“You have purposes unseen; abilities unknown.
Though you see reasons not to, step out and let them be shown.”
Loren Thornburg
We don’t see clearly when we look at ourselves. Our vision seems to be off, magnifying certain aspects of ourselves, diminishing other parts and keeping some under a microscope. Then we take those off-sized aspects and compare them to others only creating a greater misperception of ourselves. We need to come out from the magnifying glass, out from under the microscope and get a fresh glance at who we are. Let those around you who know you show you what they see. Take a good look in the mirror not at what you’ve seen but at the unseen. Now this isn’t to say that you don’t have any weaknesses or things that should be addressed and looked at. However, we need to see them as they are and not any bigger than they are. Not as big enough to keep your purposes and abilities from showing. Step out from under and into the light. You have purposes and abilities unique to you.
“Now, Samuel, though only a boy was the Lord’s helper.”
1 Samuel 2:18 NLT
The Lord used Samuel at a young age. Even though he was only a boy the Lord placed Samuel as His helper. We all have our “though only” that could be obstacles in our journey. Some of us are using them as reasons not to step out. For some of us it sounds more like ‘since I am only a boy I won’t step out.’ We all have our ‘though only’ but the Lord uses us. The key here is the Lord. It really has nothing to do with us. The Lord can do whatever He wants if only we are willing to step out and be used. I want to be called the Lord’s helper even in the midst of all the reasons that I see that I am disqualified from being eligible to be used in this way. Step out and see things as He does. See you as He does. The one who is the Lord’s helper. The one with purposes ordained by the Lord. Step out of excuses and step into Him.
Monday, May 16, 2011
Monday, May 9, 2011
All You Need
“Sometimes we find ourselves searching for something more, when all that we need, we already have.”
Loren Thornburg
I often find myself walking around the house looking for the sunglasses that are on my head, or the keys that are in my pocket, or the pen I put behind my ear. We’ve all done it and are sure to do it again. It’s so interesting to me once I realize what I’ve done to know that I had what I needed the whole time I was looking. I wonder how I do that in things beyond the “missing” object. Searching for joy that it’s in the things around me, searching for growth that is taking place, searching for skills I already have, searching for confidence that’s there if I will grab it, searching for more when I have what I need. Like the moment I realize that the sunglasses I’ve looking for have been on my head the whole time; I want to see what I already have as part of finding what I’ve been searching for. How might what’s in front of you be part of what you’ve been searching for?
“It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!”
Romans 8:11 MSG
The Spirit of the “alive-and-present” God lives in you. That is powerful! The God who raised Jesus from the dead is the same God that lives and breathes in you. That means you are alive and you have power to share life with others. This also means that we have all that we need to do all God has called us to do. By His Spirit there is nothing that He can’t do in and through us. His Spirit lives in you and that is more than enough for all that you need. I seem to forget this in the midst of daily life. I forget how personally the Spirit lives in me for the little stuff too, to bring life to those things as well. He is alive and present to me, to you, here and now to be all that we need.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
De-Cape
“Take off your cape and let down your mask. Your greatest powers lie within you...weakness and all.”
Loren Thornburg
Superman and Superwoman are comic superheroes as well as terms used to imply having exceptional strength or ability. Although we don’t run around in capes we often expect ourselves to have many qualities of a superhero. It is our nature to want to emulate this figure who always saves the day and is essentially perfect. We do what we can to save the day, to have it all together, to be “exceptional” in all that we undertake. The problem is that we are not fictional characters, we are human. We all have different gifts and talents, but we also all have weaknesses and limits. As opportunities to do more increase so do the standards. Often the highest standards are those we put on ourselves, expecting us to be something we were never designed to be. So the key is not to be superman or superwoman but to be super ”You.” To be an exceptional You, in all of Your strengths, admitting your weakness and accepting your limits. That is where the real power lies. So take off your cape and start living free.
“The Lord is like a father to his children; tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he understands how weak we are; he knows we are only dust.”
Psalm 103:13-14 NLT
God made us. He knows better than we do how weak we are. So I wonder why we expect ourselves to be more than human. Now it is true that we are called to be like Christ, that we are made in His image, that we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us. It is true that God loves it when we do exceptional things that glorify Him. Yet it is also true that He loves us when we don’t. It is also true that He understands our shortcomings and even there He is a father to us with compassion. He is not asking for us to be superman, superwoman, or even super Christians. He is asking that we sit at His feet as children loved by the Father. For there we will fall in love with Him and there we will find freedom to take off our capes and be all that He intended us to be, weaknesses and all.
