The Cost

“Everything comes at a cost.  So then, in everything we must ask,  ‘What is the cost and is it worth it?’”

Loren Thornburg

It’s easy to recognize the cost of something monetarily.  Yet, have we considered the greater cost that everything has in our life?  Cost is defined as the price, sacrifice or loss required to acquire, accomplish or maintain anything.   Every dream, desire, goal, and decision comes at a price, both good and bad.  There is even a cost in the things we believe.  The one who believes they have nothing to will sacrifice the pleasure of being valued.  It costs them peace and joy to believe that is true.  Often the costs are worth it, but other times we don’t realize the things we are sacrificing.  Although, we can’t always know what the costs will be, we would be wise to consider them.    

“They traded the truth about God for a lie.  So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator Himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”

Romans 1:25 NLT

Jesus knows all about counting the costs and invites us to do the same. He counted what it would cost to die and bear the weight of our sins and decided that relationship with you and I was worth the sacrifice.  He counted many other costs along the way.  In the desert it wasn’t worth believing the temptations and lies from the enemy because He knew what that would cost him.  He knew that He would be trading in truth if He believed the lies.  When we believe the lies of the enemy we sacrifice experiencing all of the abundant life that our Father wants to give.  This is what Paul is talking about here in Romans.  The people of Rome were experiencing the cost of trading truth for lies.  Each lie comes with a price, starting with joy and peace and continuing to relationship, intimacy, health, abundant life, and so much more.  So we must ask ourselves what are our lies costing us and is it worth it? 

Process of Progress

“In order to progress you must accept the process.”

Loren Thornburg

We all want progress but very few want the process it takes to get there.  The process is the road between where you are now and where you want to be.  Unfortunately, for most things it is not as fast as we would like.  I recently climbed “the incline,” a famous vertical in Colorado Springs.  In just under a mile you climb 2000 steps and 2000 feet of elevation.  When you look up you can’t even see the top of the climb.  It seems never ending and yet when you keep taking one more step you eventually arrive at the top.  As you keep taking steps you look back and you realize how far you have come.  I am encouraged when I do this in my own life, looking back to how far I’ve come in the last year.  When I see the ways I’ve changed and grown it encourages me to keep moving forward.  I couldn’t see them in the midst of the slow process, but now looking back I can see.  Just as the incline didn’t seem like each step was getting me very far so it doesn’t in my life.  Yet, I made it to the top and so I will keep stepping in life knowing it is getting me closer to where I want to be.  

“We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It’s not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow. Planting and watering are menial servant jobs at minimum wages. What makes them worth doing is the God we are serving. You happen to be God’s field in which we are working.”

1 Corinthians 3:5-9 Message

I wish every process was as short as climbing the incline.  Often the process seems so long it’s hard to celebrate any level of progress.  The pain of the climb becomes too much and too hard to continue to endure.  Yet, it is God that makes it worth it.  With Him it’s not about the progress we are working towards, but about serving Him.  He measures our climbs so much differently than we do.  You are in search of progress and He is in search of you.  You are the progress and your heart is the goal, much more than any destination you are searching to reach.  So keep climbing, keep working, and keep looking back; but look to Him rather than your process to determine your progress.  He is at the center of this process and He is what makes it worth continuing.  It’s not how far you’ve come or how far you can go, but Who you go with and Who goes with you.  Whatever your climb, enjoy the One who goes with you and makes it all worth it.  

Small Matters

“It doesn’t look like much, but it matters;

It doesn’t seem significant, but it will be;

It doesn’t appear of much value, but just wait;

For in time ALL the small things matter.”
Loren Thornburg

It’s about an inch long and a few centimeters wide, but when this clamp rusted off the back of the fridge a slow drip of water began.  You couldn’t see it or hear it, but over time you couldn’t miss the leak that soaked the closet behind the connecting wall.  Three weeks later after hours of fans, days of work, and hundreds of dollars the house was restored.   It’s hard to believe that something so small caused something so damaging.  Yet, isn’t this how much of life operates both for building up and tearing down? The small things matter because they don’t stay small.  They grow over time in whichever direction they began, starting with one small step.  I find encouragement in knowing that the dream that seems impossible to reach is attainable over time starting with movement, however small in that direction.  I also find caution in knowing that damage begins with just one little thing.  What I thought wasn’t a big deal or didn’t matter because it was insignificant in size, does in fact make a difference.  We must attend to the small things.  What are your small things?

