 Over the years, there have been several things that have stuck in my mind from the pages of God's word. One of them is the word fervent. It is used several places in the NASB translation, and I am always blessed when I see it used in the lives of people.
It's a concept I think we can always use a little more of in our lives. The intended idea of fervent in the Greek is one of stretching out to a maximum limit and an intention that is without ceasing. The ultimate example of this can be found in Luke 22:44, "And being in agony He (Jesus) was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground." Let me ask you... when was the last time any of us prayed so fervently that we even perspired, let alone sweat so profusely that it dripped to the ground like blood running off our heads?!? Fervent comes up only a few other places in the New Testament and one of them is in my favorite passage in the Bible: Romans 12:9-21. Verse 11 says, "not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord;" The thought here is to be continually seeking to serve God from a place of perpetual/constant growth in the spirit. And let us not forget that the context for this verse is serving others in love. Which brings me to my last reference today. 1 Peter 1:22, " Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again not of a seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God. (verse 23 added for emphasis)" Love is one of our greatest assets and we should desire to use it maximally in every facet of our day. May we be a people who seek to live out our fervent spiritual life - seeking ways to live it out maximally, rather than figuring out what the minimum is that we could get away with and still be considered righteous. May we be a people who stretch out and fervently love others as Jesus did on the cross. Grace, Opportunity, Dignity This morning brought me to thinking about my prayer life, again. In a recent post I pondered and tried to wrap my head around addressing the Lord in prayer and making prayer time more than using His name just as a pronouncement to begin a laundry list of physical ailments, money concerns, etc.
Today, I would like to address those prayer concerns that deal with everyday life that we all come up with. Of course God cares about them and He wants us to talk to Him about those them. However, in our culture, I think we are missing the boat (for the most part) when it comes to these things. Having been in prayer groups all across the country, I think I can confidently say that as a whole, we don't generally pray for the character of the people in those situations. {Which makes the HUGE assumption that we are praying for others and that we are offering to others personal prayer requests that have to do with our own lives. But that is another post for another time} The following is a list of character qualities, in no particular order, which are cobbled together from three different places (Galatians 5 , 2 Peter 1, Romans 12), combining certain words when repeated: "Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control, Moral Excellence, Knowledge, Perseverance, Godliness, Humility, Hope, Wisdom, Abhorring Evil, Diligence, Fervent Spirit, Servitude, Rejoicing, Devotion to Prayer, Giving, Hospitality, Blessing Persecutors, Empathy, Unity, Being Teachable, Overcoming evil with good." It excites me to see how invigorating my prayer life becomes when character becomes the focus. When we pray for people's character, certain things happen:
 Moving into our new home has been terrific, but has also come with all sorts of things to handle on my end. Unpacking those last few boxes, a to-do list that never seems to get any shorter, back to school shopping, making new friends, meeting new people, getting poison ivy (UGH), and a dryer that quit working. To top it all off, my wife and I are now proud parents of a middle-schooler. All that to say, we've been busy.
Today however, was the first moment that I have had where a midst all the "stuff" going on, I was actually pigeon holed into an hour where I had nothing to accomplish. The porch, the rocking chair, lunch with Carla, and quiet dogs sunning themselves all made for a splendid combination that led me to my first real Dog Day of the summer. Time simply clicked by as I sat in silence and solitude. I stopped long enough to allow myself the blessing of simply saying, "Here am I, Lord," and waiting... and being... and waiting... and being... That's it. Simply waiting on the Lord. Not praying, not asking for anything, not intervening on behalf of someone. Simply letting the Holy Spirit minister to my soul in ways that I am sure I needed, but could never recognize or fully comprehend. It's a basic skill really, yet it's complicated to pull off in this day and age. How much time in the month of August have you sat alone in total silence (no music, no tv, phone is turned off, no technology beeping at you, friends are somewhere else, etc.)? What about any time you purposely set out to be alone with the Lord God Almighty? Mind you, being alone and being silent are two entirely different concepts. What about the idea of being both alone with God and being quiet before Him? For most, this is an awkward proposition. Yet, Psalm 16 ends with, "You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand." Notice where the source of knowledge, joy, and pleasure reside. Why wouldn't you want to spend time being still and listening? Seek the joy comes from simply being in His presence today.  In one week:
When you stop and think about it, it's astonishing how much can be accomplished in a week. Even with a time or two spent way too long in front of my tablet (I know... I know. Frankly, it was too hot to do anything else **excuses excuses), the amount of stuff I can get done seems staggering compared to when I let technology, and it's false sense of connection, dictate my time throughout the day. Honestly, I don't know how far along the house would be packed for our upcoming move, if I hadn't set the technology down beforehand.
