Joyful Lights

…and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds…  Heb 10:24

I know this verse applies in context to the church family, but I have felt very strongly that verses like these can apply just as appropriately to the nuclear family.  And, that is where my challenge lies this morning.

I have noticed something about my family lately.  There tends to be a lot more whininess than joy.  It is something we have just become desensitized to.  We just respond that way without even thinking about it.  It’s not just my kids – we all do it.  And, it is not glorifying to God!

We are the light of the world (Matt 5:14).  This is not a command to be the light of the world – it is a statement of fact that this is what we are.  What sort of light is my family shining?  How can we truly be glorifying to Christ if we are whining all the time?  In fact, Phil 2:14-15 reminds us that we do appear as lights to the world, and we have to put aside that whininess so we will be pure lights.

So, my challenge – and the challenge I will place before my family – is to consider how to stimulate one another to good deeds, and especially to stimulate one another to good attitudes.  May we become a family known for our joy and rejoicing! 

To Whom Do I Listen?

I’ve been reading in Acts about Paul’s return trip to Jerusalem as he is closing out his third missionary journey.  I remember knowing that he had been warned multiple times of the arrest awaiting him in Jerusalem, but I don’t know that I ever realized just how much warning there really was. 

I guess the biggest thing that is hitting me, especially as I have read chapters 20 and 21, is the different responses to the warnings.  Paul seems to be the only one who receives it as preparation.  Everyone else perceives it to be a warning for Paul to avoid the danger.  But, he goes with his own perspective and walks straight into his arrest in Jerusalem.

If I am honest with myself, I much confess that I don’t listen to the Spirit well.  I can’t help but think that, if I were in Paul’s shoes, I might not have gone on down to Jerusalem.  So many were saying, “Don’t go!”  I think I would have been inclined to listen to them and take their advice rather than listening directly to the Spirit.

This definitely challenges my growth.  It challenges me to greatly improve the direct lines of communication between myself and the Lord.  True, He does use His people to interact with me, but the only way I can truly know if I am hearing Him or simply the whims of others is to be in close communion with Him.  I so greatly need to grow in that communion.  Only then can I discern what He is truly guiding me to do. 

No Words

Sometimes I think that if I’m silent on here, that must mean I’m not learning.  Why?  Because I assume that if I’m being challenged, I’ll be able to articulate it clearly.  I haven’t been able to do that for a few days.  But as I look back over the last few days I can see that God is definitely working on me.  Quite intensely, to be honest.

There are some days when I can’t really define a challenge or put it into words.  But, it’s on those days that I’m reminded that my purpose for this blog is more to help me articulate my own thoughts than to really put a challenge forth for anyone else. 

So, I think my challenge for today is to learn to mull over things without being able to define them.  To learn even when the learning isn’t clear enough to put into words.  That’s hard for me.  I’m a lover of words.  They help me think.  Abstract concepts just make my head hurt.  So, I just have to trust that the Lord is going to take these abstract ideas and bring them together into something clearly defined in His own good time.  In the meantime I’m going to trust – and learn without clear words.