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field.  It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

Matthew 13: 31-32 NLT

Jesus cares about the little things.  The message of this parable is in the smallness of a seed that is to all appearances insignificant, yet grows into something much larger than expected or seemingly possible. The invitation of Jesus, to believe and follow Him seems simple and small, yet when we really trust in Christ it is revolutionary and transforming.  His life in us brings about the most unexpected and radical change in our lives.  Mustard plants, are not trees, but are yellow-flowered bushes that paint the hillsides.  However, Jesus wants you to know that He can take your smallness and grow it into more than you thought possible.  A lowly plant becomes a tree of power and authority in the hands of Jesus.  So let us be content with small seeds and small steps, trusting Jesus, knowing that He can grow us into something seemingly impossible, full of life and beauty.  

(Some of these facts and thoughts are taken from www.RayStedman.org)

Return to Rest

“Our lives get loud.  Our days get noisy.  Make space for quiet.”

Loren Thornburg

Personal retreats are my new favorite tradition.  I don’t realize how loud my life gets and how tired I am until I step away from all of the noise that is my life.  There is something about getting out of my normal environment away from distractions that brings a peace I didn’t know I needed.  These retreats often begin with a nice long nap.  It’s the nap that tells me I’ve been really tired and I was too busy to realize it.  In addition to lots of rest I also read and remember.  I love to look back over the last year and see where I was and how I’ve changed.  The reading, resting and remembering brings the refreshment I need.  The trick is making space for time away.  Whether it’s a few hours or a few days, it’s hard to do.  You have to plan around it or something else will get planned.  Our lives get loud.  Our days get noisy.  Make space for quiet.  

“...Relax and rest. God has showered you with blessings.  Soul, you’ve been rescued from death; Eye, you’ve been rescued from tears;  And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling.”

Psalm 116:7 Message

I love this invitation to rest and remember.  As we rest in who God is and all that He has done refreshment is sure to follow.  Our culture places such a value on doing and productivity that we miss this invitation and decide it’s not as valuable as the invitation to be busy.  Being idle is often viewed as a waste of time, yet God asks us to rest.  David gives us an example of what that looks like here in the Psalm.  He is intentional to remember the blessings of God.  You’ve been rescued from death, tears and stumbling.  Rest in the ways God has showered you with blessings.  Relax in Him, your Father, who takes such good care of you.  He is inviting you to rest.  He calls you to remember.  Let’s follow David and take time away to relax and rest with the Lord.  How have you been rescued and blessed?

Celebrating Change

“Change brings much sadness, but it is also change that brings much joy and reason to celebrate.”

Loren Thornburg

I’ve been going to Southeast Asia for 6 years now.  Lots of things have changed in 6 years.  As I look at this country I celebrate and grieve the changes I see.  I celebrate the openness that is happening for it allows foreigners like me into places we once couldn’t go.  Yet, I grieve the advancements that are making this place look more like the rest of the world.  As I look at my life I am thankful for changes.  Changes have allowed me to mature, become more content, and be more of me.  Yet I grieve the part of change that means less time with people I love.  In an ever changing world we can only expect an ever changing life.  With an ever changing life I can only hope to be a part of the change that brings celebrating.  Change is inevitable.  So if you can’t avoid it join with it.  Find the change that brings reason to celebrate.  Be the change that brings more reason to celebrate.  

"God is not man, one given to lies, and not a son of man changing his mind. Does he speak and not do what he says? Does he promise and not come through?”

