Living in the Peace Zone: Hebrews 12:2

Showing posts with label Hebrews 12:2. Show all posts

Monday, October 21, 2019

Harvest Time Up Ahead -- Keep Doing Good!

This blog inspiration is brought to us today by our good friend and mentor, St. Paul. His words are filled with hope for those of us who have been on the "do-good" tractor -- planting and planting, and we've been wondering if it has been worth it. Oh, but then comes Paul's firey voice cheering us on: "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." (Galatians 6:9)

It has been a tough row to hoe (speaking in planting and reaping terms) the last few years. Maybe you've gritted your teeth to stay kind and to bear it all. Or, you shut your eyes and put ear plugs in to deafen the harshness of the loud voices of the enemy. You may read these words and relate them to stuff going on in your family, or you may relate them to what's outside. Stones have been cast and angry voices raised. Hit and run proclamations. But we are still standing, somewhat stunned, but we're still here. We must not be done. It’s in times like these that retreat sounds so safe. Let’s go home, lock the doors, bar the windows and disconnect the doorbell. Gather up our stockpiled faith and ration out just enough to survive. It seems tempting to safeguard our hearts by taking them right out and sticking them in a steel encased safe. Then forget the combination.

But, then, our tried, tested and proven faith warrior friend, St. Paul -- who suffered great physical pain, was imprisoned, shipwrecked, mocked and beaten for his faith -- speaks again as a challenge and invitation: “Let us not grow weary of doing good." These words bring tears to my eyes, a lump to my throat. It's in this deeper, invisible place that sees the best in people, that reaches out in love, that keeps believing folks can change. This sort of hope has taken a beating lately. And as I type this blog, I talk to God about it and He replies "I understand."

I realize, He does. More than I can know, more than any of us comprehend. He knows what it is to love and love. To extend yourself so far that you are....oh, stretched out on a cross. Then we hear the words of St. Paul again: "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2) Fixing our eyes on Jesus changes everything. Consider the perfect Man who endured such opposition from sinful men. Perhaps we are so disillusioned these days because we have been looking at each other. And we, mere humans, always fall short. We disappoint. We cave. But not Jesus.

So, we suit up and we keep doing good -- like Jesus. He is the reason we can stay in the race. Take the next step. Keep going. Keep believing. Most of all, keep loving. Not locked away, but the safest place for our hearts is entrusting them to the One who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. The One who does not grow weary. The One who, in the middle of all the noise and chaos and even danger, will never allow our hearts to be lost. So what do we do? We keep doing good -- harvest time is up ahead. I'm getting the biggest John Deere tractor I can find -- I'll need it because I'm not quitting. I'm going to love even more and expecting to reap a mammoth harvest! Care to borrow my tractor?

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Fine-Tuning Our Focus

From mid-June until now, I've been focused on VBS kiddos, then I hopped right into focus on 4-legged kiddos at my children’s place then to my 2-legged grand-kiddos at my home, back to focus on my children in Austin, and now back home to the two 4-legged furry kiddos of my Frisco family while they’re away. Whew! FOCUS – can sometimes be draining. Being responsible for the care and well-being of others and focusing on their needs keeps us from focusing on our own needs. I get it. We love focusing on our loved ones…..because, well…..we love them. We are wholly devoted to them. But, giving our full attention to something, somethings, and “someones” means taking the FOCUS off of ourselves.

Why is ME-focus important? I refer again to Jesus’ words in establishing “FOCUS” priorities: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:37-39. Focus priorities look like this: Love God. Love yourself. Love others. The fact is – unless we care about WHO is most important, we can never love others to the capacity that God intended for us. We become better parents, employers, employees, friends, neighbors and leaders when our FOCUS starts with God and ourselves. So, I’ll admit I’m ready for some God and me-focus.

I have some friends who have asked me for some one-on-one time. I have had to put them off while I was focused on the care of others. And, now, before I can give them the quality and Spirit-led counsel they need – I MUST focus on “loving the Lord with all my heart, soul and mind” which means spending time with Him to get me loving me enough to love them enough to give them Godly wisdom for their lives.

I loved having those special times caring for others. It feels my “love tank” so full. I’ve heard of week-long get-away places where people will go to a health and fitness boot camp to FOCUS on a road to lifestyle and body transformation. Then there are couple boot camps where they go to FOCUS on each other to revitalize and renew their love and marriage. It’s important to stop the struggles and wandering and wondering to FOCUS on what’s most important in our lives.

So, now, I’m back to my little world of God and me – I get to FOCUS on what and WHO keeps me stable, unshakable, and centered. My relationship with God. With all the distractions that we are consumed by, can we possibly imagine how much God wants one-on-one “you and me” time with us – where He is the center of our attention? And when He’s the center of our attention, our FOCUS is fine-tuned on what’s good and lovely and the question about whether we do what He wants or not is easy because we will focus on what He focuses on.