I am reminded of Christ's last week on Earth. 1 week, 1 death, 1 resurrection, 1 atonement. "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me." -Jesus (John 14:6) I am drawn to this account thanks to John 20:30 where John records that Jesus did so much more that isn't recorded, but what is recorded is for our benefit so that you might believe that Christ is the Messiah. Read about His last few days on Earth that John does record in the book of John chapters 12-20. Now, I am going to go do some more sorting and packing. Later on, I may even start shooting a board game tutorial video if I have the determination. (Running the Ritz to Roxy 5k shortly after eating fajitas has me pretty worn out) Check out our other Game Reviews! OH... and In One Week: We will be in Ohio I've been thinking of warfare lately. The spiritual battlefront is rife with imagery, but we mustn't think that is all it is (imagery). It is real and constant in all of our lives. It all starts with the war that rages in our hearts before we come to understand that Jesus is Lord. A song performed by Chris Tomlin at Passion 2012, White Flag, speaks to this directly: It is a wonderful picture in helping understand that whether you know Christ or not, you are involved in a spiritual battle for your soul. And when you finally put your offensive weapons against our Lord down and raise the flag of surrender, your war with Him is over. A time of peace with God commences and Christians, the world over, rejoice in having you as a spiritual brother or sister. However, we mustn't be mistaken in thinking that "the war is over." Your war with God is over, but you haven't left the battlefield. Now you must take up your new weaponry, turn around, and begin to fight your new enemy- the one you just defected from: your flesh and its counterpart- Satan. Like it or not, we are engaged in spiritual warfare, constantly, and it will not end until Christ returns. Make War, by Tedashii (featuring John Piper), speaks to this: Christianity isn't easy to live out. Anyone proclaiming different simply hasn't read the Bible. Allow this to be our encouragement to stop sitting outside the ring, tape-up our knuckles, and go to work ("against lust, against pride, against me, 'til I die!"). Let us be active combatants in our faith, rather than just the punching dummy in the corner.
Links to John Piper's related messages:
 So one of the things I am asked when people hear about my setting aside time on the internet is, "What are you doing with your extra time?" Among other things, I have committed to losing the 20 or so pounds I've gained since getting married 14 years ago to my lovely bride. And for me, part of that regimen is running. So today, I ran my first 5k! (1 Corinthians 9, Hebrews 12, and 2 Timothy 4 have NOT been used in the making of this blog.)
