Month: January 2023

Are You Being Poured Out?

Are You Being Poured Out?

We live in a culture that is self-focused. The mantra today seems to be what can you do for me? Sometimes, without actually saying the words, we, by our actions, often ask the question, what’s in it for me? We regularly tell those we care about, I’m here for you. But, are we really? Societal trends have drifted away from community and moved toward self. I want what is good for me, even if it comes at the expense of others.

Let me stop for a minute and say that in my opinion, self-care is different than self-centeredness. Self-care isn’t done with the intent to harm others. Self-care is replenishing my resources without depleting yours, whereas self-centeredness adds to me and subtracts from you. Self-care enables me to give myself away. A self-centered me only attitude is only concerned about me, and instead of giving myself away, I end up giving to me and taking away from you. I also believe that self-care includes others but self-centered ultimately excludes others.

The Bible paints a very different picture than the societal me-first attitude. Just as Jesus poured himself out for us, we are to pour ourselves out to and for others. We are told in Philippians 2:7 that Jesus, who was fully God with all the divine privileges, gave up those privileges, and emptied (poured) himself out for us. When he instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said this, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27b-28).

The apostle Paul, in both Philippians 2:17 and 2 Timothy 4:6, tells his readers that he himself is being poured out as a drink offering. Paul is willing to give himself away, at a cost to him personally, for the benefit of others. Here is what we read in Philippians 2:17, “But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”

You might be asking, what is a drink offering? In the Old Testament, a drink offering was an offering of wine that was poured out on the altar as part of the sacrifices of burnt offerings (atonement) and grain offerings (recognition of God’s provision). The first recorded drink offering is found in Genesis 35:14, after God changes Jacob’s name to Israel – “And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it and poured oil on it.”  On the cross, Jesus’ sacrifice fulfilled the need for a drink offering; his blood literally spilled out when the solider pierced his side with a spear (John 19:34).

Just as Jesus poured himself out for us, and just as Paul considered his service to the world as being poured out, we too are called to be poured out sacrificially for the good of others. I ask you and me today this question – are we willing to be poured out, even to the point of being used up, not seeking to be served, but rather, to serve those around us?   

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Overcome?

Overcome?

Have you ever been overcome? Overcome with joy? Overcome with guilt? Overcome with fear? Overcome is used in several different ways. It could mean, to succeed in dealing with a problem that that previously prevented you from achieving something. He finally overcame his fear of flying. Overcome might also mean overwhelmed. She was overcome by exhaustion. Both of those usages are in the transitive verb form, meaning they require a direct object. The intransitive verb form (no direct object), can mean to defeat (another in competition), prevail over, or the usage I want to look at today – to overpower, as with emotion; affect deeply.

Have you ever been in someone’s presence and been completely overcome? Maybe interchange overcome with overwhelmed. Simply being in their presence overpowered you, it affected you deeply, maybe to the point of effectively paralyzing you. You simply stood there, sat there, in awe, not able to do and say anything. I can say that I was overcome on my wedding day, my first glance at my soon-to-be-bride. Her stunning beauty absolutely captivated me. Can you think of a time in which you were completely overcome, overwhelmed?

Now let me ask you this – have you ever been overcome by the presence of the Lord? When Solomon dedicated the temple, the people celebrated, brought the ark of the covenant to the temple, offered sacrifices (too many to count), priests consecrated the people, and the singers adorned in the finest of linens made loud music. They praised and worshipped God. Then something surprising happened. The temple was filled with a cloud, and we read this – “The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the LORD filled the Temple of God” (2 Chronicles 5:14). I encourage to the read this verse in its context. To do so, click here.

Moses, when encountering Yahweh at the burning bush, hid his face. Imagine yourself, going about your normal daily routine, when suddenly, God speaks to you. And not just speaks, but from bush. A bush that is on fire. A bush that is on fire but is not consumed in the fire. Like Moses, I would certainly be overcome, overwhelmed. How about you?

I believe in both cases I just mentioned, in the temple and at the burning bush, God’s presence was strong, it was extreme, his presence and his glory, completely overwhelming. And in both cases, God’s presence was so overwhelming, the people so overcome, that their activity stopped.