This is fine-tuned FOCUS: “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3). By fine-tuning our focus, we’ll always “focus on God first” Who is near to us, strengthens us, and gives us wisdom and Godly perspective to persevere through life. That FOCUS will help us focus on everything and everyone else with His perspective, His love, and His wisdom.

Hebrews 12:2 -- “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith….”

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

"I'm Getting ENGAGED in 2018!"

I heard someone say that, and I thought "So am I". Hers meant making a commitment to getting married. Mine meant I'm purposing to be less distracted and more on-purpose to give my full attention to those I encounter. It's looking into someone's eyes when they speak to me -- giving them my undivided attention. I want to be ENGAGED and present in a family game watching a movie together, going to church together, or simply enjoying a meal together without interruption.

My word for today is obviously: ENGAGED -- which means capture attention, grip, captivate, absorb, pledge, contract, promise, agree, bind oneself, interlock, unite.

Have you ever "ENGAGED" someone in conversation, only to see them looking away or looking at their watch or phone? How did it make you feel? On the other hand, was it you that someone was speaking to, and you didn't seem to care about what they were saying by your body language?

While I want to do better in being ENGAGED and in the moment this year, I want to be "ENGAGED" in listening for God's voice and cultivating my relationship with Him as though I were ENGAGED to marry someone. When my sweetheart and I were engaged, we spent countless hours on the phone. We couldn't get enough of "talking and sharing" with each other. He was ALWAYS on my mind. My focus was on him -- morning, noon and night. I was ENGAGED and I acted like it in my thoughts and daily interactions with him. Remember when St. Peter had the courage to get out of the boat and walk on the water to Jesus? He did, but then his eyes looked away at his circumstances, and he nearly drowned (Matthew 14:29).

Most of all, I want to be ENGAGED in my walk with God -- seeing Him everywhere I turn, keeping my eyes on Him, and listening for His voice. When I do that, I will see, hear and know the path to walk in. He is THAT important to me.

In dog obedience training, they put a dog at one end of a room and its master at the other end of the room, with a plate of food in the middle. And then the master calls the dog. If the dog eyes the food, he’s a goner; he’ll go straight for it. So they teach the dog to focus his eyes on the master. If the dog keeps his eyes on the master, he won’t be tempted. Instead of heading for the food, he’ll head straight to the master.

If we keep our eyes on our Master, we won’t be distracted. As we get our minds off our circumstances and our problems, and focus on God’s goodness, His closeness and His power will be in our present and in our future. Being fully ENGAGED with the one Who is fully ENGAGED with us.

“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.” Hebrews 12:2

Tuesday, April 4, 2017

I've Got This!

I'm still in this "wait and see" space. I'm calm on the outside, but my internal engine has gone from idling to revving. Now, we're past my original closing date by five days, and we're waiting for the insurance company to provide their cost estimates for the repairs on my soon-to-be home. I know my waiting is trivial compared to those who are waiting on the results of a medical test or the couple waiting for the phone call that says "You've been approved to adopt" or for the job offer or for that college scholarship.

Trusting in God's perfect timing is our part, because this delay is no surprise to Him. He's proven time and again that "changing my plans and my timing" is often His mode of operation. Jeremiah 29:11 is a scripture we often quote to reassure each other that God has great things in store for us "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” The words we like to emphasize in that scripture are: prosper, hope, future. But I believe the most reassuring words are those before the first comma. "FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU". It's like Him saying "I've got this. Leave the driving to Me. I know what's best, and when it's best."

We are all in need of God’s guidance in our lives—when to move forward, when to slow down, when to wait, when to say “yes” and when to say “no.” The most important thing in knowing God’s guidance is not about knowing a formula, but knowing God; not about hearing opinions, but hearing God’s voice; not about striving, but resting in God’s wise and wonderful will.

S

o I purposely affirm my faith in His PERFECT plan:
~ I don’t know the next step on the path, but I know the Guide. Psalm 32:8 "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you."
~ I don’t know the next chapter in the book of my life of faith, but I know the Author and Finisher. Hebrews 12:2 "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith..."
~ I don’t know the best decision to make, but I know the Counselor. Isaiah 9:6 "And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
~ I don’t know how the need will be met, but I know the Provider .Philippians 4:19 "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory."of his glory in Christ Jesus."
~ I know the One in whom I trust. 2 Timothy 1:12 " I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him."

With all those assurances, I'm quite confident in saying "He not only knows the plans that He has for you and me, but He will most certainly make sure those plans come to pass!"

