We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.                                                                               II Corinthians 10:5

Writing our story, or beginning the idea of expressing our journey, does several things for us. As I mentioned yesterday, writing, or other forms of expression, such as speaking to others, art, etc. are ways that we get those ideas that are in our head out to the rest of the world. In doing so, we are processing those thoughts, that is, as the Bible calls it, taking our thoughts captive. To me, that is awareness, or mindfulness – being aware that we are aware. Sounds complicated, but we do it all the time if we take just a moment to reflect on “what am I thinking right now?” “how am I feeling right now? “what is my attitude right now?”

We need to slow down our thoughts, and that is not easy. For some people, it is extremely hard, especially during the “racing thoughts” times of anxiety. There are other clinical conditions such as Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, and others, where professional help and medication may be necessary to help deal with racing thoughts. However, I am discussing today, the typical flood of thoughts that sometimes makes us feel out of control.

The habit of being aware of those thoughts, then examining them in the light of truth is important. So often, the thoughts that we have are simply not true. We are capable of a lot of irrational thinking without really realizing it as being irrational. However, negative thoughts such as “I’m worthless”; “nobody really loves me”; “everything I do fails”; or “I know today is going to be terrible”- are examples of irrational thinking.

So, we need to become aware of our current thinking, then take the thoughts captive and examine them in the light of truth. Doing something external, such as expressing those thoughts and feelings, gives us control of them. We are forced to examine those thoughts and feelings in the light of expression which takes another part of our brain to be activated.

So, we need to step back and take our thoughts captive- to speak truth to them. God has made us in his image, he cares for us, and wants us to be in communication with him. Our own thoughts, unchecked, can lead us to places of despair. The truth however, sets us free. 

Prayer: Father, thank you for the gift of mindfulness. Centered upon your truth, it sets us free, Amen.

 

You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me                                                                                                                                                         Psalm 139:16-18

Everybody has a story- a unique one. The King James translation of the earlier part of the passage above uses the poetic phrase, “fearfully and wonderfully made…”. Indeed, how amazing we are!

One of the things I often give to my clients as homework (I always give homework!), is to write in a journal about their thoughts and feelings. I do this for several reasons, based on the situation. For one thing, I have this counseling philosophy that we need to get things “out of here” (pointing to my head) and “out to here” (pointing to outside of our body).  This is a way to take control of thoughts that seem to be out of control. Once we can externalize, we can find a way to manage things in our own creative ways.

For some this may well be writing, but for others, it may be painting, coloring, music, or a host of other creative outlets. The point is, once we express those thoughts and ideas, we can have a handle on them. We can name them, we can manage them.

As I said earlier, we all have a unique story which is worth sharing. Those journal stories, or artistic expressions can comprise a book or a portfolio of work which, taken together, becomes our story. I have had several clients come back to me with their book, usually self-published. That is an incredible outcome! They have redeemed the pain they experienced, and turned it into a product of their own creation- healing for them, and for those who view their work.

A few clients simply want the work to be private and never published, but it has become their story of healing. It has become tangible, written down, able to be passed down to children which I recommend if the client is willing to do that. Most are.

Our story is powerful and it is a chronicle of overcoming adversity, and of worthy achievement. I have been touched by so many stories of clients overcoming pain and abuse, and I have been privileged to have seen that work which clients have created.

I will speak more about this in coming reflections. Meanwhile, consider writing/expressing your story- it is good for mind and soul.

Prayer: Father, thank you for how you have made us as creative people able to express the value you have given us, Amen.

 

 

“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven                                                                                                                            Matthew 5:14-16

 

Reading this passage from the incomparable Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matthew 5, I was reminded again of the concept about the “city on the hill” which would be a light for others to follow. An example of freedom and right living that could serve as an example to the rest of the world- a new order of freedom which could fulfill these words that Jesus spoke.

John Winthrop in 1630 gave a lecture titled “A Model of Christian Charity” in which he used the phrase “as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us”. He meant that this new Puritan experiment of coming to America would serve as a model to the rest of the world. He warned that such a model could be for good or bad. The eyes of the world were on them, and they could determine if this experiment would result in a shining light or as a dire warning to others.

Through the years many speakers, politicians and leaders have alluded to that phrase, stating that America is that light on the hill- a beacon of hope to the rest of the world.