Have you ever been overwhelmed with the Glory, the presence, of God. So overwhelmed, so overcome, that at that moment your highest form of worship was to do nothing and simply soak in his presence? Are you hungry for more of the Holy Spirit, who ushers us into God’s presence? Are you longing to be overcome by the presence of God? You do not need to be in the temple or at a burning bush. You can experience the presence of the Lord right where you are, right now.

As you wrap up reading this writing, I now encourage you to find a quiet place, unplug for a few minutes, settle and center your soul. Invite more of the Spirit to come flood your space (Come, Holy Spirit), ask for the Lord’s presence, sit and wait. If you don’t feel anything this time, keep inviting, keep seeking, keep asking. Tomorrow. The day after that. And the day after that. God promises to be close to those who are close to Him (Psalm 145:18). If music speaks to you, click here.  

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Long Lasting Relief

Long Lasting Relief

I think you will agree that life in the 21st-century is stressful. Hardly a day goes by where we don’t feel the weight of the world on our shoulders for some reason or another. Some of the major causes of stress can be biological, environmental, external, financial, relational, and yes even, imaginary (all those “what ifs”). If enough, or certain types of, stressors press in on us, physical, psychological, or emotional conditions often sometimes occur. Think of that headache you got after a very challenging and stressful day at work or school.  

After another long and tiring day, we all have ways to unload and unwind. For some it is exercising at the gym or heading out on a good five-mile run. For others it might be a glass of wine and a good book while soaking in the bathtub. Or for you, maybe walking on the beach, feeling the ocean’s water lap at your feet, works wonders. I have a pig stress ball that I keep at my desk. There are other times when some type of medication is needed to manage or alleviate the stress or pain.  

Sometimes the best stress reliever is to simply sit quietly and meditate, trying to relax and empty or re-focus your mind. Today I want to look at another kind of meditation, one that is not engaged in to “empty” us, but rather to “fill” us. When you read the Bible, you should meditate upon the words you’ve just read, asking God to transform your mind and heart through His Word, and in the process, He is “filling” you with more of Him, and thus, that means less of you.

To meditate is “to muse.” (I purposely named my blog Deep Water Musings.) The words music and muse are related, both originating from the same root word. Music often goes deep, soothing your soul. To muse, to meditate, does the same thing, penetrating deep into your soul, helping to calm and center your spirit.   

The first five verses of Psalm 103 give us a good model for working God’s Word into our own hearts and minds. In verse 1, David speaks directly to his own heart when he says, “Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.” Here David is speaking directly to himself through inward dialogue.

In verse 2, we again see David speaking to himself, reminding his own heart of God’s goodness. We read, “Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”

And then in verses 3-5, he begins to list all the ways that God is good to us, each and every human being on the planet.

v.3 – who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases,

v.4 – who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

v.5 – who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The psalm goes on to list more of the attributes and activities of God, all for the benefit of His children. I encourage you to read Psalm 103 in its entirety. 

Most everything we do to manage stress, while often effective, is usually only temporary, whereas there really is no better permanent and lasting stress reliever, not a one, than faith in God.

So, make it a priority to spend time every day meditating upon God’s Word, helping you enter into His presence. There is no better long lasting relief!

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The Fragrance Invites You In

The Fragrance Invites You In

If you are like me, you walk by a flower and do what? You smell it, right! Who doesn’t enjoy lovely floral scents? Do you know that flowers need to attract hummingbirds, bats, bees, butterflies, and other insects to transfer pollen to other flowers, thus creating fertilization?

Flowers have a fragrance to attract pollinators. A flower produces scent within its petals. During warm weather, the essential oils contained within the petals evaporates, producing the flower’s unique scent. This fragrance alerts the pollinators that the flower is ready to be pollinated. Some flowers emit their fragrance during the day while others do so at nighttime. The scent is the strongest when the flower is ready for pollination and diminishes as the need for pollination declines. Most flowers produce a delightful fragrance, others can be musky or spicy, while others rancid, and still others actually have no scent at all.

I enjoy the scent of most flowers. Some of my favorite smelling flowers are hyacinth, gardenias, and roses. Sometimes seeing and smelling certain floral scents stirs up evocative feelings, emotions, or memories. Just seeing a brightly colored butterfly perched upon a pink flower on a beautiful summer day brings a sense of calmness and peacefulness.