Saturday, March 25, 2017

Keep Your Eyes on the Ball

This is a great "Dad/Son story":
“My 7-year-old son seems to have natural abilities for sports, and most recently, for baseball. I’ve taken him for batting cage practice, I throw the ball to him a lot and I go with him to his team’s practice, but I don’t really know what to tell him to do because I wasn’t a baseball player. I really did want to help him so I asked one of my “jock” friends, “What should I do to help him? My friend responded “He’s seven. You only need to tell him one thing…..”WATCH THE BALL! It works for any sport when you’re seven…..just WATCH THE BALL!” I loved that. He said “Keep your eyes on what is the most important thing….the ball. That one thought will provide the foundation he needs for any sport that he’ll play."

I remember when my sister-in-law and I took golf lessons together. We’d swing our club to hit the ball and miss it, or we’d hit the ball and it would only go about three feet. The golf pro repeatedly said to us: “Keep your eyes on the ball!” WATCH THE BALL! All three of us eventually determined that golfing probably wasn’t our sport. One, because we laughed ourselves silly when we were together, and two, because we just couldn’t keep our eyes on the ball.

I loved this second photo here of a T-Ball coach telling the adorable little boy "Keep your eye on the ball (from a YouTube video) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYcEHGx4BnA ). The little guy literally put His eye on the ball. I loved, even more, when the coach lovingly hugged the boy and showed him what he meant. I think of our Heavenly Father, when we’re focusing on all the distractions, issues, anxieties and worries of our lives, and Him taking our faces in His loving hands and saying “LOOK at ME! Watch Me! Focus on Me!”

All sports players have been taught that “Watch the Ball” principle, and now it’s a habit for them, and that’s the habit that has served them well. It’s getting all distractions out of the way and focusing their attention on “the right things”. I gave that analogy to emphasize the importance of keeping our eyes on Jesus and His Word so that we can stop the intruders of our thought life that try to come in and steal our peace and joy from us.

Hebrews 12:2 says “We must focus on Jesus, the source and goal of our faith….” When we take our eyes off Him and His Word, life will take our eyes to so many things – the wrong things – the distracting situations, people and problems. It works for successful athletes who have developed a habit of keeping their eyes on the ball. Perhaps we would be become successful and fruitful followers of Christ, if we habitually focus our attention on Him and His Word.

Twila Paris sang this song and it still blesses me and reminds me where my eyes should be focusing today:
I'm not looking behind me, at mistakes I've already made.
Hope is living inside me. I believe that my debts are paid.
Trusting You now, I know I can make it
I made a vow, I don't want to break it

Lord, I'm keeping my eyes on You, following You, following You.
My Lord, I'm keeping my eyes on You, following You,
Following You, my Lord.

Tuesday, January 12, 2016

I'm Getting Engaged in 2016

"I'm Getting Engaged in 2016!"
I heard someone say that yesterday, and I thought "So am I". Of course, hers meant making a commitment to getting married, but in my case, it's about being less distracted and more on-purpose to give my full attention to those I encounter. It's looking into someone's eyes when they speak to me -- giving them my undivided attention. My goal is to be engaged and present in a family game or watching a movie together or going to church together or sharing a moment together or just enjoying a meal together without interruption. To be engaged means capture attention, grip, captivate, absorb, pledge, contract, promise, agree, bind oneself, interlock, unite.

Have you ever "engaged" someone in conversation, only to see them looking away or looking at their watch or phone? How did it make you feel? On the other hand, was it you that someone was speaking to, and you didn't seem to care about what they were saying by your body language -- looking away?

While I want to do better in being engaged and in the moment this year, I want to be "engaged" in listening for God's voice and cultivating my relationship with Him as though I were engaged to marry someone. When my sweetheart and I were engaged, we spent countless hours on the phone -- we couldn't get enough of "talking and sharing" with each other. He was ALWAYS on my mind. My focus was on him -- morning, noon and night. I was ENGAGED and I acted like it in my thoughts and daily interactions with him. Remember when Peter had the courage to get out of the boat and walk on the water to Jesus? He did, but then his eyes looked away at his circumstances, he almost drowned.

Most of all, I want to be ENGAGED in my walk with God -- seeing Him everywhere I turn, keeping my eyes on Him, and listening for His voice. When I do that, I will see, hear and know the path to walk in. He is THAT important to me.

In dog obedience training, they put a dog at one end of a room and its master at the other end of the room, with a plate of food in the middle. And then the master calls the dog. If the dog eyes the food, he’s a goner; he’ll go straight for it. So they teach the dog to focus his eyes on the master. If the dog keeps his eyes on the master, he won’t be tempted. Instead of heading for the food, he’ll head straight to the master.

We need to keep our eyes on our Master or we, too, will get distracted. We need to get our minds off our circumstances and our problems, and focus on God’s goodness, His closeness to us in our present and His power to help us in our future

“Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end.” Hebrews 12:2

Search This Blog