I hope so.

This statement has also been tied to the concept of America’s civil religion, which is a whole other topic, but I am thinking of it in the context that Jesus gave in Matthew 5. He said that we should “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

There have been some spectacular examples of America being that light on the hill to a weary and broken world. Our involvement in World War I as American strength helped to end the butchery of that war which engulfed Europe and much of the world. Again in World War II where America intervened and helped end brutal, oppressive dictatorships and genocide. The Marshall Plan which helped stave off starvation in a ravaged Europe. Medical intervention in Africa and other areas of the world during the AIDS crisis under George W. Bush in 2003 which saved millions of lives.

These are just a few large examples which come to mind quickly-there are many others. In fact, I encourage my readers to fill in the others that come to mind. It is probably healthy these days to call to mind those many examples of American leadership and generosity.

Every day, American generosity around the world is saving lives. However, Winthrop’s words were a warning too. Not everyone sees America as the shining light of freedom and generosity, because there have been too many examples of injustice and oppression in our own land.

I do believe that America is a wonderful country full of generous, hard-working people, who have been given the gift of unique government by our founders. I trust that we can be, in many ways, that light shining on the hill. However we need to remember the end of the passage- that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

Prayer: Father we have been given great gifts in our country, help us to use those gifts wisely and generously for your glory, Amen.

 

…that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.  We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.                                                                                                                                                                                    II Corinthians 5:19-20

Based upon Paul’s reference in II Cor. 5:19-20, I decided to look at what an ambassador does. We have been called “ambassadors of the kingdom of God”- God’s representatives on earth to attest to the good news of healing and redemption.

So, consider these principles of ambassadors, and see how they might fit into how we can be ambassadors for God in a world that can seem very foreign to us at times. If our job is to bring the principles of heaven to earth, think about where our “home country” is, and that we are just travelers on this earth for a period of time. Our real job is to convey the best interest of our sending authority.

An ambassador of the kingdom …

• Is trustworthy. He/she will represent the interests of the sending authority

• Has the full credit and authority of the sender

• Is empowered to act on behalf of the sending authority

• Is trusted not to exceed authority vested in her/him

• Spreads good will on behalf of the sender

• Understands the customs and culture of where he/she is sent

• Understands the mission given by the sending authority

• Speaks with the authority of the president/leader

• Maintains close, regular communication with the sending authority

• Actual citizenship remains in the sending country

• Must learn to understand and affiliate with foreign assignment without losing sight of the mother country and citizenship

• Helps to protect the interests of fellow citizens in a foreign land

Prayer: Thank you Lord for giving us the privilege to be ambassadors for your kingdom. Such a high privilege, help us to do it well, Amen

 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.                                                                                             Galatians 5:13-14 

I am a history buff (as if my readers didn’t know that), and I look at “Today in History” on some internet sites occasionally. Today, June 25, is the 70^th anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Yes, it was a war, despite President Truman’s insistence on calling it a “police action”. It had been too soon since World War II had ended, so it was not a “war”, but a “police action”. Whatever it was, it was a bloody and costly conflict, and over 35,000 soldiers lost their lives in it. To add insult to injury, the public seemingly tried to act as if the war was non-existent, and the combatants never received the support they deserved for this deadly precursor to a war that brewed up just over a decade later. 

There is always a price for freedom- it comes at a cost. We tend to take for granted, or take advantage of, things that are given to us- things we did not pay for.

Jesus died to give us freedom from sin, and Paul reminded us that there is nothing that we can do to add to the complete cost that has been paid for our redemption. Our freedom from sin was paid at a very high cost. We also tend to devalue that for which we do not pay. Salvation is a gift, but there is an expectation that comes with this gift- we are to treat others with the same love that purchased our freedom. If we do not understand that the reason Jesus died for our sins was that he loved us so much, then we will not be able to pay that forward to others as is expected of us.

If we devalue the gift of salvation we may tend to feel that we have certain entitlements. We have freedom, but we do not have license. Our response to the gift of salvation must be to love one another, and not to use our gift selfishly to indulge our sinful, pleasure-seeking nature.