Loren Thornburg
Superman and Superwoman are comic superheroes as well as terms used to imply having exceptional strength or ability. Although we don’t run around in capes we often expect ourselves to have many qualities of a superhero. It is our nature to want to emulate this figure who always saves the day and is essentially perfect. We do what we can to save the day, to have it all together, to be “exceptional” in all that we undertake. The problem is that we are not fictional characters, we are human. We all have different gifts and talents, but we also all have weaknesses and limits. As opportunities to do more increase so do the standards. Often the highest standards are those we put on ourselves, expecting us to be something we were never designed to be. So the key is not to be superman or superwoman but to be super ”You.” To be an exceptional You, in all of Your strengths, admitting your weakness and accepting your limits. That is where the real power lies. So take off your cape and start living free.
“The Lord is like a father to his children; tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he understands how weak we are; he knows we are only dust.”
Psalm 103:13-14 NLT
God made us. He knows better than we do how weak we are. So I wonder why we expect ourselves to be more than human. Now it is true that we are called to be like Christ, that we are made in His image, that we have the power of the Holy Spirit in us. It is true that God loves it when we do exceptional things that glorify Him. Yet it is also true that He loves us when we don’t. It is also true that He understands our shortcomings and even there He is a father to us with compassion. He is not asking for us to be superman, superwoman, or even super Christians. He is asking that we sit at His feet as children loved by the Father. For there we will fall in love with Him and there we will find freedom to take off our capes and be all that He intended us to be, weaknesses and all.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Get the Full Story
“See beyond this moment, look beyond right here
The story isn’t over, there’s hope, yes hope that’s near.”
Loren Thornburg
I love Easter because beyond all the eggs and candy there is a story that reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem and what you think will be is not always what is to come. Jesus was killed on a cross, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Hope still remained for He rose from the dead and thus our hope still remains. So often I base things on what I see and what I’ve been told forgetting the story isn’t over yet. I have to get the full story before I lose all hope. This is true in life and lives, including our own. So often I see the trials in my life and that’s all I can see. I get frustrated wishing I was farther along in one area or another. I know where I’ve been and I am unable to see where I could go. But, there is more to my story; there is more to your story. Lets get the full story before we resort to losing hope.
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
Jesus is all about hope. Hope means that in all things we believe in the full story. It means that we “look beyond the tombstone, see the living God”(Paul Baloche, Glorious). Corinthians says it so well in the encouragement not to look at the troubles we see right now, in front of us, but instead to look beyond them, even though we look to things we haven’t yet seen. We can do this because we trust in the hope of our living God. We trust that as the Message version says, “There's far more here than meets the eye.” With Jesus there is always more than we can see going on. There is always more to the story than where we find ourselves in this moment. That means we can hope. Yes, even now, we can hope, even here, we can hope. Jesus is near and so hope is near. In the face of today see the living God. He is at work in a really big story calling you to be a part of it. It’s a story that has shown us we can hope in things we haven’t seen.
The story isn’t over, there’s hope, yes hope that’s near.”
Loren Thornburg
I love Easter because beyond all the eggs and candy there is a story that reminds us that things aren’t always as they seem and what you think will be is not always what is to come. Jesus was killed on a cross, but that wasn’t the end of the story. Hope still remained for He rose from the dead and thus our hope still remains. So often I base things on what I see and what I’ve been told forgetting the story isn’t over yet. I have to get the full story before I lose all hope. This is true in life and lives, including our own. So often I see the trials in my life and that’s all I can see. I get frustrated wishing I was farther along in one area or another. I know where I’ve been and I am unable to see where I could go. But, there is more to my story; there is more to your story. Lets get the full story before we resort to losing hope.
