it alone. Bring someone who knows into your unknown.
“I am holding you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Do not be afraid. I am here to help you. Despised though you are, O Israel, don’t be afraid, for I will help you. I am the Lord, your Redeemer. I am the Holy One of Israel.’”
Isaiah 41:13 NLT
Who better to bring into our unknown than the Lord, who is all-knowing. He knows all of what has been and all of what will be. He knows you inside and out, when you sit and rise. He knows where you have been and where you will go. He has seen it before you were even thought of and this is the God that wants to hold your hand. He knows all of who you are in its best and worst. There are no surprises with Him. He won’t take you by the hand and then change His mind because you weren’t who He thought you were. No, He knows it all and still asks that we would take His hand for He wants to guide us through our unknowns for they are known to Him. He is saying, ‘Let me take your hand and show you the way. I have been here before. You can trust me. It may not look like you thought, but still, you don’t have to be afraid because I am here to help you. I am the Almighty God, the Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And I am good and working all things for your good. Will you let me? Will you let me take your hand? I promise you won’t regret it.’
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Go Deep
“Beyond the surface, beyond what you see;
go deep to the roots, that’s where real change will be.”
Loren Thornburg
Sometimes I feel I am living that definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. It’s like the weeds in our gardens. We can cut what we see all we want, but until we get the root of it, it will just keep growing back. We have to go beyond the surface and beyond what we see to change what we see. As a softball coach I see this with my pitchers. I can tell them to finish the pitch a certain way all that I want but until I change what is causing the problem in the first place it will just keep happening. I have to go deeper into something at the start of their pitch that is causing them to finish in the way that they are finishing. The same is true in our lives. Our actions have roots and until we deal with the root the action won’t change, at least not for long. We can cut it off like a weed and see change for a little bit, but until we pull up the root it will eventually grow back. When we are seeking real change we have to go deep! That thing you’ve been trying to change…what’s at the root?
“Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine?
No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty pool.”
James 3:12 NLT
When we go into the ocean, we don’t expect to swallow fresh water, yet sometimes our lives live like that. God is not so concerned about the surface and the outside as He is about what is in our hearts. I think sometimes we expect olives from a fig tree. We expect a plant different from the root which has been planted. We expect ourselves to reap something of which we haven’t sown. We expect different results doing the same things, planting the same things. And we go insane doing the same things, expecting different results. We keep cutting at the surface when God is asking us to go deep, go deeper, to the root. It is only when we get to the root that we can really change that which buds at the surface. When we haven’t dealt with the bitterness in our hearts we can’t expect to be at peace. When we haven’t dealt with the fear in our hearts we can’t expect to be of good courage. So before you spend anymore time cutting at the surface, wanting things to look different, let’s look deeper, beyond the surface. Let’s go deep to the root of what’s going on and start there. When we start there we can end there. For once we go deep to the root that is where real change can begin to occur. When we cut to the heart we can start to really change and we can find the fresh water we were drawing for.
go deep to the roots, that’s where real change will be.”
Loren Thornburg
Sometimes I feel I am living that definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. It’s like the weeds in our gardens. We can cut what we see all we want, but until we get the root of it, it will just keep growing back. We have to go beyond the surface and beyond what we see to change what we see. As a softball coach I see this with my pitchers. I can tell them to finish the pitch a certain way all that I want but until I change what is causing the problem in the first place it will just keep happening. I have to go deeper into something at the start of their pitch that is causing them to finish in the way that they are finishing. The same is true in our lives. Our actions have roots and until we deal with the root the action won’t change, at least not for long. We can cut it off like a weed and see change for a little bit, but until we pull up the root it will eventually grow back. When we are seeking real change we have to go deep! That thing you’ve been trying to change…what’s at the root?
“Can you pick olives from a fig tree or figs from a grapevine?
No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty pool.”
James 3:12 NLT
When we go into the ocean, we don’t expect to swallow fresh water, yet sometimes our lives live like that. God is not so concerned about the surface and the outside as He is about what is in our hearts. I think sometimes we expect olives from a fig tree. We expect a plant different from the root which has been planted. We expect ourselves to reap something of which we haven’t sown. We expect different results doing the same things, planting the same things. And we go insane doing the same things, expecting different results. We keep cutting at the surface when God is asking us to go deep, go deeper, to the root. It is only when we get to the root that we can really change that which buds at the surface. When we haven’t dealt with the bitterness in our hearts we can’t expect to be at peace. When we haven’t dealt with the fear in our hearts we can’t expect to be of good courage. So before you spend anymore time cutting at the surface, wanting things to look different, let’s look deeper, beyond the surface. Let’s go deep to the root of what’s going on and start there. When we start there we can end there. For once we go deep to the root that is where real change can begin to occur. When we cut to the heart we can start to really change and we can find the fresh water we were drawing for.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Let's Get Together
“Let unity be your destiny.”
Loren Thornburg
Often when I would go running with other people I would feel like they were pushing me to go faster only to find out at the end of the run that they felt like I was pushing them. This same principle applies in many areas of our lives. When we are working alongside people we go farther than we could go alone because of the encouragement and support that pushes us beyond what we thought we were capable of. We were not meant to go this life alone. We were created to be in relationships with one another. When we live life with others our joys are doubled and our sorrows divided. So, even when relationships get hard, don’t give up on meeting with others. Instead, consider how you can spur others on, come alongside them, walk with them. Make it your habit, your way of life. Walk encouraged, walk together. Let get together…Yeah, yeah, yeah!