If we indeed choose the course of following Jesus, we have signed up for a life of loving others, serving them, and modeling the love of God without judgment. Jesus said that his burden is easy and his yoke is light, and it is true. Loving others then, when we see them in the light that God sees them, becomes a real possibility. God has given us the mission to be His models of love to others. So, there is a cost to the freedom we have been given- it is to love others as God has loved us.

By the way, this day in history also included the birth of my dear daughter, Jennifer. Happy Birthday, Jen, I love you!

Prayer: Father, your plan is at once simple and complicated. Thank you for the amazing plan that we are to have the real significance of being your representatives on earth. Help us to do it well, Amen.

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things.  Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

 “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!  But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us!                                                                                                I Chronicles 29:11-14

  

Americans are a generous people. This has been demonstrated time and again, especially in times of crisis. We also know that the motivator for giving is having the right perspective on it. The heart is the key to giving, not the amount given. The state of our heart should naturally be that of willingness and desire to give. Giving to others is a way to please God, whom we love by loving others.

How can we get the state of mind- the desire and willingness to give? The key concept is stated in I Chronicles 29:14. This verse states the obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be stated to get us back to our “right mind”. The obvious truth is, everything we give has already been given to us by God. Whatever we have been given is really not ours- it has been given to us by the hand of God. Therefore, can we rightly hold on to that which is not ours to begin with?

We can get pretty hung up with “our money” that we work so hard to earn. We take ownership of the resources which God has equipped us with. Were it not for our health, others around us, and the very ideas that God has put into our heads, we would not own any of our stuff.

Didn’t God create us, put us in the places we now occupy, and give us the opportunities to actually earn our income? All that we have has been put into our hand by God. Whether those resources are big or small as measured by worldly standards of wealth, they belong to God.

I am not discounting the hard work that we have done to acquire the wealth that we enjoy. We do work hard for our living. Yet those fruits are not gained simply by our work or talent alone. The essential tools have first been given to us.

The “disconnect” comes when we claim for ourselves what we believe to be “ours”. The world and all that is in it belongs to God. When we start holding back on giving to God what is rightly his, we strain our relationship with him. It becomes an indicator of deteriorating spiritual health.

Decisions on how we give are personal ones, informed by our beliefs and attitudes. I am so thankful that we are surrounded by examples of generosity. This gives me hope in a very stressful time. Giving is a great indicator of our heart condition.

“Right giving” leads to “right living”, and “right living” leads to “right giving”.

 

Prayer: Father, the world is indeed yours, and you have given us the gift of living in it. We thank you for this gift, and we willingly give back to you as an indicator of our thanks, amen.

 

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;  for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children                                                                                                                 Psalm 103:13-17

 

Is it just me, or does it seem like a lot of people have anger just below the surface these days?  You know, there is just a sense that there is a collective irritability that gets played out in social media, and even mainstream media for that matter. Maybe a loss of civility is a better explanation, but I think the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a catalyst for it.

I call it collective frustration.

I think this is the formula: Helplessness + Anger = Frustration. In so many ways, we have felt helpless in the battle against the Coronavirus. We have not yet developed a vaccine, so there is still need for caution. We desperately want a normal economy and lifestyle, but the virus still stymies those efforts, even as the economy opens back up.

So, we express this sense of helplessness as anger. It is much more acceptable to get angry than to admit to feeling helpless. Anger is sort of a default emotion. It is always there, lurking. Some access this emotion more easily than others. Usually though, there is something below the anger. Something deeper in our soul and mind. Sometimes it is unexpressed sadness. Very often it is fear. However, anger seems to be the workhorse of our emotions that is most easily accessed- our default mode if you will.

Deeper reflection will often give us the opportunity to identify what is really going on, but if we have very few margins- that is, if stress has built up and we feel that we have no good outlets, and no available solutions, we express this initially as anger.

I am frustrated too. I feel helpless in so many ways about the restrictions of my lifestyle brought on by this pandemic. Indeed, I am angry at the Coronavirus, but how can you really play that out?

Then I realize my limitations and the fact that God understands me. I think the verses from my favorite Psalm are appropriate today. This is Father’s Day (Happy Father’s Day, by the way to you dads). I take comfort that my heavenly Father knows how we are made, sees us as little children, and will care for us, even when we may feel that his presence is distant or gone.