The Ritz to Roxy 5K. Today (its inaugural running), I ran it in 30 minutes! It's a small-ish event: no registration, no giveaway t-shirts, no meals, the last 100 yards are up a steep incline, there is no line to cross at the end, and there are not that many runners really (just me actually). Just like anything, I find it helpful to be goal oriented with this type of stuff. Now, I can already hear some of you out there, "Run just for the fun of it," or "Just Do It." Well, my response to that is even Jesus was intentional about His purpose: Mark 1:38 Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” So for me, my initial goal with running was to run a 5K. So, I pulled up Google Maps and figured out a route from my house. The half way point turned out to be our local movie theater, the Roxy. I got up off the couch (quite literally- I spent the majority of yesterday there) and ran/walked it in 30 minutes this week. My new goal is to get that down to under 25 minutes before I crank up the mileage. As I ran through my neighborhood on the return leg of my trip (about 3/4 through), the thoughts of, "Dear Sweet Jesus... when will this be over," started creeping into my mind. It was then that I recognized something I hadn't thought of before. In the past when I would go for a run, it was to some ambiguous destination to run some undetermined amount of laps. At the Ritz to Roxy 5K, the destination is my home with my lovely bride and my awesome kid. I was running home to my loved ones and this gave me more than enough energy to make it up that ridiculous ending hill. Malachi 2 says that we should not be unfaithful to our wives, but I think the real implication there is that we should enjoy being with them! So for me, running isn't some aspect of racing to some nondescript point on the pavement, but rather a getting back to my family. I know some of you out there run to get some peace and quiet away from the house. This isn't a bad thing, but the real challenge is how to change your home dynamic to make it a place you want to run back to. In the comments, feel free to give us your personal best physical activity... running, cycling, swimming, etc. And feel free to come join me on the next running of the Ritz to Roxy 5K (email me for more details), or better yet... figure out your own so you can run to your own home. Recently, I had the distinct pleasure to perform my very first wedding for two students from within our ministry. After all the excitement was over with, I got in the car for the 3 hour drive home. My wife, Carla, had recently hurt herself, so she wasn't along with me and neither was my son, Tim. So with some time to myself, my mind began to wander.
I thought back to the ceremony and the prayer I had spoken over the two of them- that their marriage would be filled with love and service to the world around them. Having known the two students for several years, I am confident that this will be the case. They will be overt in their Christianity within whatever community the Lord will lead them to. They have no qualms serving other people and sharing their faith in Christ and speaking scripture into the lives of the people around them as they do so (in appropriate ways). Which got me onto my original train of thought: the difference between Overt and Covert Christianity is something you can "C". Many times, we pastors have a struggle on our hands getting people to move from a more covert to overt faith. As I drove down the highway, I thought of several people that I wish would make a change in their faith from always being in the closet in secrecy to having their light shine like a city on a hill. I was reminded of the tension that exists with these two extremes that Christians can, and do, run to at times. In the book of Matthew 5:13-16, Christ outlines the fact that Christians should be salt and light- seasoning life and bringing the hope of Christ to the world. Your actions should be pointing people to God, and not to how good you are. If they praise you instead, they may not understand the working of the Holy Spirit in your life ("But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." - 1 Corinthians 2:14), or maybe you simply weren't apparent enough- in which case, you should probably ask for forgiveness at some point. Either way, you should take the opportunity to redirect them to Christ. We can find the other side of this coin in Matthew 6:1-6. Christ details His complaint with people who make a big deal of themselves in various ways so that the people around them will take notice. He directs them to get their private and secret lives with the Lord in order. This covert relationship with the Father is something that we pastors are always trying to get people to engage in more as well. It is my opinion that we Christians, tend to use this as an excuse as well. We retreat to an extreme form of this discipline, often never intersecting others with the gospel (in word or deed). Rather, we choose to keep matters of faith a private affair. Keep in mind, these words from Christ, are in the same sermon less than three minutes apart from the call to be like a city on a hill which cannot be hidden! These verses in chapter 6 have more to do with the attitude of the heart, "Beware praciticing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them..." We, as faithful Christians, must operate within this tension. Actually, we should not see this as a tension- not as an either/or situation. Rather, we should recognize this as a both/and scenario, each overlapping the other. We must be striking out to serve the world around us with an abundance of Christ's love from a place of humility which comes from understanding the grace that has been extended to us by spending secret time with the One who lives in our hearts. The difference between Overt and Covert Christianity is being able to "C" our time spent in secret being poured into the lives and relationships around us. |
Jason RitzServing through love and laughter is a great way to live. Categories
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