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:25 NLT
There is a reason why Hebrews encourages us to keep meeting together. We need each other! We need others and others need us. Often in our times of despair we find any reason we can to convince ourselves it is better for us to go it alone. Yet even in our despair we are still a part of the body and are called to live like it. The example of our physical body is often used and with that can you imagine if the eye decided that the body was better off without it?! That sounds ridiculous because we know how important the eye is to the body. However, this is exactly what the enemy wants to do…convince us we are not the eye, that we are not needed, that we are better off alone, that we have nothing to offer, that the body is better off without us. The Greek word for body is soma, from the word sozo, which means to rescue from danger. There is protection in the body which means it’s dangerous to be apart. We are better together. The danger comes when we stop living like this is true.
Loren Thornburg
Often when I would go running with other people I would feel like they were pushing me to go faster only to find out at the end of the run that they felt like I was pushing them. This same principle applies in many areas of our lives. When we are working alongside people we go farther than we could go alone because of the encouragement and support that pushes us beyond what we thought we were capable of. We were not meant to go this life alone. We were created to be in relationships with one another. When we live life with others our joys are doubled and our sorrows divided. So, even when relationships get hard, don’t give up on meeting with others. Instead, consider how you can spur others on, come alongside them, walk with them. Make it your habit, your way of life. Walk encouraged, walk together. Let get together…Yeah, yeah, yeah!
“And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near.”
Hebrews 10:25 NLT
There is a reason why Hebrews encourages us to keep meeting together. We need each other! We need others and others need us. Often in our times of despair we find any reason we can to convince ourselves it is better for us to go it alone. Yet even in our despair we are still a part of the body and are called to live like it. The example of our physical body is often used and with that can you imagine if the eye decided that the body was better off without it?! That sounds ridiculous because we know how important the eye is to the body. However, this is exactly what the enemy wants to do…convince us we are not the eye, that we are not needed, that we are better off alone, that we have nothing to offer, that the body is better off without us. The Greek word for body is soma, from the word sozo, which means to rescue from danger. There is protection in the body which means it’s dangerous to be apart. We are better together. The danger comes when we stop living like this is true.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Greater Unseen
“Sometimes it is not so much about the task at hand as it is about the heart of the hand.”
Loren Thornburg
In Santa Fe Mexico there lies a miraculous spiral staircase that was made around 1880 without the use of glue or nails, but only square wooden pegs. There is no means of support and yet it makes two complete circles. It has since become a landmark to which thousands of people have come to marvel at its mystery. There has even been a movie made about it, appropriately titled, ‘The Staircase.’ In the movie it has come to one of the sisters God’s call to build a staircase. This call didn’t come without obstacles and times that she felt a failure because it seemed the staircase had become an impossibility. Yet it seems through the struggle towards the staircase that there was something greater being built…her faith! Sometimes it seems we are so focused on the task at hand that we miss what is going on within us. Something so much greater than the task. In the movie the task was completed and many today are still marveling at this phenomenon. For the sister something greater was being produced within her…a restoration of her once broken faith!
“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
1 Peter 1:7 NLT
The Apostle Peter is writing to encourage those who are being persecuted for their faith. Although my struggles may look different I find myself in need of the same reminder of encouragement and challenge. The challenge is to remain strong through the struggle, endure through the pain, and keep on though there seems no end in sight. The encouragement is that there is joy ahead and there is a reason for the trials we are facing. The trials are doing something not only on the outside but even more on the inside. Even more than that which you see, there is something being produced that you can’t see which is in your faith. And that which you can’t see is far more important to God. It is that which you can’t see that will bring Him praise and glory. So remain, endure, and keep on for on the other side of these trials there is wonderful joy that you don’t want to miss.
Loren Thornburg
In Santa Fe Mexico there lies a miraculous spiral staircase that was made around 1880 without the use of glue or nails, but only square wooden pegs. There is no means of support and yet it makes two complete circles. It has since become a landmark to which thousands of people have come to marvel at its mystery. There has even been a movie made about it, appropriately titled, ‘The Staircase.’ In the movie it has come to one of the sisters God’s call to build a staircase. This call didn’t come without obstacles and times that she felt a failure because it seemed the staircase had become an impossibility. Yet it seems through the struggle towards the staircase that there was something greater being built…her faith! Sometimes it seems we are so focused on the task at hand that we miss what is going on within us. Something so much greater than the task. In the movie the task was completed and many today are still marveling at this phenomenon. For the sister something greater was being produced within her…a restoration of her once broken faith!
“There is wonderful joy ahead, even though it is necessary for you to endure many trials for a while. These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold. So if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
1 Peter 1:7 NLT
The Apostle Peter is writing to encourage those who are being persecuted for their faith. Although my struggles may look different I find myself in need of the same reminder of encouragement and challenge. The challenge is to remain strong through the struggle, endure through the pain, and keep on though there seems no end in sight. The encouragement is that there is joy ahead and there is a reason for the trials we are facing. The trials are doing something not only on the outside but even more on the inside. Even more than that which you see, there is something being produced that you can’t see which is in your faith. And that which you can’t see is far more important to God. It is that which you can’t see that will bring Him praise and glory. So remain, endure, and keep on for on the other side of these trials there is wonderful joy that you don’t want to miss.
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