Prayer: Thank you Father for your love for us, and your understanding that we are like little children. We take comfort in your care as loving parent, Amen.

 

 

For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.                                                                                                                        Romans 8:24-25

 

Hope by definition is future oriented. We do not know the future, but we like to think that we can prepare for it. We have hope that the future will bring us what we need or desire. We like to have predictability and control, and if we don’t have that, we get anxious. The antidote to anxiety is control. The more we can control, the better handle on anxiety we feel we have. But, is that true? Well, we never really have control, just the illusion of it.

The results of hope are not seen. Those results lie in the future, and we count on the future being just a little better than what we currently have. People joke about the year 2020, and how this anticipated year has, so far, essentially brought us the misery of Coronavirus and racial strife.

It is not 2020’s “fault”, but we are ready for the hope of next year already. And it is only June. Next year might bring a vaccine for this dreaded COVID-19 pandemic. Next year might bring economic recovery. Next year might bring a return to what we came to see as normal living.

Whatever next year brings, we can HOPE that it is a relief from this year’s pain. The year 2021 will bring its own troubles, but our hope is that it will not be like 2020. It will be better.

The passage from Romans tells us that we must wait for it patiently. Indeed, we are anything but patient. However, we still must live in the present. Savor it for the moments of peace and pleasure that we derive from friends and family, as disrupted as that has been this year.

Be grateful for the blessings that we have right now. Hope for the future is good and helpful, but don’t let the present escape in the longing for the future.

Prayer: Lord, we are impatient people, always hoping for something different. Help us to live in the moment you have created, and be thankful for it.

 

Whoever was still alive had reason for hope                                                                                                    Viktor Frankl

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way                                                     Viktor Frankl

But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.                                 Psalm 9:18

 

I trust that many of my readers are familiar with Viktor Frankl. He was an Austrian psychiatrist, and a prisoner of Nazi concentration camps during World War II. He was a prisoner because he was Jewish.

During his time in the concentration camps, he witnessed the hopelessness and despair among many of the prisoners that one might naturally expect in such dreadful conditions. Frankl noted that those prisoners who gave up hope, those who did not see any meaning in life anymore, tended to die quickly. They had given up.

Those like Frankl, and the ones he tried to help in the camps, were able to see that, even in the most debasing of circumstances, there was something that could not be taken from them. They had a choice to hope.

Frankl survived the concentration camp experience, however his father and his wife did not. But Frankl’s story, tragic as it appears, was one of hope for many, because from it came his works about therapy and treatment of emotional problems. His ability to marry the concepts of human suffering with the remedy of hope and choice, gave rise to logotherapy. He infused psychiatry with a spiritual dimension framed in a positive light hitherto unseen in the field.

Hope is where we find it. Unfortunately, we might stop looking. Frankl endured terrible suffering, but he never completely lost hope because he found meaning in his suffering. He found that the Nazis could never imprison his mind, even if they had his body in prison.

We have been promised that God will never forget us in our time of need, even when we see no provision in front of us. The hope of his promises remains. 

Prayer: Thank you Father for infusing us with a spirit of hope, a spirit beyond us, resting in you, Amen.

To trust in, wait for, look for, or desire something or someone; or to expect something beneficial in the future  

-Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology

 

“but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.                                                                    Isaiah 40:31 

There are multiple ways to look at the concept of hope. The definition above conveys several of those aspects of hope. It is one thing to “wait for” an event with anticipation. It is quite another to trust in that event happening. Then there is the concept of expecting something beneficial, as opposed to wishing that something bad does NOT happen.

All these concepts seem to be embodied in the word “hope”. All of them are true depending on how we use the word.

I like to think that hope is more about a mindset than just a fleeting thought of the moment.

A mindset of hope is based upon our belief in God’s provision and love for us. In that sense, hope is more like the “trust in” part of the definition above.

Isaiah wrote that those “who hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint”

So, we see that hope is not just a desire, but it is our source of energy, no matter the circumstances we face.

In the next couple of days, I want to expand on the idea of “hope”.

Hope you stick with me! (OK, bad pun, I will try to do better!)

 

Prayer: Father, you have given us hope, no matter the circumstances. Thank you for this lifeline of how to look at the world, Amen.