The strong scent of a hyacinth at Easter takes me back to my childhood, as my mother always had one on our dining room table during that holiday. The smell of a rose simply invites love. In our culture we often use the phrase “Stop and smell the roses” as a reminder to slow down and enjoy and appreciate the beauty of life, to stop and allow the sweet fragrance of life to permeate into our souls.

In Scripture we are told that we are to be the sweet fragrance of Jesus. In 2 Corinthians 2:15-16 we read – “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?”

In that passage, I believe Paul is likely pointing to Roman victory parades, in which incense was burned as a way for the Romans to let everyone know that they had been victorious. To the victors, the smell was pleasing; it represented freedom and life. However, for those who had been defeated, the smell was unpleasant, because it represented captivity and death.

The idea that this pleasing aroma affects both “those who are being saved” and “those who are perishing” is interesting to me. In my understanding of that passage, similar to the Roman victory march, for those of us who call ourselves Christ-followers, this pleasing aroma, a heavenly scent if you will, reminds us that despite our sinfulness, because of Christ’s death on the Cross, we have conquered death (victory) and are made alive with Him (Ephesians 2:4-6). On the contrary, for those dead in their sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) and far from God, I believe this pleasing aroma reminds them of that deadness, increasing an awareness of the need for Christ to remove the chains of death, captivity, and bondage to Satan.            

So, today I ask, are you giving off a sweet heavenly fragrance? Or, do you smell a fragrance that is drawing you in? Either way, ask God for more of it!  

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A Clean Heart and Right Spirit

A Clean Heart and Right Spirit

We are an artificial society. Not only do we pretend in our relationships, always putting on our Sunday best to hide our flaws, we see artificial things all around us. Think about that little dish on restaurant tables. What does it contain? Various colored packets of artificial sweeteners, all intended to replace real sugar. The science of artificial intelligence has grown exponentially as computers are now capable of performing complex tasks that once required human (natural) intelligence to perform.

In addition to artificial, the world is full of fakes as well. That “Rolex” watch the street vendor flashes you from under his jacket lapel, odds are in is fake. Same for that Gucci or Louis Vuitton handbag. Before pictures were on driver’s licenses, many young people had fake identification cards, so I’m told, hoping to be allowed to buy or consume alcohol before they reached the legal drinking age. A limb prosthesis is an artificial limb. And these days we seemingly have two kinds of news – real and fake.

Fake is seen as not genuine. Counterfeit. Forgery. On the other hand, artificial is made to imitate what is natural. While artificial is not always bad, it is usually marketed as “better than the original.” Rarely though is artificial better than what is natural, genuine, or original. Easier maybe, but rarely better. More visually appealing, possibly, but better, that is debatable.

Not only do we live in an artificial society, but we are also sometimes artificial people. It is human nature to want to look good to those around us. While we once only saw ourselves briefly in the mirror, while brushing our teeth or washing our hands, we now stare at ourselves for hours on end while in virtual meetings, from endless selfies, and based upon the boom in cosmetic surgeries, many people do not like who they see. Somehow, looking better is equated with feeling better. Usually however just an artificial and temporary feeling better because nothing of substance has really changed.

Cosmetic surgery, focused solely on enhancing appearance, is vastly different from plastic surgery that focuses on repairing dysfunction or reconstructing defects caused by birth disorders, trauma, burns, or disease. Cosmetic surgery is simply for aesthetic purposes while plastic surgery is reconstructive in nature.

We are artificial in that our outward appearance doesn’t always line up with our inner reality. Think back to when you asked someone out on a date for the first time. Did you “say and do all the right things,” even artificial things, in order to get that person to say yes? Just look on the social channels. By what gets posted, everyone’s life appears always better than yours. You can wash your clothes, hang them over the line to air dry, but if you put them back on over your dirty body, they don’t stay clean for very long.   

While we can often easily clean ourselves up on the outside, we cannot, due to our sinful nature, on our own, clean ourselves up on inside. Only God can do that. (Click here to read more.) We can play a part in cleaning ourselves up by the choices we make, but the power to change comes only from having a relationship with God. King David knew this to be true. After his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his ordering the murder of her husband as a coverup was exposed by a prophet name Nathan, here is what David cried out, found in Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit in me.”

Today, are you desiring to discard whatever is artificial or fake in your life and moved toward genuineness? If so, like King David, cry out to God, asking for a clean heart, one that leads to a right spirit in you. There is nothing artificial or fake about that!   

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