Numbers 23:19 Message

God doesn’t change.  His person doesn’t change, His reliability doesn’t change, His promises don’t change, and His love for You doesn’t change.  Nothing about what is true of Him changes.  No, not ever will He change. He is committed to change while remaining unchanging.  He is committed to bring the change in me that brings me to Him and that makes all the difference.  That makes me able to endure all the changes around me.  It reminds me of the picture that one man on a rock can save many who are drowning.  He is the one on the rock that saves.  He saved me and keeps saving me.  He came to save you and to keep saving you.  So whatever change seems to be taking you away you can reach out your hand to the One who never changes.  His word never changes and nothing you can do can change His mind about you.  He loves you.  Let Him be the change in you that brings the change to others.  He is the change that saves.  

Trials Promised

“No one said it would be easy, but no one said we had to go it alone either.”

Loren Thornburg

As I get ready to go on another overseas trip I am reminded that it is not an easy process.  It never has been and yet somehow I keep wanting it to be.  Yet, it’s not just these trips that I find that to be the case.  It’s most things.  I want life to be easy, to be ideal, to be comfortable.  The reality and the truth is that it is not these things most of the time.  Sometimes we have seasons and moments where the ideal comes to be and things fall into place with ease and comfort.  More than those sometimes, most of the time, life brings less than ideal.  It brings trials, frustrations, and distresses.  So the trick is learning to accept that and make the most of it.  I have found one of the best ways to make the most of it is in good company.  We may have to go through trials but we don’t have to go them alone.  So join in as others walk it out and let others walk with you.  It may not be easy but it can be a bit easier.  So expect trials, accept trials, and join in trials.  

“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace and confidence.  In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of the power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

John 16:33 Amplified

Jesus says that we will have trials.  He promises that we will have frustrations.  It’s not “if” you have them but “when” you have them.  It’s not a possibility, but a guarantee.  Yet, that is not the only guarantee we have.  He has promised to overcome the world.  He is why we can have peace and confidence in the midst of whatever trial that comes our way.  He is with us.  He is our peace.  We may have distresses in our midst but we have Someone bigger in our midst as well.  Let Him show you how He wants to deprive it of the power to harm you and conquer it.  Let Him be your peace in the midst of whatever you face.  

Go Seek

Go Seek

“The more you seek, the more you find.”

Loren Thornburg

In the game of hide and seek you won’t find anyone unless you go seeking.  What I have found is that I too don’t find much unless I seek for it.  I have been writing devotions for many years.  The surprising thing is that it’s not the norm that I have a burning inspiration of what I want to write about when I sit down to write.  Every now and then I sit down with a thought I want to share, but most of the time I sit down and start seeking what to write and what I find is a thought I want to share.  It’s after I stop and think about what’s been going on and what I’ve been learning that I find something.  It’s in the habit of knowing I am going to write something each week that I am seeking for it throughout the week.  So it is with other things.  The more we are in the habit of seeking, of stopping, of looking; the more we will be in the habit of seeing and finding. 

““When you come looking for me, you’ll find me.

“Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” God’s Decree.

“I’ll turn things around for you. I’ll bring you back from all the countries into which I drove you”—God’s Decree—“bring you home to the place from which I sent you off into exile. You can count on it.”

Jeremiah 29:13-14 Message

God is not trying to be an expert hider like in the game of hide and seek.  He wants to be found.  He is not hiding from us as much as it may seem at times.  He promises that when we seek after Him we won’t be disappointed.  This seeking is an intentional, all out, settle for nothing less, than finding Him kind of seeking.  Not because He wants to exhaust you, but rather He knows it’s in this all out search where you will stop at nothing short of Him that you find what you need...trust in Him.  He loves you so much and knows how much you are in need of Him.  What you will find in seeking Him is that He was actually seeking you the whole time, pursuing you, drawing you to Him.  His love and pursuit never runs out on you.  That’s worth the search, no matter what it takes.