“So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”
2 Corinthians 4:18 NLT
Jesus is all about hope. Hope means that in all things we believe in the full story. It means that we “look beyond the tombstone, see the living God”(Paul Baloche, Glorious). Corinthians says it so well in the encouragement not to look at the troubles we see right now, in front of us, but instead to look beyond them, even though we look to things we haven’t yet seen. We can do this because we trust in the hope of our living God. We trust that as the Message version says, “There's far more here than meets the eye.” With Jesus there is always more than we can see going on. There is always more to the story than where we find ourselves in this moment. That means we can hope. Yes, even now, we can hope, even here, we can hope. Jesus is near and so hope is near. In the face of today see the living God. He is at work in a really big story calling you to be a part of it. It’s a story that has shown us we can hope in things we haven’t seen.
Monday, April 18, 2011
True Absurdities
“Truth is true, absurdities and all.”
Loren Thornburg
Life is full of paradoxes. You have to spend money to make money; you break your muscles down to build them up; your giving is what fills you up. A paradox is something that sounds absurd, but is actually true. More and more I see that life is full of paradoxes. It is in the hard things of life, which bring sadness that I come to know more of joy and enjoyment. It is when we allow ourselves to be hurt, needy, broken, and weak that we can be most thankful and find joy in healing, provision, and strength. It sounds rather absurd to me that to know joy I must know much heartache; to know strength I must know weakness; and to know more I must know less. It makes me wonder how many other things that I think are absurd are actually true. What we think is disaster may be the thing that is saving us. Life has a paradoxical way of bringing life from death.
“Our hearts ache but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing and yet we have everything.”
2 Corinthians 6: 10 NLT
The last shall be first, the first shall be last, those who are poor shall be rich, those who own nothing have everything. Even more, God brought life from death taking crucifixion on a cross of His only Son to bring abundant life for all who believe. Following Jesus is full of paradoxes. He doesn’t think the way that we think, work the way we work, or see things the way that we do. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to take heart in the nature of our paradoxical God. Following Jesus requires allowing His absurdities to be our truth. It means seeing our crises and trusting that God can and will work a blessing in it where we thought no blessing could be found. No longer seeing things from our perspective, but from over His shoulder where the poor are spiritually rich and those with nothing live lives where they find they have everything. It’s a process and it takes time, but the more we seek His ways the more we find what once was absurd has become truth; what once was our disaster has become our blessing; and what once was our death has become our saving.
Loren Thornburg
Life is full of paradoxes. You have to spend money to make money; you break your muscles down to build them up; your giving is what fills you up. A paradox is something that sounds absurd, but is actually true. More and more I see that life is full of paradoxes. It is in the hard things of life, which bring sadness that I come to know more of joy and enjoyment. It is when we allow ourselves to be hurt, needy, broken, and weak that we can be most thankful and find joy in healing, provision, and strength. It sounds rather absurd to me that to know joy I must know much heartache; to know strength I must know weakness; and to know more I must know less. It makes me wonder how many other things that I think are absurd are actually true. What we think is disaster may be the thing that is saving us. Life has a paradoxical way of bringing life from death.
“Our hearts ache but we always have joy. We are poor, but we give spiritual riches to others. We own nothing and yet we have everything.”
2 Corinthians 6: 10 NLT
The last shall be first, the first shall be last, those who are poor shall be rich, those who own nothing have everything. Even more, God brought life from death taking crucifixion on a cross of His only Son to bring abundant life for all who believe. Following Jesus is full of paradoxes. He doesn’t think the way that we think, work the way we work, or see things the way that we do. Paul exhorts the Corinthians to take heart in the nature of our paradoxical God. Following Jesus requires allowing His absurdities to be our truth. It means seeing our crises and trusting that God can and will work a blessing in it where we thought no blessing could be found. No longer seeing things from our perspective, but from over His shoulder where the poor are spiritually rich and those with nothing live lives where they find they have everything. It’s a process and it takes time, but the more we seek His ways the more we find what once was absurd has become truth; what once was our disaster has become our blessing; and what once was our death has become our saving.
Monday, April 11, 2011
New Filters
“Change your filter so you can see things as they really are and taste things as they really can be. ”
Loren Thornburg
You can’t see it but you can taste the difference in unfiltered water. Besides the better taste, it is better for us not to be consuming water that has different contaminations in it. That’s why we have all sorts of filtrations systems that continue to be more advanced. Now they have red lights and signs when they are no longer filtering as they should be. This signals to us that it is time to put a new filter in. By definition a filter is a device for removing impurities. In our own lives we have things that need filtering. As things come at us and life happens we begin to build up contaminations in our hearts and minds. This affects how we see and react to things. We no longer see them as they really are but we see them through the contamination that has built up. Similar to the water filtration system we need our filters renewed. Don’t keep operating with the same dirty filter, let yours be made new.
“When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.”
James 4:10 NLT
We can’t see the difference in the water nor can we see our hearts without help. We can taste that it is bad but we need God to be able to renew our filter. James is explaining some of what it looks like to walk out your faith. He shows us what it looks like to purify your heart. It includes bowing before the Lord and admitting in sorrow that our hearts are dirty and we need Him to clean them. We not only need Him but are solely dependent on Him to give us a new filter to lift us up to see rightly again; to see things as they really are, not through the junk that has accumulated in our hearts and minds. We have to come and we have to bow but only He can clean, purify and make new. Why drink the same dirty water when all you have to do is admit you need Him. He loves for you to come. He loves to make you new.
Monday, April 4, 2011
Can't be Microwaved
“More than a minute and not even overnight. Change can’t be microwaved...it takes time.”
Loren Thornburg
Immediately and instantly we have access and answers to so many things. We don’t have to wait. We can find information online in minutes, email a friend with the click of a button, and have hot food ready to eat in seconds. It’s all right there, right away, no waiting required. Not like it used to be without access to so much information, waiting weeks for a letter reply, and our only option for hot food was time spent over the stove. Although the time-savers are helpful they also create a sense that all things should happen at microwave speed. The problem is when there are things that require time, waiting and patience. We don’t know what to do it with it because we aren’t used to waiting. The healing we want, the dreams we have, the areas we want to grow in, these things take time that can’t be sped up by any technological device. It can’t be microwaved. These things take time lasting longer than we want. Yet, if we are willing to accept the suffering we will be invited to the joy that comes afterwards. Don’t give up...it needs more time.
“All eyes look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.”
Psalm 145:15 HCSB
David is recounting the many reasons to praise the Lord: His greatness, His mercy, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His closeness, His protection. In the middle of these is the reminder that He provides at “the proper time.” That means God is always on time. Now I can’t say that I always agree with God’s timing in the midst of waiting. He often seems a little slow or behind schedule until I see the fullness of what happens in the waiting. For with God He is never off the job and He is never wasting time in your waiting. He is always up to something, preparing you, growing you, shaping you in the waiting. In order to let the waiting have it’s fullness in us we have to remember the fullness of who God is...great, merciful, faithful, righteous, close, protective. This is why we can wait, this is how we can wait, because we know the goodness of the God on whom we wait. He will give you what you need at just the right time.
Loren Thornburg
Immediately and instantly we have access and answers to so many things. We don’t have to wait. We can find information online in minutes, email a friend with the click of a button, and have hot food ready to eat in seconds. It’s all right there, right away, no waiting required. Not like it used to be without access to so much information, waiting weeks for a letter reply, and our only option for hot food was time spent over the stove. Although the time-savers are helpful they also create a sense that all things should happen at microwave speed. The problem is when there are things that require time, waiting and patience. We don’t know what to do it with it because we aren’t used to waiting. The healing we want, the dreams we have, the areas we want to grow in, these things take time that can’t be sped up by any technological device. It can’t be microwaved. These things take time lasting longer than we want. Yet, if we are willing to accept the suffering we will be invited to the joy that comes afterwards. Don’t give up...it needs more time.
“All eyes look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time.”
Psalm 145:15 HCSB
David is recounting the many reasons to praise the Lord: His greatness, His mercy, His faithfulness, His righteousness, His closeness, His protection. In the middle of these is the reminder that He provides at “the proper time.” That means God is always on time. Now I can’t say that I always agree with God’s timing in the midst of waiting. He often seems a little slow or behind schedule until I see the fullness of what happens in the waiting. For with God He is never off the job and He is never wasting time in your waiting. He is always up to something, preparing you, growing you, shaping you in the waiting. In order to let the waiting have it’s fullness in us we have to remember the fullness of who God is...great, merciful, faithful, righteous, close, protective. This is why we can wait, this is how we can wait, because we know the goodness of the God on whom we wait. He will give you what you need at just the right time.
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